Putting aside the chaos that has been the “import restrictions debate” within the LCS community, the Mid-Season Showdown started on March 20th in which the top 6 teams of the Spring Split were chosen to participate in.
The Mid-Season Showdown allows the top teams from the NA LCS to duke it out in an effort to claim the Spring Split Championship Title, a title and award which official declares the winner as the number one team in the NA LCS of that year’s Spring Split, as well as going on to represent North America at the Mid Season Invitational (MSI). For a more detailed description or refresher on the structure of the Mid-Season Showdown, check out this previous article I wrote about the structure of all the major upcoming LCS tournaments that will occur throughout the season.
The top 6 NA teams currently participating in the Mid-Season Showdown, in order of their seasonal standings, are as follows; Cloud9 (C9), TSM (Team SoloMid), Team Liquid, 100 Thieves, Team Dignitas, and Evil Geniuses. The upper bracket seeded teams (Cloud9, TSM, Team Liquid, and 100 Thieves) battled it out in the first round to determine who would bumped down to face the lower bracket teams (Evil Geniuses and Dignitas). The matches did not disappoint.
Last Saturday, in what was one of the most anticipated matches of the entire Showdown, Team Liquid would knock down TSM to the lower bracket in a 3-1 victory, where they will face off against Evil Geniuses in a best-of-three elimination match.
For the fans watching the Team Liquid versus TSM games, it was definitely a thrilling watch as each team throughout the 4 games struggled back and forth for control of the map and the objectives. However, for Team Liquid, the battle for control only emphasized the fact that they need to continue practicing and stretching their play execution. Despite becoming a team notorious for their early-game dominance throughout the season, games one and three against TSM made it clear there was still a lot to work on as they aim to progress towards the championship title.
The next day however, Cloud9 would enjoy a clean and dominant 3-0 sweep against 100 Thieves, meaning Cloud9 advances to face off against Team Liquid, while 100 Thieves will have to fight for a spot to continue in the tournament against Team Dignitas.
Cloud9 is easily the most favored team in the Mid-Season Showdown as claimed amongst fans and analysts, and their dominance over 100 Thieves made it clear why. The hours of team practice, as well as roster experimentation, truly shone through. This is shown through the performance of C9 players Luka “Perkz” Perkovic and Ibrahim “Fudge” Allami. Perkz has proven to be an indispensable and undeniable strong mid lane import, consistently carrying C9 games and being an all around mid lane powerhouse. Meanwhile, C9 had to get comfortable learning to play around the strengths and weaknesses of Fudge. However, Fudge, fresh from the Academy League, proved he wasn’t just a rookie as he outperformed his opponent Ssumday in the top lane.
With the first rounds completed, tensions rise in the lower brackets as the losers face off against Dignitas and Evil Geniuses for a chance at redemption. However, Dignitas and Evil Geniuses are just as hungry for a chance at the title. Don’t miss out this weekend as the best of North America wage war in the Mid-Season Showdown!
The Beat @APU 