During the past 10 weeks, eight teams have been duking it out for a spot to play in season three of the League of Legends Championship Series. Here we are, at the end of the spring season, and the action hasn’t let up one bit. Week 10 of LCS, known as Super Week, had a jam-packed schedule, showcasing 20 games throughout three days.

Super Week saw the emergence of a clear-cut leader for first place, while highlighting the fall from grace of another team. Team SoloMid Snapdragon was a respectable third place going into Super Week’s festivities, but phenomenal team play helped it go 5-0 this week, the best record for the season. TSM’s jungler, TheOddOne, was also recognized as week 10’s most valuable player. While TSM came out of Super Week victorious, Team Dignitas was not so lucky. Dignitas held on steady to second place coming into Week 10, albeit a little shaky after losing two in a row during Week 9, but couldn’t shake off the losing streak, losing two more in an uncharacteristic performance by what was considered to be one of North America’s deadliest teams. In one of the most one-sided matches of the week, Counter Logic Gaming steamrollered through the weak and defenseless Dignitas players, quickly finishing them off with ease, 12-0 in kills. Super Week wasn’t complete for Dignitas, facing against the resurgent TSM in its final match. Dignitas looked to pick itself out of the losing streak, but overconfidence in its team play stopped them from closing the game, as TSM was able to capitalize on its poor objective plays and secure the win. TSM ended LCS and Super Week on an amazing seven-game winning streak.

The conclusion of LCS also brought some big roster changes, with teams set to head into the playoffs. Seventh place compLexity lost its AD Carry, Brunch U, who cited “unhappiness” with playing “League of Legends.” The world of eSports is grueling, both mentally and physically as players condition themselves, clocking in hours of game time, day in and day out. Time invested can really tax players, and it’s hard to compete at your very best without being able to enjoy playing the game. Naturally, Brunch U made the call to take an early retirement. The other roster change came from second place Curse and its Support player Elementz. Elementz and Curse management “felt it is best if Elementz and the team go their separate ways, starting with the spring playoffs.” Elementz has been a figure in the “League of Legends” scene since beta testing, and had an early run with the long-standing Counter Logic Gaming before playing for Curse. Rhux, who plays for Curse’s secondary team, Curse Academy, will replace Elementz.

But the biggest story from Super Week came from the match of the spring season, when place Vulcun played against second place Curse. Something was different from this match, as odd champions were banned, unexpected champions selected and roles switched around. It was unusual for viewers, but the game felt very relaxed. Seeing as how it was the final game of the tournament, some viewers felt the teams weren’t taking the match seriously, opting to have some fun and switch up their play styles. Others felt the teams were not giving the match 100 percent of their effort, and even wanted “League of Legends” developer, Riot Games, to take some sort of action against the teams. But with all major sports, as the season nears its end, teams usually rest their starters. For competitive “League of Legends,” that equates to trying out potential team compositions, especially the unconventional kind. Why risk exposing another strategy for teams to analyze, all for a match that can’t affect playoff placement? Curse could not move with a win or a loss, while Vulcun, would greatly benefit with a win, therefore opting them for a better placement in the spring playoffs. It was a win-win for everyone, viewers got a fun game out of it, and Vulcun was able to place fifth in the spring playoff standings.

Next week marks the beginning of spring playoffs. At the conclusion of Week 10’s matches, this is how the teams stand:

1.  Team SoloMid Snapdragon21-7

2.  Curse 19-9

3.  Team Dignitas 17-11

4.  Counter Logic Gaming  13-15

5.  Vulcun 12-16

6.  Good Game University 11-17

7.  Team MRN 10-18

8.  compLexity 9-19

For finishing first and second, TSM and Curse received a bye to the second round of playoffs, playing the winners of CLG vs. Vulcun and Dignitas vs. GGU, respectively. The bottom two teams, Team MRN and compLexity, must now prequalify for the summer season after missing spring playoffs.

From May 24 – 26, the top players from around the world will play the first ever “League of Legends” All-Star match in Shanghai. After intense fan voting during the past month, the votes have been tallied. Here are the teams who you, the fans, have selected as the North American and European all-stars:

North America

•  Saintvicious (Curse)

•  Scarra (Team Dignitas)

•  Dyrus (TSM Snapdragon)

•  Xpecial (TSM Snapdragon)

•  Doublelift (Counter Logic Gaming)

Europe

•  Diamondprox (Gambit BenQ)

•  Alex Ich (Gambit BenQ)

•  sOAZ (Fnatic)

•  EDward (Gambit BenQ)

•  Yellowpete (EG Raidcall)

The stage is set and the players are ready, so don’t forget to tune into na.lolesports.com/ next week for all of the exciting “League of Legends” action.