The LCS Summer split kicked off on June 17 with ten teams itching to make a strong case for LoL Worlds 2022.
While most teams have stuck to what’s tried and tested, few like Cloud9, have partaken in the LCS Mid-SeasonRoster Shuffle. It’s all eyes on securing a spot for post-season, especially with Worlds being on home court this year.
Let’s take a look at what went down in Week 1, and what can we expect moving forward.
Team Liquid & Evil Geniuses back to form
First up, the formidable combination of Bwipo, Santorin, Bjergsen, Hans Sama and CoreJJ is expected to run roughshod over the others. This is a complete package if there was one. Having spent good time off and having returned re-energised, TL are the favorites to win Summer, and book their berth at the Worlds. However, they were the absolute favorites in Spring and still managed to fumble it in the end.
Evil Geniuses passed the great litmus test of the teams’ proficiency and ability to handle pressure into Week 1. Spring Playoffs were not a fluke and coming into Summer, both them and TL are the teams the watch all throughout the season.
It’s hard to place LoL bets against either after all they have accomplished.
CLG & 100 Thieves to fight for 3rd
100T were considered among the favorites ahead of Summer and are likely getting a 2-0 in Week 2. CLG was not on our radar, but after a 3-0 start and dominating the “bottom pack” they are suddenly looking at a 4th or better if they continue the trend. We now have an odd pairing for 3rd/4th place between two teams on different ends of our LCS Power Rankings.
CLG meets FLY and EG in Week 2 and may end with an identical record to 100T come Sunday.
New 9/9 quartet: Golden Guardians, FLY, Immortals, TSM
On paper, all four teams are Playoffs contenders. Their duels will decide seeding and ranking for Summer Playoffs. These teams love to skirmish and are extremely proficient at it. They all have exceptionally talented players who have made quite a statement in the North American region, and it elicits massive excitement. Yet, all four are also prone to extreme fumbles and coin-toss fights that end up costing them games.
There is a tradition of 9-9 records in the LCS. During Spring it was EG, GG and FlyQuest, and in summer we expect Immortals and TSM to be in this pack as EG gets elevated.
Based on Week 1 performances, all four teams will have a season riddled with inconsistency.
Cloud9 down bad, Dignitas might go 0-5
Cloud9 role-swapped Ibrahim ‘Fudge’ Allami back into the top lane and brought back legacy mid laner Nicolaj ‘Jensen’ Jensen in the mid-season. He started with C9 and despite not gaining much success, this is the team that has made him the player he is. After he was benched by Team Liquid, the team he moved to, he didn’t have a team during Spring. Now, he is back and replaces a prolific player in Summit. Fudge had shown great improvement in the top lane since he started out in C9. He was one of their best players in Summer 2021.
On paper, they looked better than Spring, yet a 0-3 start to Summer while losing to Golden Guardians, does not seem promising. In Week 2 they face Dignitas and 100Thieves. We might see finally a win on the board against DIG. but Yet, Week 2 ending at 1-4 is more than likely.
In the end, we have Dignitas coming from a tough 0-3 week. While they missed Spring Playoffs by just one game, Dignitas came into the summer with high ambitions, only to be put down by the split favorites in quick succession.
They have Week 2 matches against the lowfielders (Immortals and Cloud9) and if they fumble here they are looking at 0-5 and potentially missing Playoffs from the get go.
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