League of Legends LCS finals preview: Liquid vs. Cloud9 – why C9 is poised for an upset

The LCS playoffs with a battle for the title of best League of Legends team in North America. Who will win: Team Liquid or Cloud9?

We’ve reached the end of the line. Two League of Legends teams enter, but only one will leave LCS champion.

You could have predicted well back at the beginning of the split that it would be Cloud9 and Team Liquid in the showdown for NA supremacy. It was a season of ups and downs, but now we’re in the end game. Can Liquid put another notch in their dynasty, or will Cloud9 slay the dragon?

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In this corner…

We have Team Liquid, the three-time LCS champions who are vying for a record-setting fourth in a row. For just about the entirety of the 2019 Season, Liquid has been the defacto best team in North America, shrugging off every challenger.

After a somewhat tumultuous Summer Split, Liquid locked up the first overall seed on the back of being the best early game team in the LCS. Last week, they took down the upstart Clutch Gaming in a five-game series that was anchored by strong performances from across the board. Yes, it was an uneven series filled with missteps and mistakes, just like the entirety of their season, but in the end, Liquid’s talent shone through and carried them to victory.

In that corner…

Cloud9, a team who had their hearts broken in the spring playoffs thanks to a reverse sweep at the hands of TSM. Never flinching, C9 turned the ship back around during the Summer Split and continued their strong play all the way to winning a tiebreaker that secured them the #2 seed in the playoffs and a first-round bye.

C9 faced the stiffer competition in the semifinal round, taking on CLG in a battle of the 2/3 seeds. However, they dispatched the lower-seeded CLG in just four games on the back of strong play from their jungler and top laner.