Play-ins looked phenomenal for Cloud9. They showcased utility, growth, and consistency of play – something even Team WE could not showcase. However, this week sees the start of the Group Stage where C9 will join TSM and Immortals in taking on the rest of the world. Fortunately, the NA teams look the best they’ve looked in a long time.

We have to once again shout-out Cloud9 for how well they’ve done, but after the gauntlet and play-ins, they have now been slotted into Group A, by far the most challenging of any grouping, and many are already seeing it as a death knell for C9. However, the round robin can in many ways favor smaller teams. If C9’s goal is to take Worlds, they should be expecting to have to take out SKT at some point anyway. The Group stage actually offers a way to do it in fewer games.

A best of five serious favors more experienced teams that never budge under pressure – something Korea and China have both been known for – but a round robin could allow fewer games to take a victory against SKT. A single victory against SKT could spell their defeat (depending on how they do against the other teams). Obviously, EDG and SKT are still looking to be the favorites, but C9 are by no means out, and if they can strategize well enough, they just have to survive the round robin against these teams and then the rest of the tournament is smooth sailing.

IMT have it easier, but not by much. Longzhu is a tough competitor – their last split they beat SKT in a clean 3-0 sweep. That’s the bad news. The good news is that Longzhu is far less experienced than SKT, so a format against so many different styles and requiring such endurance might prove difficult for the reigning champs from Korea. IMT have also been training day and night and are the only foreign team with three members to break into the top 10 challengers in Korea. IMT sub jungler (AnDa) and sub support (Stunt) sit in #4 and #5 spots in all of Korea, while mid-laner Pobelter has pushed himself to #10 – more work than any other team in Worlds.

Meanwhile, TSM have put in less game time, but they are facing what everyone agrees is the easiest Group of Worlds. TSM’s strength has been their consistency this year – they have not had the flashiest plays, the most creative, or the most surprising, but they calmly handled every game and remained unphased by losses or upsets. Doublelift is also looking stellar this year with his top three champs in Korea having above 75% win-rates.

Between the three NA teams, we have an even difficulty spread with C9 getting the hardest and TSM the easiest. Still, if ever there was a year to show how far NALCS has come, it is Worlds 2017.