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.
Watch Tim’s pick for Game of the Week
Kaori, Bot, Evil Geniuses Academy
First up, the spotlight shines on EG Academy’s new bot laner, Kaori. EGA went 1 and 3 this week, splitting their series with Team Liquid Academy and dropping both games of their second series to Immortals Academy, but Kaori played well in the losses and played INCREDIBLY well in the wins. His Jhin against TL Academy was an explosive arrival to North America, with great ult snipes and snare setups throughout. His Jinx team fighting was nearly as good.
It’s early, but Kaori is already showing why TSM had him shortlisted for an LCS spot, and why EG were eager to snap him up to help lead their young prospects. Continue reading Academy Standouts: 2022 Spring, Week 1
There’s a very strong case from ry0ma as the MVP of Proving Grounds, and certainly the MVP of 100T’s reverse sweep to win the Grand Finals.
You might expect, upon seeing Niles’ name at the top of this list, that he got to spam a bunch of aggressive carries plus Gangplank and run over games with resources and confidence plays. But if you take a look, you’ll see three games each of Ornn and Gnar (along with, yes, three Gangplanks, two Camilles, and a Pantheon!?).