The North American spring League Championship Series regular season has come to a close, and it's time once again for Riot Games to hand out their seasonal awards. They will be announced throughout the month of April, culminating with the MVP award given live from the NA LCS Finals on April 22 in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Who will win MVP this year? After another regular-season title, will Team SoloMid's ace Søren "Bjergsen" Bjerg add an unprecedented fourth league MVP award to his already stacked résumé? Or will someone new who has made a sizable impact this season swoop in from years in South Korea's LCK and take the prize, such as Phoenix1's Noh "Arrow" Dong-hyeon or a Dignitas' Kim "Ssumday" Chan-ho?
We asked three players from three clubs whom they would award the honor to if given the choice.
FlyQuest's Galen "Moon" Holgate
Following a rocky rookie year in 2016 on NRG and Team Liquid, Moon rocketed back in his sophomore stint on FlyQuest by being one of the main reasons the organization made the postseason in its first LCS split. He led all junglers in KDA ratio this season at 3.8.
"It's got to be [Kevin] "Hauntzer" [Yarnell] or Bjergsen. It's gotta be. One of those two for sure," Moon said.
Dignitas' Benjamin "LOD" deMunck
In his second professional season as a starter in the NA LCS, LOD has made it to the playoffs for a second time in sixth place. His club last year, Team Envy, failed to make it past the first round, and an improved LOD with a stronger team behind him believes Dignitas can upset third seed Phoenix1 to make it into the top four and a guaranteed trip to Vancouver. He finished fourth in kills and fifth in KDA ratio for his respective role while receiving the third lowest gold percentage on his team when compared to the rest of the AD carry starters.
"[It's] probably Arrow. Even though I don't think he is this insane, next-level player, I will say he's clutched a lot of games for P1 and have won a lot of games they shouldn't have won just because he won a teamfight or a skirmish extremely well. He is probably the AD I look up the most to at the moment in NA, so I'd say Arrow," LOD said.
Counter Logic Gaming's Zaqueri "Aphromoo" Black
The most decorated support in NA LCS history, Aphromoo has won two league titles, been voted an All-Star numerous times and last year captained the CLG team that made it to the Mid-Season Invitational Finals in Shanghai. This year hasn't been as smooth for Aphromoo as previous seasons, but Counter Logic Gaming finished in Team Liquid's old spot of fourth to make it into the postseason and give the team a chance to make a run for a possible third NA LCS title in four seasons.
"[Andy] "Smoothie" [Ta]. Yeah, probably Smoothie. He's been consistently good, and definitely one of C9's strong points. If I'm correct, he's their shotcaller now," Aphromoo said. "On Mic Checks, he's the only one talking most of the time, and I think he's been doing a good job. They almost got first place, and playing against C9 is pretty fun too."