Ranking all 24 teams at the League of Legends World Championship
By Josh Tyler
14. Clutch Gaming
Qualified via
LCS 2019 Regional Finals
Roster
Top – Heo “Huni” Seung-hoon
Jungle – Nam “LirA” Tae-yoo
Mid – Tanner “Damonte” Damonte
ADC – Cody “Cody Sun” Sun
Support – Philippe “Vulcan” Laflamme
How they got here
After missing the playoffs entirely in the LCS Spring Split, Clutch rebounded and strengthened their bot laner by adding 100 Thieves cast-off ADC Cody Sun. The move paid dividends as Clutch improved, and managed to sneak their way into the LCS playoffs on the last day of the split.
From there, well, you all know what happens next. They stunned perennial power TSM in the opening round, took the thought-to-be-untouchable Team Liquid to five games before losing, and then stumbled in the runner up game against CLG.
That loss meant they had to go through everybody in the regional qualifier to make the World Championship as North America’s third seed. They dispatched FlyQuest in the first round with ease, then got some revenge on CLG, but against TSM they looked to be the ones on the receiving end of some revenge after dropping the first two games. Then they pulled the reverse sweep and booked their tickets to the World Championship in Europe.
Player to watch
Their ADC Cody Sun, who has driven the incredible turnaround in the summer. But it’s not just that Cody has been the star of this team since joining them, there’s also a bit of history for him with his infamous death as a member of Immortals way back in 2017. He’ll be looking for redemption and to re-write his legacy from “Cody Done” to “Cody Won” on the international stage.
Best case scenario
They get a cupcake draw for play-in groups, easily take the first seed, win the knockouts, and advance to the main stage. If they get the right draw, maybe Clutch could even do a little damage and actually challenge for a spot in the main event knockout stage. However, making it to that quarterfinal appearance in the knockout stage is probably the end of this Cinderella story.
Worst case scenario
They stumble in the play-in group stage, end up limping out as a second seed and get stomped by one of the stronger one seeds like Splyce or Damwon.
Prediction
We get our first taste of the NA/EU rivalry play out when Splyce and Clutch face off in the play-in knockout stage. I’ll say Splyce is the one that stumbles in groups and ends up a two seed in knockouts, but they beat Clutch heads up and deny us Tanner Time at the main stage.