LTA
LEC
LCK
LPL
LCPLearn more
Events & Standings
5 thoughts going into Finals
TL takes on TSM for a chance to get revenge against FLY in the Finals. Here’s 5 thoughts!
FunPlus Phoenix. Invictus Gaming. Royal Never Give Up. Cloud9. And soon, likely KT Rolster and perhaps SKT. That’s a lineup fit for Worlds, no? Well, no is right. No as in these are just some of the names that won’t be advancing to the biggest stage this year. Competition is brutal and brutal is a five month offseason for these orgs. Before that, though, we’ve got some scores to settle in the LCS. Here’s 5 thoughts going into Finals!
Normally I like to look forward on my Thoughts (™), which means I rarely even talk about eliminated teams, but this is an exception. It’d feel like a crime to not talk about Golden Guardians Cloud9 after their year, which was historically good until it became historically bad. You can literally find writing or clips of me talking about how we should just let C9 go to Worlds already -- the thought of them missing it at all wasn’t even remotely in my head. Even for champions in the past, there was always a little bit of “haha what if they miss…,” but C9 -- not even once during their run -- made me doubt their eventual trip to Worlds. It was only ever whether or not they could make that run undefeated. And yet, here they are, absolutely not undefeated but rather very much defeated. The backend of the Summer Split foreshadowed this possibility, but I never expected it to actually come to fruition. You can pin this on any number of things -- bad drafts, poor mid control, too many overextensions, lack of map presence from support, etc. -- but the reality is there isn’t one single thing that led to their demise. I wonder if they ever managed to highlight any major problems at all -- Zven mentioned in an interview that he was absolutely shocked that FLY knocked them down into the lower bracket, which seems to suggest their scrims had been going well. And yet, again, here we are. They’ll enter the offseason with could-haves and should-haves but the reality is this is the first time C9 has ever missed Worlds. For all of their work to be invalidated in the final hour is a testament to how important Worlds is. I don’t know if you should expect many changes to this roster -- it wouldn’t surprise me if they felt like they are still the best team in NA and will just run it back -- but for now there is only regret and a long autumn ahead of them.
On the other side of regret is TSM, which is a thing they get to say for the first time since 2017. The TL/Doublelift divorce ended up being good for everybody but Xmithie (sorry). Their dominant showing over C9 to secure a Worlds berth sets up a big matchup against that very Liquid squad this Saturday, with the winner automatically advancing to the Group Stage of Worlds. I’m sure, though, that just having made it already is a huge relief for both of these squads, so I’m hoping they are able to play without too much tension so as to showcase what they’re truly capable of. TSM has been buoyed heavily by the MVP form of Bjergsen, who looks like he’s peaking now after a couple years of people wondering if he was no longer the best mid laner in the LCS. He’s managed to somehow level up his game even more and is maybe the best individual player we’ll be sending to Worlds since… well, the last time he went to Worlds. Before that, though, TSM could stamp their return to the top with a bang by winning the split outright. Both FLY and TL play a similar style of League of Legends which pivots heavily around stability from mid lane (which lets them dictate a slow tempo) -- Bjergsen is the kind of player who can throw a wrench into that. TSM’s biggest question mark lately has been the wavering play of their bot lane, but given much less pressure (which seemed to be weirdly affecting Doublelift this time around), I am expecting them to perform better this week. It’s been a long time since we’ve heard TSM chants unironically -- perhaps this is the weekend it returns.
When in doubt, call in a Tactical strike (are we a CoD league now?). Despite suffering their first setback of the split in being knocked down to the lower bracket by FlyQuest, Tactical demonstrated that he isn’t here *just* because he happens to be laning with CoreJJ. The five-game set against FLY was an exciting back-and-forth that demonstrated high level play, and I am personally excited to see how both of them fare on the international stage. There are, however, definitely still some kinks to be worked out, and most of that for TL is tied to what Broxah has been lamenting over all split long, which is that TL just does not put their foot to the gas enough. This is an extremely talented team that can mechanically play their way out of awkward positions but it seems like they aren’t willing enough to play into those positions. You saw it with Tactical’s 3v5 base defense that they *can* do it, and I would personally like to see them play a little aggressively. TL’s slower style means they pretty much never steamroll over an opponent, but the plus-side is it also means they are less apt to throw. The problem, though, is if they find themselves in an early hole, it feels like they are less likely to mount a comeback than, say, TSM (or C9 RIP). The matchup against TSM this weekend will be interesting -- on paper they should still be the big favorite as they are the more balanced team, and Bjergsen shouldn’t be a big mid difference against Jensen. TL needs to rebound here if they want to bring momentum into Shanghai.
Could you name the five players on FLY last summer? I bet some of you could if you stopped and thought about it for a little bit, but I also bet you don’t recall much else about them. This entire year has been a massive overhaul in perception for the organization, which evolved from being a bit of a joke (the old Snickers commercials) to what they are now, which is a back-to-back LCS finalist. It’s a distinction that puts them in elite company with the likes of TL and TSM. They’ve also done it by besting TL and C9 -- the #1 and #2 seeded teams from the regular season -- so that no one can say they just fluked their way into the finals. This is an extremely balanced roster that has no glaring weaknesses on the map -- even Solo who was once thought of as maybe the worst top laner (if not worst player overall) in the LCS is now brought up as being one of the biggest snubs from the All-Pro lineups. Coupled with the resurgence of WildTurtle, who may have quietly had the best split of his career, and you’ve got a roster that is capable of winning every single game they play. This is something TL does as well that I *do* like despite their slower styles, which is that because they are slow, they don’t throw games in the first 15 minutes or even 25 minutes. They always put themselves in a position where it’s not completely hopeless by the first time they group. I know you’ve played that Solo Queue game where your team is 10 kills down before you can even buy your first item -- that never happens to FLY. They sit in the Finals as the favorite to become just the 5th organization in LCS history to capture a championship trophy.
You know who *doesn’t* have any Drake priority? Rihanna [badum tss]. One topic that has been popping up more frequently in recent weeks is how much emphasis teams should place on Drake control early. Right now the prevailing theory is that you either work to secure the first two drakes or you ignore them in lieu of securing farming advantages on the map (this generally means invading the opponent jungle, diving the opposite side of the map, and collecting more turret plates). It doesn’t always work out like this of course -- sometimes both teams might prioritize the first or second Drake more if it’s, say, Ocean for example, or maybe both decide to ignore it for a bit. But the idea is you don’t really *have* to contest until the third one, and one way to make sure you can secure that is to simply have more gold (thus strength) in your pockets by then. I find giving up the first two drakes to be a really risky strategy because all it takes is an unlucky smite or someone getting picked to then find yourself fighting against soul point from the other team. It does, however, mean that if you get unlucky early, giving up the first two drakes isn’t the end of the world. This is one of the more interesting macro decisions you can watch unfold in real time on the Rift, and it kind of reminds me of the nuances during the lane swap meta. Definitely keep an eye on how much teams decide to focus on Drakes early on this weekend, and if they don’t focus on it, then ask yourself what they are getting in return. So much hinges on the third drake right now (or sometimes fourth if the teams split the first two).
© 2025 Riot Games. All Rights Reserved.