The blazing sun and the scorching heat have finally reached Summoner’s Rift with the 2022 LCS Summer Split set to begin in a couple of weeks, and the opening three days of the season are sure to fire up League of Legends fans and players alike.
Last split, we saw a new legend begin with Evil Geniuses breaking into the upper echelon of North American League by becoming the fifth LCS organization to win the championship. Young prospects and savvy veterans are itching to write their own pages in the annals of the league’s history books, and the road to the World Championship is set before them.
Here are the best matchups to watch when LCS 2022 Summer begins on June 17.
Evil Geniuses vs. Cloud9
The last time that these two teams faced off, EG’s youth movement was too much for Cloud9 and the boys in blue suffered a disappointing sweep at the hands of Jojopyun and Danny. The experimental new roster C9 fielded in Spring didn’t work quite as well as they hoped, and as a result, changes were in store.
For the summer, C9 has returned to their roots by moving Fudge back to top lane, bringing in Zven as their starting support, and signing Jensen as their mid laner once more. This experienced lineup should prove to be a challenge for the defending champs, but C9 will have to hope that Jensen still has what it takes to keep up with one of the fastest rising players in the league.
100 Thieves vs. TSM
100 Thieves might have gotten farther than TSM this past spring, but the results were still very disappointing for both organizations. For the Thieves, a sweep in the finals wasn’t the way they saw their run to the Mid-Season Invitational ending but now they’ve had plenty of time to prepare their next heist with the same players that lifted the trophy last year with head coach Reapered.
TSM, on the other hand, will be searching for any sort of success compared to last season; the 2022 Spring Split was the worst split in the team’s history. After picking up former PSG Talon star and veteran mid laner Maple, however, TSM fans have renewed hope he can become the rock this roster has needed for the past 12 months and more.
Evil Geniuses vs. 100 Thieves
Revenge will be on the mind of every player on 100 Thieves as they take on EG for the first time since their sweep at the 2022 LCS Spring Finals. Thanks to some heroics from Danny, the Geniuses stole the trophy from their hands in the span of one season, but now, there should be plenty of motivation for 100T to perform.
EG should take this matchup as a chance to establish their grip over the league by taking down one of the LCS’ strongest contenders. They’ve done it before, but they’ll need to break out some new tricks to ensure 100T don’t have all the answers to their gameplans.
Team Liquid vs. Cloud9
Two of the most storied franchises in LCS history are colliding as the middle match on the last day of the weekend. Liquid’s stacked superteam failed to meet expectations when they were swept by EG in Spring but now they’ve run it back with one of the most hyped-up rosters in the league’s history.
With names like Bjergsen, CoreJJ, Hans Sama, Bwipo, and Santorin holding down the fort, they’re still huge favorites to take home the trophy. In the meantime, C9 fans should keep their hopes high but expectations realistic as their newly formed roster jumps from the frying pan into the fire, going from EG to Liquid in the span of three days.
