Casters and viewers were scratching their heads watching Echo Fox go up against Immortals in the League of Legends NA LCS.
Echo Fox were playing one of the top teams in the League of Legends NA LCS but weren’t using their strongest roster. For a team which still has a shot at making it to Worlds, this is a baffling series of decisions.
Game 1 was started subbing out their star Midlaner and ADC. While it is arguable what impact Keith has in a game, choosing not to play Froggen just doesn’t make sense. Caster Zirene pointed out that in Week 5 of NA LCS, both pro players were on top of their games with consistent performances. Why would they sub them out against a strong team like Immortals?
Game 2 was even more baffling. After a loss in Game 1, but a strong showing, Echo Fox subbed out Akaadian for Grig, who reportedly has some issues with tilt. Akaadian had a very strong debut in the spring, carrying Echo Fox to several victories.
While the summer hasn’t been great for him, he is a good player. Then they brought Keith back into the ADC position instead of Mash. They left Demonce in the mid lane. So many players in and out in just a single series are unusual for the NA LCS. Echo Fox has been making a lot of strange decisions since the announcement that the NA LCS will no longer be doing relegations and teams would have farm teams for the tournament.
There is some speculation that teams, like Team Liquid, are trying to figure out how to work a 10 man draft with the goal of being able to sub in players based on games and situations. While this may be the future of the NA LCS, it does raise a few important questions.
Have Echo Fox given up hopes for going to Worlds in 2017? It’s not guaranteed that new players won’t do well on stage, you have guaranteed strong performances from players like Froggen and Keith. Granted that Immortals were the favorite team going into the game, but with a strong showing, Echo Fox could have beaten them. Phoenix1 did right before Rift Rivals. If they keep using the Summer Split to test out various team compositions and give rookies stage time, they might have to write off this year and aim for Worlds in 2018.