Golden Guardians vs FlyQuest

Next up, we have a very fascinating clash between FlyQuest and Golden Guardians. Now, on paper, this is quite a fantastic match-up, especially given the fact that both teams love to skirmish from the very get-go. They love a good challenge and will never slow down which, in turn, makes their games endlessly entertaining.

It's also quite interesting because GGS will finally have a potent weapon in the mid lane: Tanner "Damonte" Damonte. He's by no means a mid lane giant, but he can definitely hard carry his team to victory when given the right support and resources. As a team, this GGS has a ton of potential, but their start hasn't been nearly as clean as people expected. Having a 1W-4L record after three weeks of play is by no means acceptable for a team many deemed a shoo-in for the playoffs. And it's not just the record either -- their play and cohesion leave a lot to be desired, and they're bafflingly volatile as well.

They went toe-to-toe with Cloud9 in an insanely competitive clash last week, and then couldn't reproduce the same level of play a day later -- against noticeably worse competition. We've seen their potential and we were not left indifferent, but until they manage to maintain their strengths and reduce their inconsistency, giving them our benefit of the doubt will be downright impossible.

FlyQuest, on the other hand, have solidified their spot at the top and with good reason. They're one of the best and most flexible teams the LCS has to offer and have very distinct strengths and weaknesses. They're so darn fun to watch and have a metric ton of talent and potential. Ever since they made Colin "Solo" Earnest their starting top laner, they've looked better and better with each passing game. With such stellar players in almost each and every single role, they're one of the front-runners for representing North America at the upcoming World Championship in China.

Santorin, in particular, has been having a renaissance split, highlighted by his mind-blowing Trundle games -- his ingenious pathing, early game impact, and pristine positioning make FlyQuest an early game behemoth. He's always at the right place at the right time, and has a champion ocean that is perfect for today's meta.

Still, GGS is a very dangerous bunch, even though they might not be playing particularly well at this point in time. Their biggest mistakes are relatively easy to fix, but whether or not they know where to look and how to approach such a thing remains to be seen. Regardless, they have all the right tools at their disposal to compete on even footing, at least early on. As the game progresses, however, their inherent flaws and weaknesses will start to take over, much like they did over the last two and a half weeks.

We're going with FlyQuest on this one but it might not be as easy as most people expect. Either way, we're definitely in for an exciting skirmish-heavy game!