Every Split of the North American League Championship Series we all go in with high hopes for our favorite teams, excitement about this roster change or that one, or criticisms that certain changes were not made. Teams, analysts, casters, fans -- we all have our expectations about how this split is going to be different and how our favorite teams or that player is going to have a break out split.

And sometimes things go according to plan. Sometimes, we have a few prophets on our hands but when it comes down to it, the reality of the split rarely meets the expectation that was held at the very beginning. The players, the staff, and the game itself are all unpredictable and ever changing factors in the equation of expectations versus reality.

Do you remember what your original expectations were as that first set of games began on day 1 of Summer Split? What did you predict? What did you feel would happen before you saw any team take the stage? While there is always going to be variance to opinions and expectations, there were some generally widely accepted expectations of certain teams and players.

Let’s take a look at how that turned out.

Below Expectations

Coming into the Summer Split, there were high expectations of Echo Fox. All through Spring, they had commented on how they were going to be a Summer team and the general consensus had predicted that they would be a playoff contender. However, as the Split unraveled, it became clear that there were serious problems for EchoFox.

Throughout the split, Echo Fox were able to pick up games but only managed to successfully win one series. It’s hard to fault any particular player; though, it would be fair to point out that Terry “Big” Chuong is probably one of the lowest performing supports in the league. It’s not all his fault though. The team has seemed to lack cohesive teamwork and consistency. On top of this, they do not adapt well with the meta shifts and neither do they seem to be able to adjust their drafts adequately in the best-of series format.

After the struggles of early Spring Split and some highlight performances before the Summer Split, it’s difficult to believe how far Echo Fox has fallen from grace. Hopefully, if they remain in the NA LCS, we will see significant changes made to help ensure that they do not fall into the same pattern in 2017.

During the offseason, NRG Esports completely revamped their roster. The only remaining member is Lee “GBM” Changsuk and the team was built around him. There was extremely high expectations of this roster, given that they brought Lucas “Santorin” Larsen back into the NA LCS after a rough time in the Challenger scene in both North America and Europe. Diego “Quas” Ruiz, Alan “Kiwikid” Nguyen and Oh “OHQ” Gyumin were all picks that stirred plenty of excitement and speculation.

However, it became quickly apparent that this team was not playing to expectations. It was another case where it seemed that they had all the pieces but no clue on how to fit them together. The small picture was nice, but the big picture was simply out of reach in almost every series. There was never a game where NRG looked like they were all playing at a high level as a team. The wins that they acquired were most often due to either GBM or Quas snowballing in such a fashion that was very difficult to deal with.

It wasn’t what was expected of this team who many also hailed as a potential playoff team -- some, even more. OHQ rarely performed well, which is surprising given that his time on Team Dragon Knights last split in the Challenger Series showed what carry potential he can provide a team. It was hardly something that can be blamed on him; often NRG were not strategizing to play around OHQ and facilitate him. The same can be said for GBM as well. NRG had several strengths, but rarely were able to play around them effectively.

NRG’s overall performance as a team in Summer Split was dismal and disappointing.

Perhaps the biggest disappointment of all, though, is Counter Logic Gaming. CLG seemed to have all the momentum in the world coming into the Summer Split. They’d won the Spring Split decisively and arguably had the best showing of a North American team in an international competition at the Mid-Season Invitational.

As the split started, people continually made excuses for CLG not playing up to par. They’ve had to spend more time on the out-dated meta, they’d taken a break after MSI... Week after week, these excuses were made until we had to face the brutal fact that, as a team, CLG was simply not in form.

Throughout the split, there was a lot of criticism directed at Choi “Huhi” Jaehyun. Most fans and analysts alike have a tendency to stack most of the blame on Huhi’s performances. However, CLG members have continually defended Huhi. and Jake “Xmithie” Puchero has indicated rather directly that it is on the shoulders of the team for not playing around Huhi or facilitating his needs to help him be successful.

While, they have not been as dominant as expected and did fall short of expectations, CLG remains a strong contender in the league. Through the difficult slump, it appears that the team has each other’s backs going into playoffs and no one can count them out.

Met Expectations

Cloud 9 performed how most would expect overall. They stayed firmly in third place for most of the split. Even when it appeared that Cloud 9 were struggling, by the end of each week they were still keeping a decent hold on their place in the standings. Throughout most of the split, the team was switching between Andy "Smoothie" Ta and Michael "Bunnyfufuu" Kurylo in the support position. Eventually, they decided on playing Smoothie full time, and Bunnyfufuu has shifted to focusing on streaming while still under the C9 banner.

The Cloud 9 that we saw in the Summer Split is vastly different than the Cloud 9 that we are used to seeing. Instead of relying on Hai "Hai" Lam's brains, they have shifted to focusing on a more brawn strategy. There is still elements of the aggressive shotcalling, but very often, Cloud 9 is gaining their wins through simply outplaying the opponent. At times their fights are chaotic, but they are able to thrive in those circumstances. Nicolaj "Jensen" Jensen has been a stellar carry throughout the season.

Many of these things were expected with all the changes that were brought about. There were difficult weeks for C9, but no one expected a perfect split from the new roster; they were, however, always expected to be a playoffs team.

Immortals is a team that seems to defy expectations simply by meeting the bar that is set for them. After a perfect split in spring, many had high expectations for Immortals and they did not disappoint. The only lost series they suffered was at the hands of the undefeated Team SoloMid. It's certainly nothing to scoff at. IMT brought out a slew of unique champions and shotgun strategies that often backfired. In IMT's fashion, they still managed to scrape by with minimal casualties.

