The LCS Spring Finals are here. This split has seen countless narratives sprout since its start, and on April 8 and 9, all loose ends will be tied up. The “Road to Raleigh” has led up to this weekend, with three teams—two of whom are vying for their first-ever LCS title and the other looking to repeat—all in the mix for the trophy, as well as potential seeds at this year’s Mid-Season Invitational.
In the week leading up to the Spring Finals, major changes have occurred off the Rift, including the sale of Counter Logic Gaming, as well as the retirement of one of NA League’s greatest stars: Bjergsen. Still, there’s a tournament to complete, and with the finish line in sight, the league’s next champion is on the verge of being crowned.
Here are four of the biggest storylines to keep an eye on throughout the LCS Spring Split Finals Weekend.
MSI seeding is more interesting than ever
For the first time in League history, major region teams will be sending two representatives to the Mid-Season Invitational this season. In previous years, only the league’s Spring Split champion was given a ticket to MSI, but in 2023, the top two teams from each of the four major regions around the globe are invited to the event.
Related: All League of Legends teams qualified for MSI 2023
For the LCS, this means that C9 has already booked their ticket to London, while the second team will be decided on April 8 when FlyQuest and Golden Guardians square off. When the Spring Finals take place on April 9, the biggest reward on the line (outside of the LCS trophy) will be seeding rights at MSI, with the champion being seeded directly into the MSI bracket stage, while the runner-up will have to participate in the play-in stage.
Grab some popcorn, it’s the Berserker Show
Last summer, Cloud9 won its first LCS split in over two years, and heading into Finals Weekend, they’re looking like the odds-on favorite to walk away as champs once again. When they won their 2022 title, it was AD carry Berserker who walked away as Finals MVP. This year, he’s walking into the finals as the Spring Split MVP, and in his recent games, he’s been on an absolute tear. Berserker’s 7.1 KDA is the highest among all players in the postseason, while he also leads the tournament in DPM, DMG%, and kills per game, according to League stats site Oracle’s Elixir.
So far through the playoffs, C9 have been feeding their resources into the Berserker machine, and if they’re going to win it all again, they need to keep that machine happily chugging along.
Golden Guardians, Team of Destiny
This Spring, Golden Guardians have been one of the streakiest teams in the LCS, putting together a defining seven-game winning run in the middle of the split in addition to two separate losing streaks of three or more games. Coming into Finals Weekend, they’ve won five straight playoff games, including back-to-back elimination games against 100 Thieves and a three-game sweep over Evil Geniuses.
While they lost both games against FlyQuest in the regular split, Golden Guardians are on a hot streak. If they can continue to play as efficiently as they did against EG, they have a real shot to reach their first split finals in franchise history.
Can FlyQuest return to form?
FlyQuest have taken a noticeable step backwards since their world-burning 8-0 run to open the split. They’re just one game over the .500 mark since that undefeated start (9-8, including tiebreakers and playoff games), and come into the weekend in need of back-to-back series wins to clinch their first-ever LCS championship. Should they beat the surging Golden Guardians on Saturday, they’ll come face-to-face with C9, who have owned them in all of their recent meetings. C9 have won five straight games against FlyQuest, including last week’s bombastic 3-0 sweep in the second round of the playoffs.
When FlyQuest has won this season, it’s usually by way of mid-to-late-game scaling, but in games against C9, they haven’t been able to find room to breathe, let alone develop a late-game lead. If FlyQuest are able to play their way and keep things close early while perfectly playing the late-game, they might be able to come full circle and win as dominantly as they did in the early portion of the split.
The 2023 LCS Spring Finals weekend begins tomorrow, April 8, in Raleigh, North Carolina at 3pm CT with FlyQuest against Golden Guardians.
Published: Apr 7, 2023 06:07 pm