LCS Summer 2020 Playoffs Final 4 Preview

LCS Summer 2020 Playoffs is down to 4 teams. Unsurprisingly, Team Liquid managed to smash its Semifinals opponent, Golden Guardians and is headed for a match against FlyQuest. Other teams did not have such predictable results. Some did better than they were expected while others did worse. Here’s what happened so far and what’s likely to happen next.

LCS Summer 2020 Playoffs Results So Far

LCS Summer 2020 started with victories for FlyQuest against Evil Geniuses (3 – 2) and Golden Guardians against Team SoloMid (3 – 0), followed by Lower Bracket victories for these two defeated teams. TSM smashed Dignitas while EG did the same with 100 Thieves. So far, there were no big surprises, apart from TSM losing to GG.

In the Semifinals, Team Liquid won 3 consecutive matches against Golden Guardians but all of them were hard-fought, needing 35+ minutes to end. That was a clear indicator that GG was actually quite a good team. Because if TL, which is by far the strongest team in the league, found it difficult to win the individual games even though it ultimately won the match 3 – 0, other teams were going to struggle as well. And they did.

The second Semifinals match took place between Cloud9 and FlyQuest. Cloud9 was expected to win, but their opponent proved to be just a little bit stronger. Even though C9 had defeated FQ in the Group Stage of LCS Summer 2020 and had finished above them, this match proved too difficult for Zven and his teammates. The final score was 1 – 3.

The second round of the Lower Bracket was very interesting. And not because Cloud9 won against Evil Geniuses with a score of 3 – 0 as everyone expected, but because Team SoloMid made a huge comeback against Golden Guardians. Initially it looked like GG would repeat their Quarterfinals performance against Doublelift’s team. But from a 2 – 0 advantage, they somehow manage to lose in the end. TSM won 3 consecutive games through sheer determination and some amazing plays on the part of Broken Blade. People were expecting Bjergsen or Doublelift to save the day, but it was the top laner who proved to be the worthy hero.

Winners’ Finals

This match will be played between Team Liquid and FlyQuest and the result should favor Liquid. In the Group Stage, Liquid won the first match while FlyQuest won the second one. But those were Bo1s. In a Bo3, I simply don’t see how a 12 W – 6 L team could defeat a 15 W – 3 L team that proved to be much stronger than almost everyone else. In a worst case scenario, this should be a 3 – 2 for Liquid.

Lower Bracket Round 3

If both teams play their best game, this match will be spectacular. In the Group Stage of LCS Summer 2020, Cloud9 won the first match while TSM won the second. I expect a 3 – 2 result here, but I’m not sure for which side. Experience favors TSM.

 

Photo credit: Riot Games