With the second super week now concluded, the 2022 LCS Spring Split is officially over. This means that the top six teams will now compete for their chance to play in the MSI (Mid-Season Invitational). For the bottom four teams, the split is over and the opportunity to make roster changes is now. The final split rankings are as follows:
1. Team Liquid (14-4)
2. Cloud9 (13-5)
3. 100 Thieves (12-6)
4. Evil Geniuses (9-9)
5. FlyQuest (9-9)
6. Golden Guardians (9-9)
7. Dignitas (8-10)
8. Counter Logic Gaming (6-12)
9. TSM (5-13)
10. Immortals (5-13)
LCS Spring Playoffs Qualifiers
Team Liquid narrowly secured first place pending 100 Thieves’ decommission of Cloud9 on Saturday followed by FlyQuest’s incredible upset victory on Sunday. With Cloud9 going (1-2) this weekend, Team Liquid was able to ascend the rankings with a (3-0) super week. While the top three teams (TL, C9, 100T) had already secured their spots in the playoffs in week 7 (6 for C9), the remaining three spots were up for grabs by almost every team.
Unsurprisingly, TSM and IMT failed to make the playoffs this split. Despite starting to show hope in weeks 3 and 4, IMT fell off significantly. TSM, on the other hand, demonstrated quite the resurgence in week 7, with the craziest upset victory of the split over C9 and a subsequent dismantling of IMT. However, when it came time to face 100T and TL, TSM couldn’t replicate the success they found over Cloud9.
While many fans were hoping the young CLG roster could clinch playoffs, TSM crushed their hopes with a statement victory in a rivalry match reminiscent of the early LCS. This prompted them to field their Academy roster: the number one team in LCSA this split. With Dignitas’s playoff hopes riding on a CLG upset, Evil Geniuses shut them out of playoff contention with an easy victory over the amateur team.
Playoffs Formatting and Seeding
These LCS Spring Playoffs follow the traditional format, all matches will be played in a best of five format. For the top four teams, the bracket is double elimination, meaning that each team would have to lose twice to be fully eliminated from the tournament.
The bottom two teams, however, are automatically placed in the losers bracket and will be eliminated from the playoffs if they lose to the losers of the winner’s bracket matches. While there are $100,000; $50,000; $30,000; and $20,000 cash prizes for the top four teams, the grand prize is a spot at MSI.
MSI is essentially Worlds before Spring Split but on a much smaller scale. Instead of the best teams qualifying, only the top teams from each of the 12 regions will compete at MSI. We’ll discuss MSI in greater detail as it approaches. The LCS playoffs, on the other hand, have already been slated and the opening matches have been determined via seasonal seedings.
In the winner’s bracket, the first seed will play the fourth seed and the second seed will play the third seed. While this may seem more difficult for the top teams, a loss does not remove them from the tournament. As a result, the bottom two seeds are in a much more dangerous position despite playing against comparatively weaker opponents.
The upcoming matches are as follows:
- Match 1 (Saturday, April 2nd)
- Cloud9 (#2) vs 100 Thieves (#3)
- Match 2 (Sunday, April 3rd)
- Team Liquid (#1) vs Evil Geniuses (#4)
Subsequent loser’s bracket matches will be played the following weekend (April 9th-10th). With Spring Playoffs starting next weekend, the stakes of each BO5 (best of five) are high. Be sure you don’t miss a single match as C9 kicks it off against 100T on Saturday.
