LCS 2020 Spring Finals Preview

LoL Esports
April 19, 2020
Esports Staff

A champion from bygone days takes the stage to try for the trophy that slipped from their fingers so long ago and has yet to be reclaimed. Across from them, a newcomer to the final hurdle squares their shoulders as they seek to have a new banner unfurl across the wall of the victorious.

The League of Legends Championship Series will see the grand final of its Spring split play out later today at 1pm PST. Cloud9 and FlyQuest are the last teams standing after the tumultuous past months which saw defending champions Team Liquid, the one-time kings Counter Logic Gaming and the crumbling Ozymandian rulers of Team Solo Mid all falling by the wayside. For these fresh, overhauled rosters, their campaign is almost over and at the end awaits the trophy, 100,000 USD and a ticket to the 2020 Mid-Season Invitational.

LCS 2020 Spring Finals Preview

© Riot Games / LCS

End of an era

With both TSM and Team Liquid eliminated, the Summoners Cup is up for grabs by a fresh team after seven consecutive Splits. The four-peat era of Liquid is over and TSM is far from a worthy opponent nowadays.

Cloud9 are the favorites by a wide margin. A near-perfect regular season record with 17 wins and a single loss has continued into a similarly almost impeccable playoffs run with a 3-0 sweep over the 100 Thieves and a 3-1 triumph over Evil Geniuses. Each position can be relied on to deliver an impactful performance that matches or, in most cases, exceeds that of their opposing counterpart across the map. Of particular note is Robert “Blaber” Huang. The 20-year-old prodigy was promoted to Cloud9’s starting line-up for the 2020 season and more than delivered on that faith with a masterful showing that earned him MVP of the Spring regular split. With Blaber at the tip of his team’s spear, the squad looks well-equipped to trample over any opponent and claim a title for Cloud9 for the first time in six years.

Standing between Cloud9 and their first trophy since 2014 is FlyQuest. Complete newcomers to the finals stage, let alone emerging as the victor, FlyQuest rose from the messy melee of North American teams that scrabbled over each other in Cloud9’s shadow as the fourth seed going into playoffs. They were initially felled by Evil Geniuses, but gritted their teeth and battled back for a narrow 3-2 win over TSM before returning the 3-1 favour in the elimination penultimate match against EG. Their slow rise in the postseason has been in no small part due to the reintroduction of Colin “Solo” Earnest to the top lane, replacing Omran “V1per” Shoura with his dependable and consistently strong play on both tanks and carries in the northern regions of the Rift.

Despite the Solo injection revitalizing FlyQuest, it is unlikely that the change in top lane will prove enough to match Eric “Licorice” Ritchie on Cloud9. The same can be said for every other position: Cloud9 is overflowing in all roles with talent, and can back it up with flawless teamwork and strategy. The best FlyQuest can hope for is to steal away one game; otherwise, all signs point towards a clean Cloud9 sweep that will crown C9 as champions once more.

The LCS finals will be played later today at 1pm PST on Sunday, April 19. It is available to watch on the LoL Esports YouTube channel and Twitch channel, and the LCS Twitch channel.

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This article was contributed by Michael Jeong. 
Twitter: Michael4Jeong