Image courtesy of Riot Games.
The League of Legends Championship Series is about to enter its 2020 Spring Split endgame.
After nine weeks of competition, Cloud9 are the clear favorites, having earned an impressive 17-1 record and first seed.
After climbing from the middle of the standings in the last three weeks, Evil Geniuses eventually came out of the tiebreakers with the second seed. 100 Thieves and FlyQuest are third and fourth seed respectively.
After weeks of mixed results, Team SoloMid finished with a 9-9 record that sums up their whole split perfectly. However, it was still enough for them to safely secure fifth seed.
Dignitas managed to defeat Immortals during the first round of tiebreakers, but then lost in the second to Golden Guardians — allowing the latter to snatch the sixth and final seed.
This meant Dignitas and Immortals failed to qualify for Playoffs, but the real surprise of this Spring Split has definitely been the disastrous performance of Team Liquid.
The four-time LCS champions had a pretty rough journey this split, and they end it without even having a shot at the title. With a 7-11 record, they failed to qualify for Playoffs — far from what we expected from them.
Something we did expect was the situation of Counter Logic Gaming. The team collapsed during the first week. The departure of Lee "Crown" Min-ho and several roster changes shook the team once again, preventing it from doing anything except underperform the entire split.
Since the end of Week 9 also means the start of the road to the Playoffs, we decided to focus on the six teams that qualified rather than the four that unfortunately failed. Based on statistics, relativity, but also on our own instinct, the following rankings are taking the whole season into account rather than just focusing on Week 9.
Record: 10 - 8
Won against 100 Thieves in tiebreakers.
Evil Geniuses were the most consistent of the other teams. They managed to chase the leading pack for weeks, eventually outperforming 100 Thieves in a tiebreaker to secure second seed.
Even though the organization only returned to LCS this year, its roster showed an ability to perform, even against the historically strong LCS teams.
There's no doubt they can achieve great things in Playoffs.
Record: 10 - 8
Lost to Evil Geniuses in tiebreakers.
We were more used to seeing 100 Thieves in the middle of the standings than on the podium — but their two victories in Week 9 allowed them to join Evil Geniuses and FlyQuest in second.
They secured the third seed by defeating FlyQuest, and it seems that they're finally ready to take on the leading pack.
Record: 10 - 8
Lost to 100 Thieves in tiebreakers.
Although they occupied the top of standings in the first few weeks, FlyQuest seemed unable to last the distance.
At first, they looked like they were the only team capable of actually challenging Cloud9, but they collapsed in Week 7 and ended the split with mixed results.
We're pretty sure they can redeem themselves in Playoffs — but will they?
Record: 9 - 9
Team SoloMid is the only team that managed to beat Cloud9 this split. Although that's an achievement in itself, it wasn't enough for the team to really shine.
After nine weeks of competition, one can only testify as to their total inconsistency. The team is capable of achieving great things on the Rift, but they don't seem to have the ability to actually control their success.
Record: 8 - 10
By defeating Dignitas in tiebreakers and qualifying for Playoffs, Golden Guardians sprang the big surprise of this split. No one really expected it, either.
However, tt's hard to imagine them finding success in the Playoffs...
Do you agree with this preview? Have we misplaced a team? Feel free to drop a comment in the section below!
Cloud9 proved they were the best LCS team, defeating FlyQuest in a clean sweep. It also meant they ended Playoffs with just two losses on their record.
Week 8 of the LCS Spring Split has ended, which means it's time for us to deliver our power rankings. Who shone brightest? Which team is currently the best?
