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LCS Week 1, Day 1 predictions: return of the kings

By Josh Tyler

OAKLAND, CA - SEPTEMBER 09: Doublelift of Team Liquid walks onstage during the 2018 North American League of Legends Championship Series Summer Finals against Cloud9 at ORACLE Arena on September 9, 2018 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Robert Reiners/Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CA - SEPTEMBER 09: Doublelift of Team Liquid walks onstage during the 2018 North American League of Legends Championship Series Summer Finals against Cloud9 at ORACLE Arena on September 9, 2018 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Robert Reiners/Getty Images) /
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League of Legends, courtesy of Riot Games
League of Legends, courtesy of Riot Games /

CLG vs. OpTic

Speaking of the old guard after a down-year, CLG returns having lost yet another key piece of their roster that won the 2015 Summer Championship as Huhi departed and was swapped for PowerofEvil. They also are starting a rookie in the jungle, with Wiggly.

OpTic, one of the worst teams from last year, also reset their roster, adding Dardoch and Meteos in the jungle, as well as importing Crown from Gen.G to play in the mid-lane. Arrow, BIG, and Dhokla return from last year’s squad.

Much like the Liquid/C9 matchup, this appears to be a clash of raw talent (OpTic) versus synergy (CLG). Unlike the other match-up, though, I don’t think the talent gap is so big that synergy cannot overcome it.

Prediction: CLG

Flyquest vs. Golden Guardians

Flyquest was named one of our three teams to watch in this split for good reason. They acquired Pobelter from Team Liquid and added rookie V1per to the top lane, giving us the possibility of a spicy Riven pick for this team.

Golden Guardians are, for my money, perhaps the most upgraded team in the LCS. Hauntzer came over from TSM, Olleh from Team Liquid, and Froggen returns to the LCS. Along with solid performers Contractz and Deftly, Golden Guardians might be a sexy dark horse pick for this split, and they will be my dark horse in this week’s LCS predictions.

Prediction: Golden Guardians

3 LCS teams to watch in 2019. dark. Next

Clutch Gaming vs. Echo Fox

Clutch was also listed as a team to watch for after they completely overhauled their roster. Out are Solo, Apollo, and Hakhuo, replaced by Huni, Piglet, and Vulcan. Certainly, Huni is a massive upgrade, adding carry potential to the top-side of the map, but the brand new bottom lane is still a question mark.

For Echo Fox, they basically swapped in all those cast-offs from Clutch and brought back their mid laner from spring 2018, Fenix. However, their most intriguing addition is bringing back Rush, former jungler for C9 back in 2016. He was a part of KT Rolster last season, but played sparingly, so it will be interesting to see what kind of form he’s in (although he’s already in peak meme form).

Prediction: Clutch

Disagree with our LCS predictions for week one? Let us know in the comments below!

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