LCS Week 4 Summer Preview – Will TL stay undefeated?

LoL Esports

July 19, 2024

Jordan Marney

After a short break, the LCS returns to action this week to allow Team Liquid and FlyQuest to compete at the Esports World Cup. That break allowed teams extra time to prepare as week 5 fast approaches. With the teams fresh and ready, here are some of the bigger storylines heading into LCS Summer Split week 4.

Will Team Liquid remain undefeated?

Image courtesy of LoL Esports via flickr.

There’s no doubt Team Liquid is the best team in the LCS and by a country mile at this point. They have climbed the mountain from the Spring Split regular season to become a team that is now gaining a reputation on the international stage.

TL has been impressed at both international events this year. They have had two very close series against T1, with many arguing that TL should have won at least one of those series. They have continued their impressive form in the LCS with a 3-0 start to the split. This included a 2-1 victory over the Spring finalists in FlyQuest. The question remains: Will they remain undefeated? No team has ever gone an entire LCS season with 0 defeats.

If TL were to pull it off, it would be a historic record for an organization with many accolades already stamped in the history books. Their biggest rival to their perfect record is Cloud9, the team TL slaughtered in the playoffs to reach the grand finals. Cloud9 has yet to be tested after taking some of the weaker squads in the league right now, so the jury is still out on their being back as a contender.

Are Cloud9 back?

Image courtesy of LCS via Flickr.

Cloud9 has again gotten off to a 3-0 start to an LCS regular season. This time last split, it all started to go downhill for the North American squad. This split, they have looked much better. Their macro game has cleaned up, even if it’s against weaker opponents.

The most impressive display a top team can have is convincingly beating the teams they are expected to beat. Yes, Cloud9 was expected to win against Shopify Rebellion and Immortals, but how they won is what’s caught the eye of many. Cloud9 must have a strong performance against 100 Thieves, they haven’t looked their best in best-of-threes this far and this is an opportunity to put down a marker against a better opponent.

Desperate move for Shopify Rebellion?

Shopify has made a roster move ahead of LCS week 4. Lee “Bugi” Seong-yeop is back in the starting roster instead of Tomio Phanlith “Tomio” Chan. I felt this move was a little harsh. Tomio hasn’t had the best games, but any jungler would find it difficult in the current Shopify lineup. They are losing lanes left, right, and center, which is a junglers worst nightmare. This could be seen as a move to stabilize the roster that played together in the Spring Split. Still, it’s also an act of desperation for Shopify, which is looking to avoid going winless, which no new organization wants on its resume in its inaugural season in the LCS.