One problem that remains for Immortals is hubris. They do not respect that higher performing teams will punish their sometimes sloppy and over-aggressive plays, and this has caused them to lose games and nearly lose sets. This was true in Spring Split as well, and one can only hope that this is an issue that is remedied by the time that the World Championship rolls around -- if Immortals ends up qualifying.

Exceeded Expectations

Phoenix1 was the epitome of the underdog coming into the Split. After a tumultuous changing of hands when Team Impulse's ban was handed down and visa issues, there were no expectations of this team at all. When the bar is set so low, it's rather easy to surpass it. For a good part of the split, P1 was playing without their intended Jungler Rami “Inori” Charagh, with Kevin "Zentinel" Pires taking his place and performing admirably under the circumstances. They also were experimenting in similar fashion to Cloud 9 between Mid laners Choi "Pirean" Junsik and Andrew "Slooshi" Pham. There was also a point where Slooshi substituted in for Brandon "Mash" Phan in the AD Carry role as well.

Despite the difficult start to the Split, once Inori showed up, things began turning around. Their play consistently improved; they are the only team in the NA LCS to take a series off of TSM. That alone is something that is worthy of praise and exceeded any expectations about the team. Aside from that, they were able to climb in the standings and provide themselves better leverage as they moved into the promotion tournament. If their upswing is any indication, it's highly likely we will be seeing more of P1 in 2017, and that they certainly won't be an occupant of the lower end of the standings.

You can always expect TSM to cause a stir one way or another each split. In Spring Split, TSM had superstars in every role but couldn't manage to pull it together in the regular season. Even with an impressive playoffs run, they left plenty to be desired by their fans. In the off season, Bora "Yellowstar" Kim returned to his prior team Fnatic and TSM began their search for his replacement. The replacement for this legendary player Vincent "Biofrost" Wang caused quite a stir. No one really knew what to expect from this rookie going into the Summer Split.

After such a disappointing Spring Split performance, there were mixed expectations for TSM. There weren't many that doubted they would be playoffs team, but it's hard to say anyone honestly expected the complete dominance TSM held in the NA LCS.

In the Summer Split, with a new rookie support on board, TSM went undefeated until they dropped a series in a shocking loss to Phoenix1. Yiliang "Doublelift" Peng credits that loss to the fact that TSM played poorly, but even if that is so, this loss proved TSM to be fallible. Despite the one loss, TSM has defied expectations and pushed Immortals off their pedestal with arguably a much more impressive run in the standings.

With playoffs coming up, one has to wonder if that loss was merely a fluke or if anyone can take on TSM and be a contender for the win in playoffs.

Mixed Bag

There are few teams in the past or present that seem to fall into a cycle of surprising and disappointing followers of NA LCS as Team Liquid. Every split, they're expected to be a top team, and every split there is plenty of promise, but they never quite seem able to get it together. Fifth place is cutting the difference of where most people expected them to be -- middle of the pack.

However, the circumstances that put them there were highly questionable. The team seemed to struggle to find synergy, even with superstars like Joshua "Dardoch" Hartnett and former World Champion Chae "Piglet" Gwangjin. It's unfortunate that even after a substantial time playing together, the teamwork was simply not to be found.

TL made a difficult to decision to move Piglet to their Academy roster and their Academy AD Carry, Jovani "fabbbyyy" Guillen to the NA LCS team. This instantly appeared to lift the team's morale and level of play. The turnaround was impressive and TL became a contender once more, securing a place in playoffs.

They still seem to struggle to coordinate and did not meet high expectations that were set of them at the beginning. It's highly unlikely they would win playoffs, but they've surprised everyone before, they could do it again.

In Spring Split, we had two new arrivals into the NA LCS: Team EnVyUs and Apex. Both teams had veterans on their squads and hardly qualify as completely rookie teams; still, as with any new arrivals, there was plenty of hype and mixed expectations.

NV is a team that was expected to do well with a large amount of hype around Shin "Seraph" Wooyeong and Noh "Ninja" Geonwoo. Their roster was full of talented players though.  Kim "Procxin" Seyong is arguably one of the strongest performing Junglers in the league and despite criticisms Benjamin "LOD" deMunck has proven himself reliable. Nickolas "Hakuho" Surgent is an often overlooked support, but serves as an important pillar for the team.

The team started off with a bang and a strong record. However, it quickly started to come apart at the seams as the competition became more difficult and, for some unknown reason, NV stopped playing to favor their strongest player, Seraph. The inconsistency could be expected from a new team though, and the mix of exceeding expectations and disappointing come out as a wash.

Apex is a very similar situation. There weren't many expectations of the team but their Top laner Jeon "Ray" Jiwon proved to be a force to be reckoned with. However, this was not enough to keep Apex in the top of the standings and they struggled throughout the middle of the Split. Toward the end, Jang "Keane" Laeyoung was able to guide the team toward a successful close out and potential playoff spot.

In 2017, it should be expected that they teams will continue to be respectable and perhaps even pull out of their middle of the pack status.

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At the of the Summer Split, there were a lot of surprises and shattering of expectations both good and bad. It begs the question -- will expectations be met in playoffs, or are we in for more surprises?

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All images courtesy of Riot Games' LoLesports Flickr.