For the last week of the LTA Bo1 stage, Cloud9 ran the gauntlet of top teams they'd avoided so far: Team Liquid, FlyQuest, and LYON. LYON wasn't power ranked within the top 4, but they're the only clear contender from the bottom LTA teams capable of contesting the best teams in the league. C9 had proved fallible in the past, but took the opportunity to seize the Groups phase first seed.

Rayan "Sniper" Shoura

Rayan "Sniper" Shoura, despite opening the split with a remarkable win on Riven, has played Gnar and Jayce almost exclusively in Split 2. He's been a consistent highlight for 100 Thieves — though the team still tends to overextend at times, Sniper's found a reliable playstyle on meta champions. Last year, it seemed like he'd be defined by his off-meta, hyper-aggressive champion pool and playstyle for the rest of his career. He has, fortunately, evolved.

Set to face off against Gabriël "Bwipo" Rau this weekend, Sniper has a chance to prove — finally — that he can be the stable toplaner that 100T has sorely lacked at key moments. Even in Split 1, his expert teamfighting on champions like Jax helped take 100T to the finals. Now, Sniper has to prove that he deserves an international tournament berth.

Robert "Blaber" Huang

After a disastrous end to the 2024 season — characterized by generally subpar individual performances all year — it's been great to see the NA jungle GOAT return to form. In Split 1, though C9 stumbled in Brazil, the team proved capable of contending for the title. With TL and 100T failing to reclaim consistency so far this split, C9 are clear favorites to go to MSI, and Robert "Blaber" Huang — as always — is at the center of their success.

This weekend, with all eyes on the marquee matchup between FLY and C9, the LTA broadcast highlighted Blaber and Kacper "Inspired" Słoma. Both players, having played against eachother for years in NA, have jousted for the title of "Best jungler in North America." Blaber's routing of FlyQuest, who played a comfortable comp built around Inspired's infamous Ivern, demonstrated that he's ready to challenge for the throne.

Lee "Loki" Sang-min

Lee "Loki" Sang-min has, across the board, been severely underestimated. LYON midlaner Kang "Saint" Sung-in cited Loki as the weakest of his opponents this week, and other players have echoed the sentiment. Loki proved them wrong in style. Though Blaber won Player of the Week honors, Loki was the clear second choice. He put on two of the best Azir performances NA's seen in years, and followed it up with an easy, dominant win on Corki.

Azir and Corki are the bread-and-butter midlaners for a reason — truly high level players can win teamfights single-handedly with Azir or take over the game by scaling on Corki. Going into the Groups phase, Loki could prove himself as the best mid in NA.

Ian Victor "FBI" Huang

Though Sean "Yeon" Sung put on a clinic in Split 1 after Fahad "Massu" Abdulmalek's breakout international Worlds 2024 performance, neither has been the highlight story of Split 2 in the North Conference. Ian Victor "FBI" Huang, leading a 100T squad that seems reinvented with him by their side, has once again started to assert himself as — potentially — the best ADC in the league. Jesper "Zven" Svenningsen, who made a strong argument to be on this list, has been the other standout botlaner.

This week, on Ezreal and Miss Fortune, FBI lived up to 100T's active, playmaking reputation. Despite being easily the most aggressive ADC in the league, he's by far the tamest player on his team — he'll always follow them into battle, but when they risk throwing their lead, he'll keep it safe.

Philippe "Vulcan" Laflamme

To celebrate his birthday weekend, Philippe "Vulcan" Laflamme put on some of the best individual performances he's had in years — even in Split 1, where Vulcan's veteran engages, shotcalling, and laning brought C9 many of their wins, none of his performances were this clean. On Saturday, his signature Bard routed FlyQuest and Alan "Busio" Cwalina cleanly, finding several teamfight-winning ults that would fit easily into a career highlight reel for Vulcan's famous pocket pick.

After two years of disappointing performances with Korean superstar imports — Lee "Prince" Chae-hwan and Kim "Berserker" Min-cheol — Vulcan's return to laning with Zven has reminded fans why he was once the most feared support in the league. He's a laning menace on ranged supports and enchanters, and he's one of the best snap-engage players in the West on melee champions. Four teams have strong cases for the best support in the league, but Vulcan's performance this weekend cleanly outclassed two of them. He's the one to watch in the groups phase.