After sweeping aside Evil Geniuses with a statement 3-1 victory, Cloud9 are headed to the 2020 LCS Spring Split finals for the first time in many years as the favorite to win the League of Legends championship.
Throughout the four games, C9 showed why they are arguably the best team to ever play in the LCS by putting on a masterclass of macro play and teamfighting against their unfortunate opponents. Whether it was diving Kumo in the top lane before the five-minute mark or expert teamfighting in the jungle, C9 never stopped accelerating the game pace until EG were overwhelmed.
There’s simply a huge gap between C9 and the rest of the North America, and it has come from the the evolution of almost every player on the roster. Blaber finally showed why C9 chose him over Svenskeren by dominating him in the jungle with better pathing and decision making, Licorice outplayed Kumo by a huge margin, and Nisqy has looked extremely clean over Jiizuke.
Besides game three where EG made some of their decisions work, EG seemed to force too many plays that C9 ended up turning in their own favor. Although this willingness to keeping trying through failure can work for some squads, sometimes teams need to realize all they can do is back off and nurse their wounds.
If any of EG hesitated or stalled out with a play, C9 would instantly respond and punish them. Zven and company don’t make too many mistakes, and when they do, you have to capitalize instantly or you won’t get another chance.
Now, Cloud9 will once again try to capture the elusive LCS championship—a trophy that they haven’t held since 2014. Before that, however, we will need to see who they will be facing when the rest of the losers bracket continues with FlyQuest vs. TSM on Sunday, April 12.
