In a grand final that had great emotions from start to finish, Cloud 9 beat Golden Guardians 3-1 to be crowned champions of the LCS Spring Split 2023.
Cloud9 had a clean path to reach this great final, as they only lost one map against CLG in the Upper Bracket semifinals. In addition, it should be noted that they won six games out of the seven played in these playoffs. However, Golden Guardians, a team that finished in sixth place in the overall standings in the Group Stage, made Cloud9 suffer at some point.
Cloud9 are the winners of the LCS Spring Split 2023
After an intense battle in the grand final against Golden Guardians, Cloud9 came out victorious with a score of 3-1 and thus took the trophy of champions of the first Split of the LCS season 2023.
Cloud9 are your 2023 #LCS Spring Split Champions! #C9WIN pic.twitter.com/86jtnSzmmV
— LCS (@LCSOfficial) April 10, 2023
In addition to the victory, the champion’s trophy, and their qualification to the MSI, Cloud9 is the first team in three years to win two consecutive Split trophies. Moreover, it is worth noting that this becomes the sixth top-tier title won by Cloud9 in the LCS.
Back-to-back #LCS Champions. pic.twitter.com/1DiZg6HT5A
— LCS (@LCSOfficial) April 10, 2023
Cloud9 also secured the first North American seed for the next MSI, meaning that the team will start the first international event of 2023 in the League of Legends scene from the playoffs, just like Gen.G and T1. Remember that the MSI will start next May 2 with the Play-In phase, where eight teams will fight for the two remaining spots for the playoffs.
Cloud9 vs. Golden Guardians – Grand Final Recap
As we mentioned, Golden Guardians came to this grand final with the firm conviction that they could beat Cloud9, and no wonder; they had just beaten FlyQuest, one of the best teams in the Split.
In the first two games of the series, Golden Guardians managed to squeeze Cloud9 to the point of taking advantages that, without a doubt, were unthinkable. As a result, C9 had to develop a defensive game, something that had not been the case throughout the playoffs.
First Blood goes to GG! #LCS pic.twitter.com/RNc6vxMxiJ
— LCS (@LCSOfficial) April 9, 2023
The lead Golden Guardians took in the first two games was as much as 5,800 gold in the first 15 minutes. Cloud9 overcame this advantage in the first game, which showed the high level of play they had demonstrated throughout the Split.
Cloud9 don't care about your gold lead. #LCS | #C9WIN pic.twitter.com/8xBLjxt82C
— LCS (@LCSOfficial) April 9, 2023
In the second match, Golden Guardians started just as strong as the first, taking a very important golden lead 15 minutes into the match. However, this time Cloud9 couldn’t do much more than defend and couldn’t make a comeback. As a result, Golden Guardians surprisingly evened the series 1-1.
No comebacks this time. Clean #GGWIN to give us a series! #LCS pic.twitter.com/HTiMd65nxx
— LCS (@LCSOfficial) April 9, 2023
After this loss, Cloud9 took a big hit on the table in games three and four. They knew they could not allow Golden Guardians to take the golden lead again, and, with a great display from Kim “Berserker” Min-Cheol, they managed to take the win comfortably 3-1 and lift the Spring Split champions trophy.
🏆 THE #LCS SPRING CHAMPIONS: @C9LOL! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/WisGazkIMp
— LoL Esports (@lolesports) April 10, 2023
Golden Guardians secure MSI spot
The guys from Golden Guardians achieved a great feat in this LCS Spring Split because everything pointed out that the final would be between FlyQuest and C9. We say this because these two teams were the most regular and best performing during Split.
However, with this qualification to MSI 2023, Golden Guardians will have to start their way from the Play-In phase, where we now know G2 Esports and PSG Talon in this phase.
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