After opening the split with a four-way tie for first place, 100 Thieves, Dignitas, Cloud9, and FlyQuest all faltered this week. Although the downfall of FlyQuest was bound to happen, it was shocking to witness the Church of LS’s insane drafts and Dignitas’s underdog streak succumb to the outplay of superteam EG, and 100 Thieves choke their easiest matchup of the season. With the current season’s standings below, we’re gearing up for an electrifying third week as five teams are tied for first place.
- 100 Thieves (3-1)
- Cloud9 (3-1)
- Dignitas (3-1)
- FlyQuest (3-1)
- Team Liquid (3-1)
- Evil Geniuses (2-2)
- Golden Guardians (2-2)
- Immortals (1-3)
- Counter Logic Gaming (0-4)
- Team SoloMid (0-4)
With CLG yet to claim a win, it’s unlikely that they’ll find one moving into week three. CLG is set to play against C9 (3-1) on Saturday, followed by TL (3-1) on Sunday. TSM, on the other hand, will have a great opportunity this Saturday in their match against IMT. The pairings for the week three matchups are as follows:
Saturday (02/19/2022)
- GG vs. 100T
- IMT vs. TSM
- TL vs. EG
- FLY vs. DIG
- CLG vs. C9
Sunday (02/20/2022)
- IMT vs. EG
- FLY vs. 100T
- TSM vs. C9
- GG vs DIG
- TL vs CLG
Week Two Day One
Match Schedule
- EG vs. DIG
- IMT vs. 100T
- TL vs. C9
- GG vs. CLG
- TSM vs. FLY
Drafting for early domination, Dignitas aimed to take the game as quickly as possible. With the matches now being played on patch 12.3, Ahri has reemerged as a prominent mid lane pick. Dignitas snatched up the Ahri, alongside Renekton in the top lane, and Caitlyn and Lux in the bot lane. EG, on the other hand, embraced the enchanter/smite meta, leaving the top lane open in exchange for stronger team fights with two supports. Although Dignitas snagged two early kills on the Karma/smite top, EG’s scaling draft allowed them to take control of critical objectives and seize the match 8-3 in just under 46 minutes.
In match two, the top rated team and defending LCS champions in 100 Thieves were paired against the worst team in the LCS in Immortals. Although closer than some might have thought, the game was set to be sealed after 100 Thieves’s star jungler Closer racked up 7 kills on his best champion: Viego. Unfortunately for 100T fans, a series of erroneous setups and misplays on the side of 100T allowed Immortals to pick off half of the 100T roster and run it to the nexus. IMT took their first victory and handed 100T their first loss 14-12 in just over 34 minutes.
The undisputed match of the day fell onto the shoulders of TL vs C9. As two of the best teams in lock-in and projected to both be in the top four for the split, the winner of this matchup would be a good indicator of the end-split rankings. In typical LS (C9’s head coach) fashion, C9 drafted a few unusual champions in Aatrox and Karthus. TL, on the other hand, took a more traditional draft. While C9 made it very difficult, TL took control of the matchup after a critical baron fight and used that momentum to claim a 17-11 victory in just under 39 minutes.
Team Liquid took down fellow favorite Cloud9 in week two of the LCS Spring Split.In perhaps one of the least exciting matchups of the day, two winless teams in GG and CLG battled it out for an opportunity to put themselves on the scoreboard. Although winless prior to the matchup, GG was clearly the better team. CLG held a kill advantage for less than 6 minutes in the game opener, before GG took over for the rest of the match. In almost exactly 39 minutes, GG claimed their first 2022 LCS victory 17-11.
In the final matchup of the day, winless TSM was pitted against a flawless FlyQuest. Unsurprisingly, FlyQuest dominated the matchup, giving up zero drakes and barons. With these pivotal objectives under their control, their gold lead steadily rose and a series of heavily biased teamfights secured the flawless org with yet another victory. In a mere 25 minutes, FlyQuest dismantled TSM 22-5.
Week Two Day Two
Match Schedule
- IMT vs. C9
- TSM vs. GG
- EG vs. 100T
- TL vs. FLY
- DIG vs CLG
Although some fans might have prematurely jumped on to the Immortals train following their win over top-rated team in 100 Thieves, it was pretty obvious that Cloud9 would take this matchup. Immortals win over 100 Thieves was a game that was lost by 100 Thieves and not won by Immortals. The mistakes of 100T led to an Immortals victory, not the other way around. Regardless, Cloud9’s odd drafting yielded them Malphite top and Zilean mid, a strategy only ever repeated in the mid lane by EG’s “Bjergsen.” Although quiet for the opening 23 minutes, C9 took an important lead over IMT that steadily spiraled into a larger and larger lead. Although the match lasted only 30 minutes, the only real action of the matchup unfolded in the last 7 minutes, where C9 destroyed IMT 12-3.
Nothing is going right for TSM this split. Although one of the wealthiest organizations due to their tremendous winning streak in the early days of the LCS, TSM’s rebuild this year was nothing short of lackluster. Although GG gave up a level one invade to TSM, netting the the boys in black a massive lead in the top lane, they managed to rally an impressive and unpunished 2 kill lead at 10 minutes 3-1. Although GG managed to maintain a kill lead for the rest of the matchup, a 13-6 kill lead at the 20 minute mark ballooned into a near comeback 23-29 as TSM narrowly lost the base race to GG in 43 minutes.
Although a case could be made for the matchup that followed, EG vs. 100T was arguably the match of the day. Projected as the other two teams in the top four, EG vs 100T would provide another indicator of the hierarchy of the LCS. With the game essentially tied at 30 minutes, a team fight over drake soul point went heavily in the favor of 100T as the Thieves netted themselves four kills at the cost of nothing. This undisputed turning point gave 100T an insurmountable advantage which they used to claim the matchup, 8 minutes later, 19-7.
Another important matchup this weekend pitted TL against the only remaining undefeated team in the split: FlyQuest. While their record may indicate that they are a top contender, the flawless lead mounted by FlyQuest prior to the TL matchup was a product of a series of three weak opponents. Before their encounter against TL on the rift, FlyQuest beat CLG, GG, and TSM. All three of these teams were winless before this week. With their first real challenge afoot, FlyQuest had on opportunity to demonstrate where they really belong in this split’s rankings: close to the top. Although TL took the matchup 14-11 at 37 minutes, FlyQuest showed that they are a serious contender in this split. While not top four, FlyQuest is definitely 5 or 6, depending on the outcome of their upcoming match against Dignitas.
The final match of this week saw the struggling CLG struggle a little more against Dignitas. Having now played three of the top six teams, CLG is yet to show any signs of competition. Although expectations weren’t high for the young roster, a seventh slot projection was held. Unfortunately for CLG fans, that might have been a little too high. While the kill differential was close until the 36:47 mark, CLG gave up both Dragon Soul and Baron, allowing DIG to claim the matchup 13-7 just minutes after these objectives fell.
With week two over, we’re beginning to get a better idea of who will be going to the Mid Season Invitational. While a few frontrunners have emerged, week three will yield a much better indicator of the LCS’s top dog. The excitement continues on Feb. 19th with GG looking to carry on their winning streak against 100 Thieves.
