Team SoloMid vs CLG

To close out the week we have a rather fascinating clash between two perennial North American titans: Team SoloMid and Counter Logic Gaming. Now, coming into the 2020 season, it would've been impossible not to get excited at the sight of these two behemoths trading heavy blows on the Summoner's Rift. After all, both organizations made all the right moves in an attempt to right many wrongs from 2019.

Team SoloMid changed three members of their starting line-up (for the better, as well), whereas Counter Logic Gaming got a bit more firepower by bringing over former World Champion Crown from OpTic Gaming and Smoothie from Team SoloMid. But neither team was able to start the season off as well as they had hoped, or as well as many expected them to. Team SoloMid lost to Immortals in one of the worst and most boring games in recent history, whereas Counter Logic Gaming are yet to register a win after three games.

Why they regressed so much in such a short amount of time is anyone's guess at this point. They went from being a Top 4 team in Summer 2019 to a bottom-tier dweller. To make matters even worse, they haven't really shown anything worthy of mentioning in their last three outings. In fact, they haven't shown anything at all. Their early games are pretty solid overall (barring any huge egregious mistakes that tend to happen, mostly from Wiggily and/or Ruin), but once they need to transition into the mid game, they tend to fall apart almost immediately. There's no synergy to speak of, and they're pretty underwhelming individually as well.

Could they improve? Absolutely. In fact, it's only a matter of time -- we know what they're capable of and it's a shame that they haven't been able to get on the same page yet. But the season is long and they can defintiely afford a couple of early fumbles.

Opposite them, we have Team SoloMid who are coming off of their first 2020 win over Evil Geniuses. It wasn't pretty and it certainly didn't come easy, but they got the job done. The thing is, there's a lot to like with this incarnation of Team SoloMid. They're rough around the edges, their mid game is horrendous, they're often scattered across the map without any clear game plan in mind. But once they do get on the same page -- in those fleeting, short burst moments -- they look like a bona fide titan. They're all so insanely talented and they're brimming with potential. The only thing they need is time, and fortunately, much like Counter Logic Gaming, they have it. This isn't a team that is going to dethrone Liquid in two months' time, but instead a line-up that could accomplish great things in the long run.

We simply have to side with Team SoloMid on this one. They've shown more overall, and their win over Evil Geniuses certainly gave us a better view into a spectacular line-up that's bound to dominate sooner rather than later. Counter Logic Gaming are by no means a pushover, so expect a fairly competitive and even affair that should, eventually, go in Team SoloMid's favor.