The Summer Split has come to an end and Spring Promotions are right around the corner! On Sunday, four teams – two from the LCS and two from the Challenger Series – will compete for the two available LCS spots. In the first best-of-five series, Enemy will seek to defend their spot against Team Coast; in the second, Team 8 will square off against Team Imagine.

Enemy – Struggling to Stay Afloat

Enemy qualified for the 2015 NA LCS Summer Split after defeating Team Dragon Knights in the Spring Challenger Series Playoffs. While their win over TDK was convincing, their performance during the Summer Split was shaky; they placed ninth and won only four games during the entire split. A closer examination of these wins proves even more telling: two were against TDK, one was against a Hai-less Cloud 9, and the last was versus Gravity. Their victory over Cloud 9 occurred when this once great team was at their weakest, as the departure of Hai proved severely crippling. Their wins against TDK weren't particularly impressive either; in the first, Team Dragon Knights had multiple substitutes, while the second was only TDK's third game with their full roster. With the exception of Gravity, who showed brief moments of brilliance during the Summer Split, NME was unable to defeat a top team in the Summer Split. Defeating Gravity wasn't all that big of an accomplishment either, as it was GV's first game with their new jungler, Move. Despite having an underwhelming split, Enemy still have the chance to prove that they are worthy of competing in the LCS. The recent addition of Joey “YoungBuck” Steltenpool as head coach might fix some of their issues, but the effectiveness of this player-turned-coach remains to be seen.

Team Coast – Desperate for Redemption

Team Coast has had its share of ups and downs. During their stint as Good Game University, they went 2-3 against Team SoloMid during the Season 3 Spring Playoff finals. This success was short-lived; a disappointing 9-19 performance during the following Summer Split included a seven game losing streak. Team Coast was eventually relegated to the Challenger Series after failing to qualify for the 2014 Summer Split. After undergoing a number of roster changes, they would eventually qualify for the 2015 Spring Split in the expansion tournament. This was short-lived, though, as they failed to qualify for the following Summer Split. More roster changes occurred, including LCS veteran Brandon “Saintvicious” DiMarco being appointed to head coach. Citing his role in turning Curse Academy (now Gravity) into a competitive LCS team, many hailed the addition of Saintvicious as a sign that Coast was headed in the right direction. An unfortunate 2-3 loss to Renegades barred Coast from immediate LCS qualification, causing others to wonder if Coast, despite undergoing numerous roster swaps and support staff changes, was still the same underperforming team. Nevertheless, Coast is no stranger to promotion tournaments. They have proven capable of transitioning from the Challenger Series to the LCS on multiple occasions and seem dead set on doing so again.

Team 8 – Roster Swaps and Pharmaceutical Dreams

Team 8's performance during their two LCS splits was mediocre at best. They placed seventh in the 2015 Summer Split with a 9-9 record, and eighth in the Spring Split with a record of 6-12 . A number of roster changes had a debilitating effect on this team. Both their marksman, maplestreet, and their mid laner, Slooshi, left very early in the Summer Split. maplestreet's replacement, Nien, struggled at first; he did poorly in lane and often had questionable positioning in team fights. (To be fair, he did improve as the split progressed.) While the addition of goldenglue in the mid lane was a decent replacement, it didn't have a significant impact on the team's overall performance. Their top laner, CaliTrlolz, was known for his off-meta picks and his ability to carry games during the Spring Split. However, the implementation of Chad “History Teacher” Smeltz as head coach resulted in CaliTrlolz having less of a say in picks & bans.

This meant he was often forced into playing more meta-appropriate top laners, such as Shen and Maokai, which conflicted with the carry-oriented approach he previously enjoyed. Prior to playing in the LCS, CaliTrlolz was split between pursuing professional gaming and enrolling in pharmacy school. A successful appeal (and a petition that reached nearly twenty-thousand signatures) allowed this top laner to defer pharmacy school attendance for one year. With said year coming to an end, one can't help but wonder if CaliTrlolz will revert to his comfort picks of Jax, Irelia and Malphite in order to keep his teammates in the LCS.

Team Imagine – From Darkness to Light

Formerly TSM Darkness, Team Imagine formed when they lost their sponorship from Team SoloMid. TSM's statement cites t3azer's release of CLG Black's scrim footage to Team Fusion as the primary cause, but others have speculated that TSM Darkness' 1-7 record played a significant role in this decision as well. After being dropped by TSM, this team changed names multiple times – they were known as Elomingle, and then Magnetic before finally settling on Imagine. To further complicate matters, they merged with Odyssey Gaming under Imagine's name. In addition to name changes, Imagine underwent numerous roster swaps; none of the players from TSM Darkness are on the main roster.

During the 2015 NACS Summer Playoffs, Team Imagine were defeated by Renegades in the semifinals. They continued fighting, however, and defeated Cloud 9 Tempest. Although they are a relatively new team, they sport a talented and experienced roster: both Mancloud and Steelback have played internationally, and their jungler, Moon, has been hailed as a skilled up-and-coming jungler. Most of the players on Team Imagine have floated around the Challenger Series for quite some time, and are likely quite hungry for a spot on the LCS.

The Challenger Series has certainly grown over the past few years, but it still lacks the security, prestige and paycheck conferred by a spot in the LCS. Many of the players in these matches still have much to prove. Mancloud was once regarded as one of the deadliest North American mid laners, but he has since failed to recreate his Season 3 success. Team Coast's Cris, commonly described as being “too good for Challenger, but not good enough for the LCS” has the opportunity to silence his naysayers once and for all. And let us not forget CaliTrlolz, who will be playing his last series of competitive League of Legends before pursuing higher education. With such high stakes, Sunday's games will certainly be full of both elation and heartbreak. You can catch Enemy vs. Team Coast at 12 PM and Team 8 vs. Team Imagine at 5 PM on Riot Games' Twitch channel.

Credit to eSportspedia.com for detailed information on the teams involved.

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