We’re doing a quick one this week! It’s the last week of the split, and I’m not gonna spend a ton of time recapping it this week! So let’s go fast!
how we did
Dunno! We’ll tabulate the final standings next week when our new season of guessing who wins the playoffs matches! Let’s get right into it!
saturday’s matches
100 (-130) vs CG (-110)
There is a lot at stake here for both of these teams. This is one of the matches that will decide the definitive 3rd place seed and the loser of this match will likely fight for their spot with TSM probably taking a win against GGS. Clutch Gaming does have a great track record against higher tiered teams, but have been struggling against the middle of the road and lower teams on occasion. I think the assumption of Echo Fox’s methodical playstyle last week allowed CG to take a pretty easy win over the #1 ranked team. However, the hype did not carry over to the next day and a very hungry Team Liquid handed them an L. I’m giving this one to 100 Thieves pretty handily. They’ve been solid all split long despite some losses and Aphromoo is in his zone right now. Febiven is gonna get camped so unless they decide to hand over a few double or triple kills to him, don’t look for him to carry. I’ll say 55-45 for the Thieves. And for the love of god, target ban Azir on Febiven. I actually want to put a conditional on this. If Febiven gets Azir, I think Clutch will win this match pretty handily, if not , I’m giving it to 100 Thieves.
– FlyameseCat
FOX (-275) vs FLY (+180)
Exhibition match lol. I want to see Echo Fox lock in Darius to apply pressure to other teams playing against them like we saw last week. If not Darius, I want to see some other anti-tank snowball counterpick top lane to give Echo Fox some extra footing in the playoffs, to be honest, they need it at this point. Cloud 9 is right on their heels and if both teams go 2-0, Cloud 9 actually takes a .5 win record over Echo Fox and clinch the number 1 seed heading into playoffs. With an extremely hungry Team Solo Mid nipping at fifth place, 1st seed is very important right now. Notice how I didn’t even talk about the teams at all. Well, I really see FlyQuest flubbing picks and bans and giving Xayah and Rakan over to Echo Fox in the first round and the rest being history from there. I am excited to see more Darius in pro play until he gets nerfed because of it of course.
– FlyameseCat
C9 (-165) vs TL (+115)
I have a very bad feeling that Cloud 9 is gonna fall out of a bye week and have to face the most dangerous of playoff opponents: Team Solo Mid. Some people think CLG might make it through, but they won’t. The numbers say Cloud 9 wins, so I’m gonna go through with it. They have the Rookie of the Split and MVP candidates, so I’ll take them, hesitantly.
– mandersxii
TSM (-350) vs GGS (+220)
Alright Hai, don’t let me down. I know there is a snowballs chance in hell that GGS wins this game but they also have nothing to play for, and TSM has everything to play for. That alone makes this game super interesting to me. GGS would love for nothing more than to spoil TSMs playoff bid if they were to go on and lose to CLG later in the weekend. So why not? Hai with some absurd calls pulls the upset.
– TheStormSurge
CLG (-250) vs OPT (+170)
In this first matchup CLG leapt at Aurelion Sol and boy did Power of Evil have a plan for that. They dumpstered CLG in the first go around. So, should round two be more of the same? To quote Coach Corso: “NOT SO FAST!” CLG is on fire, and I don’t expect a let down here. They know there is a shot but boy is it slim, they won’t drop this on their mission impossible run to the playoffs. Big games out of Bio and Stixxay.
– TheStormSurge
haiku of the week
Playoffs start next week
Finally there will be action
No more Fly and Hai
sunday’s matches
C9 (-250) vs FLY (+170)
This should be an easy Cloud 9 match. FlyQuest still has players, I think, but I can’t remember any of them except for Turtle. Lord knows he’d go off in this game and knock C9 out of a bye seed. Lord knows he would. If I were betting, I’d take FlyQuest, but I’m going with what should be an easy win for Cloud 9.
– mandersxii
GGS (+180) vs CG (-275)
Hai takes on another playoff contender. Clutch might be the hottest team in the NA LCS right now. Probably get ousted in their first playoff series though. I don’t think Hai has the magic for two straight matches if he pulls it off against TSM earlier in the week. That being said… Nah, I’m not gonna let myself be talked into Golden Guardians this week. They still start Lourlo.
– mandersxii
CLG (+105) vs TSM (-150)
This match only matters if TSM loses day one and CLG wins day one. If that does happen, every fan gonna watch this match like:
I still give this match to TSM 60-40 but at the end of the day, TSM plays GGS day one so this whole game probably won’t even matter.
– FlyameseCat
FOX (-130) vs 100 (-110)
Boy this is going to be a fun matchup. Surging 100 Thieves Vs. an Echo Fox team that was been very inconsistent since the second half of the split. With possibly three MVPs in this matchup (Huni, Dardoch, and Aphromoo) it is going to be an absolute delight to watch. Fox should win the early game but then the middle of this is where it’s going to get interesting. Fox generally shits itself here and that’s where Aphros calls are strongest. Look for that to be the breaking point for Fox while 100 Thieves keeps the hot streak going.
– TheStormSurge
TL (-225) vs OPT (+150)
This is how we’re ending the split before playoffs? Okay. This match is easily 70-30 Liquid but it is also another match that won’t matter unless TL loses day one, TSM loses both matches, and CLG wins both matches. If all of that happens, we’ll end up with a 3 way tie for 5th and get to see a boatload of tie breaker matches at 7pm on a Sunday. Do your thing Liftlift, we don’t want to see these tiebreakers unless you’re a CLG fan.
– FlyameseCat
Shakespearean insult of the week
“Beware the ides of March.” – Julius Caesar
Only a couple of days later, but I bet there’s gonna be a few people looking for jobs very soon in the NA LCS. I hope they were bewaring.
Enjoy the last week of the Spring Split!