The LCS returns to this year’s League of Legends World Championship as the underdog of the major regions, even more so after the LEC was granted an additional seed due to the absence of the LCL.
Obtaining the Summoner’s Cup is one of many goals LCS fans and players have given up on almost entirely. For 10 years, the LCS has stood in the shadow of its Western competition, staring up at the professional League behemoths that appear years ahead in skill and watching from afar as these teams decorate their histories further.
But between Cloud9, 100 Thieves, and Evil Geniuses, the LCS possesses three cases for strong Worlds runs this year, each aiming to rewrite the narrative of poor international performances in favor of top finishes that will forever live in League history. Here’s a look at the year each of the teams has had, as well as what fans can expect from them at Worlds.
An unexpected change of plans
Cloud9 began the year with massive roster changes, spearheaded by the coaching return of Nick “LS” De Cesare. Korean stand-outs Summit, Berserker, and Winsome joined the team under LS’ tutelage. Off-meta drafts like Ivern and Soraka mid became commonplace for the team, completely contradicting the early-season meta and leaving fans wondering what strange strategies they would opt for next.
Yet as quickly as the hype ensued, it was soon taken away. Minutes before C9 were expected to participate in their scheduled week three matchup, C9 tweeted that it had parted ways with LS without any explanation. In his stead, Max Waldo, then assistant coach, was immediately promoted to head coach, having to then finish the game of chess LS had begun.
While fans were worried the departure of LS would be detrimental to the team, C9 remained at the top of the standings. Much of this success was attributed to their top laner, Summit, who would go on to win MVP of the split. Gnar proved to be the pick Summit synergized most closely with, allowing the top laner not only to showcase his skills through accumulating kills, but also hitting game-changing ultimates to set up for the rest of his team. Even tenured LCS top laners struggled to fully understand what Summit was capable of; it seemed that week after week the top laner brought out new strategies to surprise opponents.
Yet even more roster changes awaited C9 for the Summer Split, despite all the team had done to keep their Spring Split afloat. Summit and Winsome were let go from the team for the Summer Split, while Fudge took up the top lane position once more. Returning to the team were long-time C9 veterans Jensen and Zven, who would step away from his ADC role in favor of being the team’s main support.
This C9 roster was prepared to change history. Berserker, the rookie ADC the team had been building the entire year, proved to the rest of the LCS that C9 taking a chance on him was indeed in the org’s best interest. The ADC, with a combined finals KDA of 23/1/24, led C9 to a victory over 100T—the only sweep of the entire tournament—and the org’s first summer title.
C9’s path through Worlds 2022
C9’s run through Worlds starts with the group stage, in what many are referring to as this year’s “Group of Death.” The LCS first seed will have to overcome both the LCK second seed T1, and LPL third seed (and reigning world champions) EDward Gaming, as well as a team that qualifies through play-ins, if they want to add another historic Worlds run to the org’s legacy.
In the 10 years of the LCS, C9 is the only NA team to have successfully advanced past the Worlds group stage and into quarterfinals. Notably, this time C9 starts Worlds in the same group they fought in during their Worlds 2017 run, complete with the same mid laners performing for themselves, T1, and EDG.
C9 have become accustomed to playing around Berserker and opening opportunities for him to safely melt enemies from afar. In a meta where bot lane prevalence is so important, sticking to this strategy will likely allow the team to contend efficiently with some of the best bot lane duos in the world—including that of Berserker’s old team, T1.
With Fudge and Blaber at the helm and Berserker and Jensen dishing out damage from afar, C9’s teamfighting is nearly unmatched among all the talent at Worlds. If they can accumulate early leads into these strong teamfights, C9 are very likely to advance out of groups once again and possibly go even further.
Struggling when it matters most
100T was one of the only teams that opted to keep its roster together during the 2022 season, sticking with Ssumday, Closer, Abbedagge, FBI, and Huhi for the year. The organization put its focus on bringing out the potential of its roster as more championship victories were a clear possibility for the squad of veterans.
The team dominated most of the Spring Split, going head-to-head with C9 and Team Liquid at the top of the standings, earning themselves an easy path to the Spring Playoffs. Just like the summer before, 100T began with a strong upper-bracket run to eventually reemerge in the finals.
Yet this time, they themselves were swept in this last push to the trophy as EG ran through yet another team using the unmatched strength of their bot lane, bringing the team expected to win a consecutive title to a second-place finish.
This fall at the top did not deter the 100T squad, however. Despite a few hiccups early on, 100T made their way to the top of the standings once more, fighting for the top spot against the team that had humiliated them in the Spring Playoffs finals.
Top laner Ssumday remained in MVP conversations for weeks, ultimately earning himself a spot on the first all-pro team as the only non-EG player. Even if the other 100T lanes were struggling, Ssumday and his diverse champion pool continued to act as win conditions for the team, often forcing Closer to bring his attention to the top side of the map to help maintain these leads.
