After three months of exciting LCS action, the playoffs are almost underway for six of the best League of Legends teams in North America.
These postseason hopefuls have earned their spot by breaking through with exceptional teamwork and breathtaking individual skill. But now, their creativity will be put to the test when they take their first steps onto Summoner’s Rift in a full best-of-five series.
From championship favorites to dark horse contenders, there are plenty of different options for fans to support when the bracket begins on Thursday, March 23. But for any other fans who haven’t kept up with the LCS over these past eight weeks, here is a quick crash course on which teams you’ll want to stand behind when the sparks begin to fly.
If you’re looking for the best bandwagons…
For those looking for a surefire bet on a future champion, get ready to put on your favorite Cloud9 or FlyQuest jersey. Both of these teams have remained relatively consistent over the 2023 LCS Spring Split and also boast some of the most talented players in the league.
During the first half of the season, FlyQuest were the scariest team on Summoner’s Rift, boasting a seven-game win streak fueled by their star-studded lineup with names like Spica, Impact, and their explosive AD carry newcomer, Prince. Although they cooled down significantly through the second half of the spring, FlyQuest still have incredible firepower to go with their experience.
In a similar fashion, C9 have plenty of explosive, veteran talent. Whether you’re banking on an MVP-level jungler like Blaber, a consistent force like Fudge, or the team’s dominant bottom lane duo of Berserker and Zven, you can count on this team to push far into the playoffs—especially after riding into the final week of the regular season as the top team in the league.
If you’re a fan of ultimate comebacks…
Nostalgic LCS fans will want to root for 100 Thieves, especially if they were fond of the Doublelift-Bjergsen era when these two legends took over the league years ago. Many people thought that this roster wouldn’t be able to stand tall among the other modern lineups of the league, and for a quick moment, this looked like an unfortunate future come true after week six.
Heading into the last two weeks of the season, however, 100 Thieves activated some sort of magical force that suddenly elevated them to a seven-game win streak, including huge victories against Golden Guardians, Evil Geniuses, and CLG. Although they didn’t face off against either C9 or FlyQuest during this span, this momentum cannot be understated.
The Thieves are ready for another preposterous heist, and they have some of the best players in the region’s history as the masterminds.
If you’re a fan of building from within…
Hard work and dedication are cornerstones for any successful organization, and in the LCS, no other team represents these keystones like CLG. While other teams looked toward the free agent market this past offseason, the coaching staff at CLG stood put with their squad from 2022 and built on the successes they found.
Although CLG might not have as much firepower on paper as other options, their commitment to building with what they’ve got is an admirable quest that has shown steady growth. This split, for example, they finished in fourth place for the second time in a row, compared to the constant bottom-three finishes they’ve suffered between 2020 and 2022.
They also have wins against every team in the league—except for FlyQuest—and could take some teams by surprise through the early stages of the playoffs.
If you’re an underdog believer…
No one thought that Golden Guardians would be a serious contender for the playoffs at the start of the split. In fact, many people believed they would be a bottom-three organization by the end of the regular season.
After a seven-game win streak and some incredible performances from Gori, River, and Stixxay, however, these underdogs have booked themselves a golden ticket to the postseason. This roster is the perfect example of equaling higher than the sum of their parts, since individually, these players haven’t been considered absolute superstars during their careers.
But with great teamwork and coordination, Golden Guardians could stun some fans, analysts, and teams when the postseason begins. The only issue is that they finished the regular season with three straight losses, and since most teams have now studied their playstyle, they could run into some flexibility issues when it comes to drafting and strategies.
