LTA
LEC
LCK
LPL
LCPLearn more
Events & Standings
4 thoughts going into Semifinals
Cloud9 looks untouchable as four teams remain. Here’s 4 thoughts going into Semifinals!
Is this even technically a Semifinal anymore? What is the appropriate term in this new playoff format? Whatever the case, we’ve got Cloud9 vs. Evil Cloud9 in the upper bracket and TSM vs. PowerOfEvil in the lower. Evil is chique. Evil is hot. Can it be vanquished? Four teams remain with many more games to go. Here’s 4 thoughts going into whatever week this is!
**Cloud9 (1) -- C9-0 here we go**
Eyewitnesses called the LCS over the weekend with reports about in-game bullying, and after a thorough investigation from league officials, we’ve concluded that holy shit they were right. C9 dismantled 100 Thieves (the regular season 3 seed!) so badly that we all dismissed them as a bit of a fluke team until they went to five games in a nailbiter against TSM. Now, in hindsight, I think you really have to admit that it’s not so much 100 being bad as it is C9 just being so insanely better than everyone else. This, of course, is a thing we already knew, but every week we trick ourselves into thinking other teams could push at C9 so that the games still have to be played out. Which is exactly what I will do this week as well -- they face EG in a Best-of-5 in a matchup where the main storyline will be the ex-C9 members trying to assert their worth. It’s like those internet motivationals that say something like “the best way to show up your ex is to become a better you,” even if the reality is that while you think about proving your ex wrong, they haven’t thought about you even once since you broke up. I mean, why would they when they’re a combined 20-1 on the year now. C9 is expected to 3-0 every set en route to the final now, and while it may be premature to say this, I think it’s a damn shame we won’t get to see this team immediately go up against international competition (who knows what patches could do to them in the coming months).
**Evil Geniuses (2) -- Our next contestant is…**
You are the people of planet earth. Perfect Cell has issued a challenge to all the best fighters of the world. You send Mr. Satan -- the strongest man in the world -- and Cell slaps him away with just one hit. Cell is Cloud9. Mr. Satan was 100. EG is the people of planet earth. You think, “shit.” Even in the anime timeline of this, you’ll need some bullshit plot armor to save you. We are not in the anime timeline of this, though. We are in the real life timeline, which has seen EG get absolutely smashed by C9 twice already this season (one of those times being just a couple weeks ago). It’s not like EG is severely outclassed in every single position, either -- I think their bot lane should be pretty strong, and I think Jiizuke and Svenskeren have the ability to pop off in certain games. It’s just that even if they play their best, they’re still just… an even matchup against C9’s default. And then you add things like team fighting, map rotations, objective control, and literally everything else into the mix, and it makes you wonder -- what can EG do? I could make some shit up and tell you that if X and Y happens, then EG can win, but I don’t think you’d believe me. EG’s going to need to call up their good friends gorgonzola, mozzarella, gouda, feta, and cheddar if they want to win this one.
**FlyQuest (4) -- Power of Damage**
I don’t remember off the top of my head, but I believe (correct me if I am wrong, stats team) that PowerOfEvil actually did 1,056,000 damage (rounded to the nearest one million) in one game against Golden Guardians. It was a truly dominant performance from him and his partner-in-crime, Santorin, and it echoes a sentiment I’ve preached all split long about this team, which is that having a good mid/jungle duo is absolutely the thing that’s going to set them apart from other teams. Up next is the greatest mid laner in the LCS -- Bjergsen -- and his new jungler, Dardoch, who has been feasting on teams in the early game all split. I think it will prove to be a difficult matchup for FLY, who seem to struggle a lot more if their mid/jungle pair aren’t able to secure early advantages for their team. Luckily TSM also struggles at closing out games even with a lead, though, so it’s a bad matchup both ways -- FLY just needs to hang on early and stall into the late game, which is something PowerOfEvil excels at, and TSM will give them chances to win the game. It also seems like they’ve committed to Solo for the playoff run -- with more games under his belt, that also means teams have some more data on how FLY is utilizing him. TSM plays around Broken Blade a lot, which makes top the wildcard lane that could swing this matchup on its head.
**TSM (5) -- Breathtaking…?**
The previous world record for holding breath is 22 minutes and 22 seconds (actually this is nuts wtf), but it was broken yesterday by the collective entity known as “TSM fans” in Game 5 of TSM vs. 100, which stretched out to 44 minutes. After knocking out 100 in a tense back-and-forth Silver Scrapes set, I think we can say with great confidence that we have no freaking clue how to judge TSM. One comment I read suggested that TSM was the LCS’ best shot at taking out C9 because their peak form might be good enough (who can truly say). Honestly you could lose two games in 15 minutes but as long as you win three games, even if they’re sloppy 40 minute wins, you still win the set. I’ve said it before that League of Legends is not a game that rewards you any differently for the quality of your wins. It only matters that you win. TSM’s early game is elite, and in order to beat C9, you need some aspect of your game to be elite. Their problem is they throw a lot of early leads -- there’s a fine line between proactivity and just straight up running it down, and that’s a blurry line that TSM has yet to solve. First up, though, is a matchup against FLY -- as I said earlier, I think this matchup will come down to how top lane swings. If Solo is able to absorb the pressure, then I expect FLY to prevail, but if Dardoch is able to give Broken Blade leads, then we might even see V1per step up to the plate again. Which TSM will we see now?
