Academy Standouts highlights the players who performed best in the most recent week of NA Academy play. I’ll discuss a few of the most noteworthy standouts, then list some other players whose performances caught my eye below.

Last week involved the Academy (Worlds) Finals, as well as the last few stages of the Unified Grand Prix tournament that determined the seeding for the last few qualifiers into Proving Grounds.

Haeri, Mid, Team Liquid Academy

My choice for “series MVP” from the Academy Finals was Haeri. He was solid throughout, and he stepped up to carry game 5 on Lee Sin with a 4/0/9 scoreline to shut down Cloud9 Academy’s reverse-sweep attempt.

Haeri did well to apply side-lane pressure in the mid game and ensure TLA could trade objectives, and he made some useful Teleport plays as well. He tied Armao for the highest kill participation on the team (excluding Dhokla’s one game in as a sub).

Haeri Stats

	KDA	KP	GXD10	DPM	CSPM
Fs	5.2	83.9%	+49	474	9.3
POs	3.8	70.4%	-57	474	8.7

This title must be a great feeling for Haeri, who has been grinding away for TLA all year after coming over as one of the new Oceanic imports in January. Spring brought a disappointing finish, but this title will give him and his teammates a huge boost of confidence going in the next big dance: Proving Grounds.

Will, Jungle, Dignitas Academy

DIG Academy’s rookie jungler was instrumental to their win in the Unified Grand Prix. He carried hard on Viego and Xin Zhao, his weapons of choice, and racked up huge kill counts on both, while facing off against TSM Academy in the upper bracket finals and then GG Academy in the grand finals.

The jungle duel between Will and RoseThorn in the grand finals was especially compelling. RoseThorn applied his more gank-heavy style while Will focused on farming up efficiently so he could carry in the mid-game, until game 5 when the roles were reversed and Will took over the ganking and dominated the game with his pressure and team fighting.

Will Stats

	KDA	KP	GXD10	DPM	CSPM
UGP	6.1	63.3%	+518	402	6.6

Prismal, Bot, Golden Guardians Academy

While he couldn’t lead his team to a tournament win, Prismal was still very good throughout the week, especially in the grand finals. His work on Aphelios and Ezreal had GGA in position to win the tournament.

One of NA’s first Ziggs-pickers, Prismal reminded everyone of his prowess on standard picks, and made another argument that he’s ready for a shot under the brighter lights of the LCS stage.

Prismal Stats

	KDA	KP	GXD10	DPM	CSPM
UGP	4.2	66.2%	+247	638	8.7

Additional Standouts

The following players also stood out.

• Soligo, Mid, Dignitas Academy
  • I hope someone gets this player back into the LCS. He clutched out a game 5 against TSM Academy on a pocket Malzahar pick and was very good throughout the grand finals, playing 4 consecutive games of Ryze because it was just working so well.
• Yeon, Bot, Team Liquid Academy
  • Yeon played some of his best games of the year in the most important series. His 9/1/5 Jhin game was the main highlight, but he was solid all around.

Photos courtesy lolesports.com