Today in LCS Academy Summer All-Stars, we’re looking at the Mid lane.
Criteria
A reminder of my criteria for being an All Star in the Academy league:
- Peak Performance
- Versatility
- Consistency
- Growth
Get a bit more detail on those criteria in the first post of the series.
Palafox
4 Academy Standouts appearances in 9 weeks
Early in the Summer regular season, I wrote about the “best possible LCS-eligible Academy lineup”, and at that point I put Yusui ahead of Palafox, writing: “I’ve seen more assertiveness and independence from Yusui, with weaker jungle help, so I put more faith in him for now.” But over the rest of the split, Palafox showed more growth than Yusui, peaking in the playoffs for an outstanding championship run.
From Spring to Summer, Palafox added more assertive laning to his portfolio, improving from +115 GXD10 to +255 GXD10 (second-best among Mids behind Froggen), then kicked it up another notch for Summer playoffs to +580. His two games of Lucian in the Finals particularly shut down Evolved and generated all kinds of map pressure.
In different metas, Palafox showed his range, counterpicking heavily in the playoffs (6 of 7 games, 86%) but usually blind-picking in the regular season (29% counterpick, lowest among Mids) with a steady diet of Zoe, Galio, Orianna, and Twisted Fate. Lulu, Kassadin, and Jayce snuck in at times, a good sign of Palafox’s willingness to broaden his horizons.
Palafox has always been in the mix for “NA Mids with potential,” but his growth and peak performance this Summer boosted him ahead of the pack. I’m certain that Jack is already fielding some calls about the size of Palafox’s buyout from teams looking to start a rebuild.
Yusui
4 Academy Standouts appearances in 9 weeks
It can be very difficult for a player to look good on a struggling team, but Yusui pulled it off this split. The story of Spring for Yusui was an attempt to take on a shotcalling role, and you could see him take a step back in his individual execution and ability to carry. He grew more comfortable with those responsibilities as time went on, and his personal performance level was back for Summer. I don’t know whether that means he stopped shotcalling, or just struck a better balance, but he was all over the map with high-pressure side laning and put himself in strong positions to carry.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t generate the same early-game leads, and Team Liquid Academy as a squad lacked coordination and failed to find any real success. Yusui formed a much better mid/jungle partnership with Shernfire in Spring than he did with Grig in Summer, and that backwards step in team dynamic visibly limited his effectiveness this split.
I saw some growth from Yusui this year, though admittedly not as much as I hoped. I still believe he is the most well-rounded Academy Mid laner right now, and I would love to see him get an LCS roster spot for 2021—teams like 100 Thieves, Dignitas, and Counter Logic Gaming should be giving him a long look—but if it doesn’t happen I can’t say I’ll be surprised. If that’s the case, I just hope 2021 will see him positioned better to make a case for himself.
Other Mids of Note
Evolved had a pretty good first year as a pro, after coming through Scouting Grounds in 2019. He still has rough edges to polish if he wants to catch up to Palafox, Yusui, et al., but he’s improving at a good rate. I see him joining the “LCS-ready” crowd in 2021.
Giyuu showed arguably the highest peak performance of any Mid in Academy this split, with strong mechanics and an aggressive mindset. His pairing with AnDa made the best mid/jungle duo in the league. But Giyuu’s import status holds him back in a bid to break into the LCS.