Echo Fox have been through a lot this split, with losing 3 out of 5 of their original lineup, it’s no wonder we see them at the bottom of the gauntlet. Clutch Gaming don’t have a similar excuse, as their lineup has stayed the same for the entire Summer Split, but the team looks to lack the ability to control the map and also have a consistent carry performance from any of their players. With that said, both teams are looking to surpass one another and move on to face TSM in the 2nd round of the gauntlet, so let’s unravel what it will take for both teams to win their game on Friday. Things are about to get bloody. Echo Fox • Don’t turbo int FOX have the bloodiest games on average and both Huni and Dardoch are responsible for the most deaths combined out of any top/jungle duo as noted in my previous article. Take things slower and ward towards Huni’s side if you have to. It’s been shown that Huni doesn’t know how to play passively, and it might be wise to go back to the liturgy of Huni by playing towards his lane, allowing him to go unpunished in the side lane. • Allow Damonte to carry This team doesn’t have enough faith in their mid laner, but he’s been a rookie that has burgeoned, capable of going against the best mid laners in the world without faltering. Even during his match against TSM he looked quite capable with Ryze. Get him on a pick which enables his ability to get lane priority, which will be the liaison for Huni. • Punish Clutch Gaming’s passivity CG is excruciatingly slow, so much so that they are probably committing one of the seven deadly sins; punish them (smite them?) for their inability to make proactive plays in the early game. I want to see aggressive invades from Dardoch, pushed lanes and overall pernicious gameplay from FOX. Rule with an iron fist. • Limit LirA The easiest way to limit CG is to hamstring their jungler. He’s proven reticent to try new jungle champions and since that is the case, ban Graves. Don’t worry about any of his other jungle picks because they all look quite mediocre. Clutch Gaming • If LirA has been practicing, prove it The major surprise I expect to see in this series is LirA come back with a vengeance. I sincerely hope he is more practiced on the Olaf pick, as this might be left up by FOX. Test their draft phase and see if they underestimate you on blue side. First pick your jungler since his champion pool is so limited, but that’s only if Olaf is up for grabs. • Febiven needs to step up Febiven used to strike fear into the hearts of mid laners. This used to be a mid laner which would only go for the guaranteed outplay, but he would actually go for it. Febiven has fallen into placation and it’s disappointing to see such a star player doubt his own ability. I want to see more aggression out of Febiven, to prove once again why he’s a world class player. • Get bot lane priority Apollo and Hakuo are the age old duo that seem to be incapable of functioning without lane priority. The have always been reliant upon the lane dominant Xayah/Rakan pairing, which is an ode to how they function in whichever team they happen to be in. This bot lane is very static, and just like with FOX playing towards top side in Spring Split, CG should do their own comfort strategy by enabling their bot lane. This matchup will be interesting but I still predict the series to go 3-1 in favor of Echo Fox. ___ Izento has been a writer for the LoL scene since Season 7, and has been playing the game since Season 1. Follow him on Twitter at @ggIzento for more League content. Images courtesy of Lolesports Flickr.