Tag Archives: Blaber

Analysis and Opinion

LCS MVP Frontrunners – Summer 2020

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Awards voting time is almost here for the LCS summer split, and the MVP race is in full swing. The last few weeks of the season often leave the strongest impression in the voters’ minds, so there’s still plenty of opportunity for players to make their case. But going into the final two weeks of regular season play, here are the players who have positioned themselves best to take home the individual trophy.

Honourable Mentions

The following players are worth mentioning, but in my opinion they would each need an incredible final four games to truly break into the conversation as an MVP candidate.

  • Bjergsen, TSM
  • Nisqy, Cloud9
  • PowerOfEvil, FlyQuest
  • Santorin, FlyQuest

3. Jensen, Team Liquid

Team Liquid’s star mid laner is finally looking like a star again.

I’ve been looking for more from Jensen since the end of 2019, when I praised Team Liquid for signing Broxah because of the potential it created for the mid lane. Back in December I wrote:

With more action from his jungler, Jensen should receive more opportunities to express himself–he’s much more naturally suited to being an active mid, not a passive mid…

Honestly, Broxah hasn’t delivered what I hoped, but this Summer Jensen has stepped up anyways and provided the active, carry-oriented mid lane play that has always been his strongest suit.

Jensen leads all laners in GXD10, coming second only to Blaber across all positions. His pressure has opened a lot of doors for Broxah in the jungle, which is partly why it’s so disappointing to see Broxah playing like an average Jungler instead of a star. Jensen also handles enemy jungle pressure well, which has always been one of his strongest attributes, and that has served him well as he farms up to become the carry threat he needs to be.

One of the main points counting against Jensen is the help he’s had from the number 1 player on this list, but we’ll get to that in a minute…

2. Blaber, Cloud9

Blaber is within reach of defending his Spring 2020 MVP trophy, and a strong finish could definitely propel him to a repeat.

It’s difficult at times to disentangle the individual contributions of Blaber and Nisqy. Blaber applies so much pressure from the jungle and usually makes the most visible difference for Cloud9, but Nisqy’s self-sacrificial mid lane play is a huge enabler of, and honestly a prerequisite for, Blaber’s style. For evidence of that, look no further than Svenskeren, who was an MVP when playing with Nisqy but has looked barely middle-of-the-pack on Evil Geniuses. Svenskeren’s own play wasn’t the real change there; his change of mid laner has made the bigger difference.

But all of that being said, Blaber has made very effective use of the setups provided to him, and he deserves full credit for performing so well under those favourable circumstances.

1. CoreJJ, Team Liquid

My number one candidate for regular season MVP is Team Liquid’s Support, CoreJJ. After a quiet Spring where he suffered as much as anyone from Liquid’s internal dysfunction, CoreJJ has come roaring back to remind everyone of his pedigree as a former World Champion.

Want some evidence of how important CoreJJ has been to Team Liquid’s plans this summer? He has a 79% counterpick rate (CTR) this split, meaning that his champion has been drafted after his opponent’s pick in 11 of 14 games. Team Liquid highly value giving CoreJJ as much control as possible over his own influence on the game, and they’re willing to blind pick for Broxah and Jensen in most games to make that happen.

It’s not just about CoreJJ’s direct personal playmaking, though. The most pleasantly surprising aspect of Team Liquid’s Summer split has been Tactical’s emergence as a solid, reliable bot laner, after a brief relief appearance in Spring. I wasn’t convinced by those Spring games that Tactical was the real deal, but a mid-season break spent learning from CoreJJ has paid huge dividends. Tactical is not a superstar (yet?), but he has paired with CoreJJ very effectively, giving the Support the comfort to go out and affect the rest of the map.

And that’s what CoreJJ has done. Not to take away too much from Jensen’s own candidacy, but one of the ways CoreJJ has been so effective this split is constantly roaming to mid to relieve or apply pressure. CoreJJ’s map presence has clearly benefited Jensen, and his constant Bard picking has partly been designed to enable that type of play.

Team Liquid look like a completely different squad in the post-Doublelift era, and CoreJJ’s individual dominance is the primary reason why. Unless something changes dramatically in the next two weeks, I expect CoreJJ to be the Summer regular season MVP.

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