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Six thoughts going into Finals Weekend
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There are a lot of legacy organizations already slated to attend the Mid-Season Invitational this year. G2 Esports have been at the top of the LEC almost since their arrival (shout-out, Gamers2) and recently qualified for yet another MSI. T1, the team-formerly-known-as-SK Telecom T1, the legacy esports organization of South Korea with the legacy player Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok has not only won LCK this Spring to qualify, but is in the middle of a historic series undefeated streak and looking to further that at this MSI tournament.
Names from around the world thus far have been mostly recognizable as organizations that frequently represent their regions at international events like PSG Talon (PCS) and Detonation FocusMe (LJL). Turkey's Istanbul Wildcats are also back after qualifying for the tournament last year but then missing Worlds in summer. Royal Never Give Up, whose organizational pedigree in Chinese LoL goes back to 2012, will take on a surging Top Esports in the LPL Finals a day before we discover who wins LCS.
*Does this bode well for the one legacy organization left that could qualify out of the LCS in Team Liquid?* With TSM faltering as soon as the season began and Cloud9 floundering at the end of the split only to be swept unceremoniously out of playoffs by EG, it hasn't looked so good for legacy in the LCS.
*Will 100 Thieves be able to clinch back-to-back LCS titles?* Just out of legacy status, 100 Thieves have been chasing greatness since their entry into the league back in 2018, not-so-coincidentally where their budding rivalry with Team Liquid began. Then TL swept them in the Miami Finals. They, in turn, exacted revenge last year, unexpectedly sweeping TL in the 2021 Summer Grand Finals. Their Academy teams recently met in the Proving Grounds Finals with TL emerging victorious but as 100TA coach and former LCS pro Greyson "Goldenglue" Gilmer alluded to, perhaps 100TA had to walk so 100T could run.
*Or, will Evil Geniuses be able to deliver on the promise shown in their early Lock In days?* At the start of the season, EG was the team everyone wanted to watch due to their explosiveness, instant chemistry, and young carry duo of 17 year-old Joseph "jojopyun" Joon Pyun and Kyle "Danny" Sakamaki. The community turned on them quickly through their inconsistencies mid-split, but now their team, much like 100 Thieves, seems to be ramping up at exactly the right time.
Two thoughts per remaining team. See you all in Houston.
Let's get it.
*1. Bjergsen: The Return*
The community reaction after Team Liquid's second game against 100 Thieves was a bit, let's simply say, hyperbolic in regards to Søren "Bjergsen" Bjerg and it makes sense as to why. Bjergsen is an LCS staple, in the conversation for greatest LCS player of all time before this year even began, and is beloved by LCS fans. Most, including myself, want Bjergsen to return to peak form as quickly as possible.
He's not there yet, but what impressed me about Team Liquid's first two games, most specifically the second, was the throwback to a more mid-centric playstyle that involved the entire team. Admittedly, his lane opponent Abbedagge didn't play well, but the way that Bjergsen started off by trying to set up his minion wave at the turret for gank opportunities and later, when Jo "CoreJJ" Yong-in held that wave for what was essentially a soft-freeze so the rest of TL could revisit the lane at their leisure, was a fun throwback to 2015. You know, the last time that Lucas "Santorin" Larsen and Bjergsen won a title together.
*2. [expletive deleted]*
For the record, I swear a lot. Despite my parents' best efforts to ensure that I had an extensive vocabulary, I still drop f-bombs all the time. I accidentally dropped one in an LCS meeting earlier today — sorry for my rudeness, production team, I was just really excited to be talking about whatever I was talking about. This isn't the only reason I enjoyed 100 Thieves mid laner Felix "Abbedagge" Braun's expletive-filled interview alongside teammate Can "Closer" Çelik and Gabriella "LeTigress" Devia-Allen, but it was one of them.
Sometimes, you're just really fucking excited.
From Closer's "We aren't playing like human" to Abbedagge's "What the fuck are they doing?" the interview is a gem from start to finish where two players come off of an incredible game-winning Twisted Fate backdoor play in a reverse sweep and attempt to work through those emotions live on stage in front of an adoring audience. It's visibly cathartic for 100 Thieves and Abbedagge in particular, whose inconsistencies plagued him throughout the regular season. Even in this series, people were already writing him off after TL and the aforementioned Bjergsen targeted him in Game 2 and rolled over both mid lane and the game. In that series, it was Abbedagge who got the last laugh and f-bomb en route to a grand finals appearance.
*3. Did you know he used to play Fortnite?*
Prior to the Lock-In tournament, Evil Geniuses coach Peter Dun was a guest on Travis Gafford's community League of Legends talk show, Hotline League. Someone called in to talk about the perceived risk that EG was taking in moving up jojopyun from their Academy system to the starting LCS mid lane position.
