What to Watch This Weekend: LCS Finals 2016 Schedule
The match-ups are set for the 2016 NA and EU LCS Finals
It’s hard to believe we’ve almost reached the finale of the LCS Spring Split! We break down the details of this week’s championship and third-place matches so that you’ll know what to look for and when to tune in. Catch all the games to see who will be crowned Split champion, play at MSI and earn valuable World Championship Circuit Points!
EU LCS Championship: G2 Esports vs. Origen
When: Sunday, April 17th at 11am ET
The Scoop: Origen returns to the LCS Finals after losing the EU LCS championship match to Fnatic last Summer. Origen went on to qualify for Worlds and made it to the semifinal round last fall, but have struggled to find consistency this spring, finishing 4th in the Spring Split regular season. Newcomers G2 entered playoffs as the Split frontrunners, and continued to look strong in their Semifinal bout against Fnatic. Origen is coming off of an exhausting 3-2 victory over H2K, and will need to regroup and recharge in anticipation of what will be a difficult match-up for them in the Finals. This will be the first EU LCS Split Finals ever without Fnatic, but familiar faces Paul “sOAZ” Boyer and Enrique Cedeño “xPeke” Martínez will continue their streak of uninterrupted Finals appearances. As with every big Origen match, fans will be waiting to see if xPeke hits the Rift. The Origen founder and manager subbed in for one victory last week, and maintains an undefeated record as a substitute this Split.
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NA CLS Championship: TSM vs. CLG
When: Sunday, April 17th at 3pm ET (pending the end of G2 vs. Origen)
Is there any rivalry more iconic in League of Legends history than TSM vs. CLG?
The Scoop:
The great American classic! Is there any rivalry more iconic in League of Legends history than TSM vs. CLG? It has been a long time since both of these teams were together at the top of the North American standings, even if they’ve maintained their forever spots as first and second place in our hearts. CLG has performed solidly all season, finishing second overall in the Spring Split regular season standings. CLG was also the only team to take a regular season game off of powerhouse team Immortals, a feat that sounds a lot less impressive following
of Immortals this past Sunday. TSM finished 6th in the regular season standings but have played like a different team in the playoffs, laying waste to Immortals and recurring NA favorites Cloud9. This finals match-up will be anyone’s game, as former “Rush Hour” botlane duo Zaqueri “Aphromoo” Black and Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng face off on opposing sides to lead their teams to victory.
Note: CLG vs. TSM won’t start until the end of the G2 Esports vs. Origen EU series. While devoted fans won’t want to risk tuning in late, it’s worth considering that the H2K/Origen math this past weekend lasted almost six hours, and both Origen and G2 have recently shown a penchant for taking the game late. I’m not saying tune in late, I’m saying don’t make dinner plans.
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Third Place Matches: H2K vs. Fnatic and Team Liquid vs. Immortals
When: Saturday, April 16th at 11am and 3pm ET
The Scoop: H2K looked like a definite Finals contender this season, and just missed out making it into the final round, falling 2 games to 3 in their grueling match against Origen. We’re likely to see absolutely top-flight AD Carry play from H2K’s Konstantinos “FORG1VEN” Tzortziou and Fnatic’s Martin “Rekkles” Larsson. In NA, Immortals will be looking to redeem themselves after being blindsided by TSM, and Team Liquid will be fighting to to do better than their traditional fourth place finish. It will be interesting to see how Immortals approach the draft, after off-meta picks and Seong “Huni” Hoon Heo’s carry-centric play in the top lane looked less than stellar against TSM. These third place contenders are playing for a lot more than pride, as a series victory will bring valuable World Championship Circuit points that will accumulate to dictate Championship qualification this fall.
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What match are you looking forward to most? Who do you think will win the Finals matches? Tell us in the comments!