LLA: Infinity eSports

Spring Season Record: 10-4

I want to get out ahead of this. I hate when people use the capital s in esports. There, I said it. So with that in mind, I already don’t love this team. Latin America produces some electric players and teams such as Rainbow7 and the new import to the LCS in Josedeodo. While INF had an amazing run through their playoffs, there are some question marks about this team. This is especially with them seeming to struggle against lesser teams. Individual performances will need to shine through and carry this team as they go up against teams from two major regions as well as the regionally dominant DetonatioN FocusMe.

Lane Breakdown

In this section I am going to go lane by lane (or position by position) and grade out each player and set some expectations for what we should see from them in the group stage! Obviously playing on stage in an actual tournament can give us some pretty special moments but I will outline what should be the most likely outcome.

Top Lane (Buggax): The man of a million champion picks, Buggax has picked off-meta champions like Nocturne top, Ornn, and even Kled. He has ok numbers in terms of kills (50), assists (101), and KDA (3.28) in the regular season. I think he has lucked out some in this group because of his matchups and how they decide to play. Most of the other teams in the group don’t really play through much through the top lane so there is a chance for Buggax not to get exposed too hard. I think he will be able to tread water but I don’t see him being the catalyst for this team. 

Jungle (SolidSnake): SolidSnake has been the bridesmaid over and over again in LLA but this is the first time he gets to be the bride. He, like a lot of the other junglers, has played a wide variety of champions in this meta. There are champions where he has excelled at playing (Hecarim: 4-0, 9.2 KDA, and averaging 1.25 deaths per game) versus some other champions he has really struggled with (Olaf: 0-2, 0.88 KDA, and averaging 4.5 deaths per game). He constantly is fighting and he really doesn’t have a half speed so there is a really high ceiling with this pick but just as low of a floor with this pick. Against, the better junglers like Canyon and Blaber, I would most likely avoid picking him. 

Mid Lane (cody): There is no player that is more consistent on this team than cody. He has averaged around a 4.5 KDA in both the regular season and playoffs. He played a select few number of champions and all of them are in the same style. He defaults into the more control mage picks like Azir, Zoe, and Viktor and then does a great job of forcing the enemy mid laners to stay in the lane and not roam. He plays safe and avoids major mistakes which will be huge when they play against DWG (ShowMaker) and Cloud9 (Perkz) in which both teams like to get their mid laners roaming to the side lanes. 

Bot/AD Carry (WhiteLotus): While not as powerful as the Black Lotus (little Magic The Gathering joke for all of you), I think WhiteLotus is a decent ADC and really shined in the regular season with 100 kills in 18 games. In the playoffs he did cool off a bit in playoffs which makes me worried that his stats could be a little padded from playing lower teams but he has less of an impact into better teams. I think there is also a slight risk for him since he relied so heavily on the Kai’Sa pick and not only is it less impactful now but he is playing the best in the world too. I think he sticks with the hard carry champions but I am not expecting the same production from him. Expect him to play more of the safer and longer range ADCs like Jinx, Caitlyn, and Varus into the stronger bot lanes.

Support (Ackerman): This is the sneaky pick up from this group. Ackerman is a really good support and he so delicately balances aggression and safety. On only two champions (total of 18 games) did he average 2 deaths in the regular season. He played champions like Braum who focuses more on peel but also has pulled out the Pyke pick which is a wildly aggressive assassin pick. Ackerman played at the same level in both the playoffs and in the regular season with a KDA of about 7.5 in all of Spring and he is the core of this team. He will consistently be really cheap and worth the pickup.  

Cann’s Final Thoughts

INF has a real chance to take some games in this group and especially against the likes of the inconsistent Cloud9, they could make the major regions earn their wins. They are going to play through their bot lane and forgo the top lane which shouldn’t punish them too much but it is easily punished in draft. I think DFM will lack any explosive power so I do see this team place third in group and even possibly make it to a tiebreaker game for that second place spot.     

Cann’s Record Prediction: 3-3
Cann’s Final Placement Prediction: Round Robin Play