AC/AM Standouts highlights the players who performed best in the most recent week of NA Academy and amateur play. I’ll discuss a few of the most noteworthy standouts, then list some other players whose performances caught my eye below.
NOTE: I am not including the Northern Arena tournament in this article, since it is an off-calendar tournament that is not part of the official Proving Grounds circuit.
Katsurii, Bot, CLG Academy
There haven’t been many good-news stories for CLG Academy this split, but Katsurii did his best to change the narrative on his team during the Nerd Street Power Play. The Oceanic Bot laner has played a ton of Kai’sa this year. He was able to pick the champion in 8 of his 13 games during the tournament, and he punished his opponents for letting him be so comfortable, putting up good KP and damage output.
Katsurii Stats
| KDA | KP | GXD10 | DPM | CSPM | |
| NERD | 6.6 | 65.2% | +87 | 555 | 9.7 |
Part of Katsurii’s increased comfort came from Thien’s ability to assert so much pressure in the top lane during the tournament, which drew pressure away from Katsurii and let him play more of a scaling game. If CLG Academy can continue to make that approach work, we may see Katsurii continue to shine as the team’s insurance carry.
APA, Mid, Barrage
APA, aka AlwaysPlanAhea, has been a popular figure in the NA amateur scene for a long time. He attended Scouting Grounds 2020 and has contributed to some very strong teams, like Barrage this year and Supernova in 2020. He’s best known for his offbeat champion pool, with picks like Aurelion Sol and Ziggs, as well as Karma and other support mages, but he can bring out some decent standard control mages as well, and has been working on solidifying his champion pool. Proving Grounds will be a chance to show that APA can stand up to Academy-level competition, which he’ll need to do if he wants to climb the next rung of the competitive ladder.
APA Stats
| KDA | KP | GXD10 | DPM | CSPM | |
| NERD | 6.8 | 71.1% | -174 | 546 | 8.6 |
Additional Standouts
The following players also stood out.
- Dragoon, Top, Dignitas Mirage
- Meech, Bot, Dignitas Mirage
- PCL, Top, Barrage
- Strompest, Mid, Supernova
- Thien, Top, CLG Academy
Photos courtesy flickr.com/lolesports and watch.lolesports.com