Week three is around the corner and the stars are starting to make their presence known, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t still a chance for some of those lagging behind to catch up. In fact, this is the perfect week to make a comeback, especially for teams that have no had far more time to build synergy.

Match to Watch: TSM VS 100 THIEVES

TSM’s start was… rough. Zven and Mithy have been playing a world apart from everyone else, which means they are a great duo, and a terrible team. However, the rest of TSM has been getting better and better. Hauntzer and Bjergsen have stepped up hugely, and even MikeYeung is starting to get into his roll. 100 Thieves, by comparison, had their first loss last week, and the steam train that was 100T might slowdown now that coaches and teams have had some time to assess their strength

What to Expect:
Bjergsen and Hauntzer have a fire inside them, and it’s likely they are going to pop off – provided they don’t retreat into their usual defensive mannerisms. If TSM get too defensive, 100T is likely to run away with this game, not just because they have been crushing map objectives as of late. Ryu is known to unexpectedly split and backdoor, and if he is up to any of his old tricks against TSM, it will likely spell disaster for their still floundering cohesion.

MATCH TO WATCH: CLOUD9 VS OPTIC GAMING

Cloud9 has been on the rise ever since their first rocky game. Svenskeren is still finding his footing, but Licorice is doing work towards earning rookie of the split. He came onto one of the best teams in the NA LCS and has been crushing top lane, even against Huni. OpTic Gaming, on the other hand, are the ones everyone has been expecting a little more from. Akaadian is a known carry jungler, one that plays fast and aggressive, and his caged and restrained play style seems out of sorts with his strengths. This is even more true of PowerOfEvil, the European mid-laner that everyone has expected huge things from.

What to Expect:
It’s likely that Licorice is going to trounce Zig unless OpTic let him unleash some of his pocket picks – like Kled – or unless Akaadian spends some time babysitting. The real show should be in the mid lane, though, where Jensen and PowerOfEvil go head-to-head. We’ve seen PoE at Worlds, and he is no joke. However, even if PoE can beat Jensen and Zig holds Licorice, C9’s macro play has been second to none thus far, so this is a true trial by fire for OpTic.

PLAYER TO WATCH: HUNI

Last week, the man to watch was Huni, and – surprise! – it still is, but not for the same reason. Week 1 saw Huni as a carrying monster, dragging the rest of Echo Fox with him to the finish line. However, Week 2 we saw Huni playing late game champions and getting heavily aggressed on. In both games, he was shut down or crushed in the top lane, and in both matches, he made it to the late game and still managed to be the most relevant member of his team. The question of Week 3 is if any team has an effective strategy against Huni. It seems like it should be to crush him if he’s on a carry like Lucian and to leave him be if he’s on late game champ, but maybe there is no counter. Maybe he’s just Huni.