Echo Fox looked like one of the best teams in the NA LCS going into week 8. After an 0-2 performance though, there’s a chance they could miss playoffs.
Last week they were tied for second place and many people expected them to earn a first-round bye for playoffs. Two questionable drafts and two losses later, and Fox now sits in a precarious three-way tie for third with the two six place teams only one win behind them.
The good news is, Echo Fox didn’t look completely terrible last weekend. In their game against 100T on Saturday, a slightly unusual draft and an incredible game from AnDa on Poppy was their ultimate downfall. Dardoch was shut down early and Fox was left to play catch up for most of the match.
100T outdrafted and outplayed Echo Fox
Then against OpTic on Sunday, flex picks and counters were the name of the game. Fox held the upper hand through a majority of the game and managed to keep an OP Fizz in check. Big had a monster performance on Zilean for OpTic and Dardoch played a great jungle Aatrox. It was all going well for Fox until they made a critical mistake around the Elder. OpTic stole the dragon and crushed them with the buff.
The bad news is that Echo Fox has to face Team Liquid in their penultimate match of the summer split. A win would secure them a playoff spot, but a loss would make their final game of the season against Clutch a potential must-win, depending on the outcome of the OpTic and TSM games. Regardless, Fox needs just one win to secure themselves a spot in the playoffs.