LMQ Versus Curse Academy NACS Playoffs Preview

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The ever-dominant LMQ faces down Curse Academy in the initial stages of the North American Challenger Series playoffs – the first step for either team in their respective bids for a hotly contested LCS seat.

LMQ

Former Tencent LPL team LMQ is considered an invasive threat for pretty good reasons: the Chinese transplants have found American waters much to their liking, sweeping the Challenger scene by large margins ever since they touched down. It's easier, in fact, to count the games they've lost than the number of teams they've torn down in 2-0 sets, and they are among the few teams expected to make it through LCS promotions after the conclusion of the spring split.

Notably, the team's performance back in China wasn't anywhere near as good as it is now. They stagnated in the lower third of LPL standings, despite taking the occasional game off veteran heavy-hitters like WE and Invictus Gaming, though the acquisition of former Royal Club and World Championship representative top laner Ackerman (formerly Godlike) has done much to patch key weaknesses.

But the real focus will be on XiaoWeiXiao (no relations to the Team WE AD player) and Vasilii, the latter of which has made a name as the North American Challenger scene's most aggressive bot lane carry. They might not have done well in the LPL, but their imported aggression – a notable feature of the Chinese scene as a whole – has proven near-impossible for North American Challenger teams to deal with. As the first place winners of both Challenger Series sessions thus far, they are the favorites coming into the playoffs.

Curse Academy

Curse Academy's been one of the highest-profile amateur teams since the start of the LCS, but they've found it difficult to translate notoriety into success. More than 20 players have called Curse Academy their home over the team's year-long history, while only Rhux remains as an original member – IWillDominate has since joined the primary LCS roster, and Pobelter's now with Evil Geniuses. But despite the many roster changes, their results have been consistent – that is, consistently short of a medal finish throughout their participation in premier-level events.

The start of 2014 hasn't been much more encouraging, with a defeat to their sibling LCS team in the first session of the North American Challenger League to usher in the New Year, then dropping out early to Determined Gaming in the first Spring Challenger Series. But it would be a grave mistake to write them off, as the talent of the current roster is very real. Their February acquisition of former Coast AD carry DontMashMe significantly strengthens their late-game power – a part of the game that LMQ's struggled with (if only because of how rarely they need to deal with it).

They also have more research material to work within in their fight versus LMQ, because the North American Challenger scene now isn't quite the pushover it was when the Chinese team first settled upon western shores.

What To Expect

"LMQ will win," expects Andrew "Glyceroll" Whitmore, LoLesports' Challenger Series specialist. "But it will be a solid set of games. Curse Academy is one of the top Challenger teams, and one of the few that can actually bring a decent fight to LMQ. But they're just not adept at dealing with LMQ's sheer pressure and aggression. If Curse Academy is absolutely on-point, I could it see it being close, but LMQ has been too dominant not to be my pick."

LMQ's dropped individual games in the recent past, notably to LoLPro and Team 8 – though their overall record against either team remains significantly advantageous. But they are still far short of perfect. "Their biggest weakness is their late game," said Whitmore. "If they don't snowball the game into a victory, they have a ton of problems."

Whether or not Curse Academy can isolate and exploit those problems remains to be seen. As the most dominant non-LCS team in North America, all eyes are on LMQ to make a tradition out of dominance.

LMQ and Curse Academy's showdown will be on April 12, at 2:00 PM PDT (11:00 PM CET).

Image Credit: LMQ, Leaguepedia