100T soon returned to the LCS Championship, where just one year prior they had lifted the trophy for the first time in the organization’s history. But like in the Spring Playoffs, when victory was in their grasp, 100T faltered.
As the finals series against C9 reached its conclusion, the individual members of 100T continued to throw themselves at their opponents, hoping to slow them. But 100T failed to prevent fate from taking its course once again, resulting in yet another sweep in the favor of their opponents—the only one of the entire LCS Championship.
Looking forward to the international stage
Luckily for 100T, ending as the LCS’ second seed has earned them a path to Worlds directly through the group stage, allowing them to bypass a hectic play-ins stage. But their first challenge involves them having to overcome the reigning LCK champions, Gen.G, who are also in their group.
At last year’s Worlds, which was 100T’s first, they failed to take down their LCK groupmates in T1 even a single time and only snatched one game from the LPL’s EDward Gaming, who then went on to win it all. Should 100T wish to progress past groups, they will have to rebound from the major losses they endured this year, as well as adjust to the more slower-paced, methodical strategies common to the Eastern regions.
But a meta centered around the bot lane may make this difficult for NA’s second seed; they often focus more on the synergy of their top laner and jungler over this other side of the map. For 100T to keep up in the group stage, they’re going to have to relocate the synergy that afforded them their LCS Championship win last year, while looking past this year’s upsets.
The future of the LCS is bright
The LCS has long struggled with maintaining and growing rookie talent. Last year, there were plentiful rumors that the LCS would be getting rid of its Academy scene completely—a rumor that proved untrue but had fans and players alike reflecting on the ways the LCS had approached new talent and what that meant for the future.
Evil Geniuses, a team that has been so close to international event qualification so many times, began to answer this question last summer when the organization brought up shining Academy ADC, Kyle “Danny” Sakamaki. Almost immediately, Danny brought the team to new heights, playing with veteran-like skill and standing tall against talent that had been in the league long before he even reached high school.
For the 2022 Lock In tournament, they introduced Academy mid laner Joseph “Jojopyun” Yun to the LCS stage, and just like they had done with Danny a split prior, the team quickly proved these upstarts were the key to the longevity of the LCS. Jojopyun established himself as a key part of not just EG’s immediate success, but fought on par with some of the best mid laners in the scene to become a contender for the best the region had to offer.
Victories piled on for EG with the two young players at the helm. Winning the organization’s first title through a dominant Spring Playoffs run brought the team to MSI, where Danny and Jojopyun would get their first taste of the international stage. While many doubted what the LCS representatives could do, EG shocked the world by taking down T1—who had a historic, undefeated Spring Split—and emerging near the top of the MSI standings.
This was just the beginning of what would be even more success in the Summer Split, carrying that momentum into a first-seed entry to the LCS Championship and the org’s first Worlds qualification. The team’s jungler, Inspired, was even rewarded as a pivotal part of the team’s Summer triumphs with an LCS MVP title to accompany his LEC MVP title.
Unexpectedly, EG announced Danny would not represent the team at the LCS Championship’s lower-bracket finals or grand finals to focus on his mental health. In his place would be EG’s current Academy ADC, Muhammed Hasan “Kaori” Şentürk, who had never played on an LCS stage before.
Fans were unsure how Kaori would perform in EG’s lower-bracket finals match against 100T, since Danny had been such a crucial part of the team’s success throughout the year. Yet this doubt shared among members of the LCS community fueled Kaori, allowing him and the rest of EG to take 100T to five games. Ultimately, EG failed to get a consecutive title win, ending third in the LCS Championship.
EG’s Worlds 2022 gameplan
In their first Worlds appearance, EG are tasked with climbing through the play-ins stage, only then catching up to the other teams representing the LCS. Thanks to this year’s MSI, we have already gotten a taste at what the members of the team can do against international talent, particularly Jojopyun, who ended the competition with one of the highest KDA’s of all mid laners at 3.53.
The young mid laner has recently climbed through the Worlds Champions Queue ladder, reaching ninth in the standings against players he has never had the chance to play against—and outplaying them like only he knows how. While the team has had more time to practice with substitute ADC Kaori, it’s likely Jojopyun will once again become central to EG’s plans, placing great importance on what Inspired can do to keep his mid laner ahead.
If EG want to advance to New York City and the group stage, they’re going to have to clean up their teamfighting. In their lower-bracket finals series against 100T at the LCS Championship, communication issues became the difference-maker in who would initiate fights. In these deficits, EG seem lost and uncertain as to which player can bring them back into the competition.
Related: Majoring in the minors: An overview of the lesser-known representatives at Worlds 2022
Now that EG have had more time to practice with substitute ADC Kaori, they should be able to allocate resources between their carries more effectively, rather than rely solely on him or Jojopyun to carry. With Summer MVP Inspired guiding the squad into battle, the team should now have all the resources to replicate what they did at MSI and add yet another accomplishment in what has been the greatest year for the organization in professional League.
