Set 1. Unsold Stuff Gaming vs 7th Heaven 2-1

Five weeks later and the rematch between USG and 7h finally ignite as former 7h players CLOCKDAY and Enty look to exact revenge for their loss of their former team in round 1 of the LJL. While in the first faceoff of these teams showed USG to be disorganized, the team has pulled together to cover up their weaknesses and CLOCKDAY has really hit his stride at this point in the season, especially with the continued target bans of Zilean on the USG midlaner.

Awaker has been known to be one of the best junglers in Japan, but has struggled to shine with the new 7h team, and it shows in this set against his former teammates. He himself performs well in each game, but it’s 7h’s turn to look disorganized, whereas USG has grown to be a solid five man unit and can actually apply their crowd control spells properly in teamfights.

That isn’t to say that 7th Heaven didn’t know what they needed to do to win the game. They certainly tried to shut down apaMEN and CLOCKDAY but every time they tried to, they either failed miserably or USG threw a counterpunch somewhere else on the map and came out ahead. The second game of the series where 7th Heaven came out ahead was a game that USG lost moreso than a game that 7h won, but still a win to be proud of. Moving forward toward the end of the split raises interesting questions to how far USG can go by the time the Summer Split begins this year.

Set 2: Rascal Jester vs BlackEye 2-0

The story for BlackEye doesn’t change week to week, but this time - for this set - it tells a rather telling concern for Rascal Jester. Week to week, BE gets completely demolished even when they play better like they did in Round 5. Rascal Jester certainly gets the job done and finishes off BE in quick games, but their play seems rather sporadic, and their weaknesses and flaws are exposed against a lesser team. It’s a telling story as to why Rascal Jester sits at the bottom of the league and could be at risk in the future. With the Japanese server finally being released into open beta, if there’s a new flux of players looking to go competitive, they’ll be eyeing for RJ’s spot if they continue to make simple mistakes in their play.

Set 3: Rampage vs DetonatioN FocusMe 1-2

This is the most awaited game of the LJL as the two strongest teams duke it out once again, and on fair ping and ground with the Japanese server launching. The first two games are shockingly close with Rampage toe-to-toe. The issues where Rampage would look disorganized in the early game have vanished for the set, and they’re taking gold or kill leads from the top team in Japan. With the exception of the final game, it was incredibly even for the first two games with it looking like a true competition for the top seat in Japan. The shining star in this set for me from Rampage is the midlaner Roki, who gave Ceros a huge run for his money in each game of the set. His growth in the midlane this season helps the scene as a whole in that it helps the scene not be as top heavy as it was, with DFM taking a hammer to glass bottles week to week.

DFM has rarely been tested in the LJL up to this point -- so when the third game of the set comes around, it’s Yutapon’s Poppy that gets key engages onto the Rampage lineup that stomp out the rebellion of the peasants in the face of the reigning shoguns of Japan. Yutapon also had several clinching plays on his Nautilus in the other games of the series; the rest of the wildcard scene should be looking out for them. This is the series other regions should be looking at to take down Detonation FocusMe when scouting for the IWCI tournament, unless by miracle DFM are chopped in their prime before their international showing.