For the record, Danny was called up last year mid-season, yet his substitution barely registered as a blip on peoples' radars, and if it did, it was that Matthew "Deftly" Chen was out, not that Danny was in. Danny proved their apathy wrong, becoming one of the league's brightest rising stars by playoffs end.
Jojopyun followed suit, except instead of apathy he had to disprove, it was doubt. In most other regions, a promotion like this, especially of a player who is thought of highly by his Academy peers and other players, would be natural. In North America, it was seen as a grave risk. When jojopyun "didn't perform" up to the astronomical expectations set by the hype and EG's initial Lock In performance, the community quickly turned on him and did once worse than dunking on him, they too turned to apathy. Jojopyun was quietly one of the best laning mids throughout the split, and in EG's coordinated set plays throughout playoffs, he has once again crept up into the best-in-position conversation.
One of the coolest things about jojopyun is that he decided to play League of Legends professionally at all when many people his age would have chosen a different game. Another cool thing about jojopyun is that when I ask him whether his laning is second only to Chovy, he says, "Yes," and it's not a joke. He believes it.
I'll end on a quote of his from a [preseason interview][1], where I chatted with him about his upcoming LCS debut that encapsulates his individual success and success with this Evil Geniuses team.
"I'm not sure why other players aren't as confident but I know that being confident has no downsides and that you'll play way better with a good and confident mindset."
*4. "I'm a stan-torin."*
These words were said by none other than my wonderful Analyst Desk compatriot, Barento "Raz" Mohammed after yet another Team Liquid victory during the regular season. There were a few times where Lucas "Santorin" Larsen fell just short of winning Player of the Week before he did so in the last week of the split. Alongside the narratives of Bjergsen returning, Steven "Hans sama" Liv coming to North America after a career split in LEC, CoreJJ beating out the odds to procure his green card and stay on the starting lineup, and Gabriël "Bwipo" Rau swapping back to his original position in the top lane in coming to the TL superteam, Santorin is seeking another LCS title after a title drought since 2015.
When I talked to Santorin about returning to Worlds in 2020, his outlook on that Championship with TSM in 2015 and their later Worlds qualification that year (after losing in the finals that summer) was surprisingly bleak. He told me that he wasn't good at the game at all back then, and he hopes to prove how much he's improved individually with his team. Then, that team was FlyQuest. Now, reunited with 2015 TSM teammate Bjergsen and remaining on TL with CoreJJ, Santorin looks primed to take that Championship with significantly more experience, confidence, and understanding of the game itself.
*5. A place promised in our early days (and scrims).*
Throughout the season, one team repeatedly was rated more highly by other LCS pros than casters, analysts, and certainly the community. That team was Evil Geniuses.
It's one thing for a team to say that they're having trouble translating scrims into stage performances — all teams say this when their LCS showings are lackluster. It's another for nearly every other LCS player to comment on how strong a team is when they scrim and rate them consistently highly regardless of LCS stage performances. On the outside, we saw a glimpse of this in Lock In followed by a shaky, inconsistent EG team that failed to win more than two games in a row. In fairness, they also didn't really go on any long loss streaks either, with their longest string of losses at three total and it only happened once this split.
During their playoff run, we're finally seeing that Evil Geniuses team that was promised back in preseason and Lock In. They are scrappy, proactive, and dangerous. While few will rate them as LCS Championship favorites, EG taking the title is certainly well within their reach. Even with their improved coordination and consistency, it now feels like they're still not close to what their potential could be, which is a fascinating thing to watch evolve in real time.
*6. Run it up…or back*
One thing you may not know about me is that I enjoy watching competitive Call of Duty. Mostly as a casual fan but I did follow it more closely while writing about it at ESPN. I remember what it's like to hear warring chants of "Let's go OpTic" and "Run it up" between OpTic Gaming and 100 Thieves fans. I've only ever heard one "run it up" chant at LCS, but there's still time, Houston. I believe in you.
When 100 Thieves decided to run back their Championship roster many, myself included, expected the team to do well through Lock In and the beginning of the split, only to falter at the end, when other LCS teams hit their respective strides and synergy. When they lost to Dignitas in a shocking upset in Lock In, and then struggled through the middle of the split, I thought they had simply lost their luster more quickly than expected.
I'm happy I was wrong.
100 Thieves are ramping up and looking at their best at exactly the right time: in order to defend their LCS title. It's fitting that of the three teams, 100 Thieves are the ones waiting already on the Grand Finals stage.
[1]: https://lolesports.com/article/meet-jojopyun-evil-geniuses-prodigious-rookie-mid-laner/blt1b96d0459356462a
