Just like the LEC, the American (LCS) League of Legends also kicks off its Summer Split on Friday. A quick recap of the Spring Season, Team Liquid paced the split with a league-best 14-4 record and a 78% winning percentage. Evil Geniuses finished at 9-9 and as the four seed for the playoffs. That proved no issue though, as EG beat Flyquest, then swept Cloud9, Team Liquid, and 100Thieves en route to the LCS Spring Title. They followed that up with a top-4 finish at the Mid-Season Invitational.
Let’s run through some quick roster changes to get you sped up on team comps heading into the Summer. Cloud9 has one of the biggest shake-ups, moving Fudge from mid-lane back to top lane. Zven moves from bot lane to support, and Jensen joins as the new mid lane. On paper, this team looks as dangerous as any in recent memory, though Cloud9 has always been a big “on paper” team. FlyQuest and CLG both see top laner changes, while Immortals makes a change in the jungle. Maple joins TSM as their new mid-laner.
The problem in recent memory with the LCS is it has been Team Liquid, Cloud 9, Evil Genuises, and 100 Thieves as the four real contenders. TSM in recent memory was in that group, but their roster won’t hold up this split. FlyQuest and Golden Guardians should be intermediately competitive, same with Dignitas but any of those three teams actually making a push for a title in the Summer is probably not realistic. Team Liquid, 100 Thieves, and Dignitas get the friendliest opening week matchups here with Team Liquid the slate’s largest favorite for good reason. Cloud9 against Evil Genuises is our best game for viewing purposes here. There is a slight discount on Cloud9 here, though Evil Genuises have to be feeling themselves after their Spring title and the experience from playing at MSI. Due to how low-priced Cloud9 is here despite just being a slight underdog they are going to be someone I target for this slate. I think the other high-priced options carry the highest ceilings here, with TL, 100T, and DIG rounding out my preferred plays.
Cheat Sheet
| $ Tier | CPTN | TOP | JNG | MID | ADC | SUP | TEAM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High | Hans sama (11.7k / 37.425) (15.15k / 37.425) | Bwipo (7k / 18.35) (8.1k / 18.35) | Closer (7.4k / 18.63) (9k / 18.63) | Bjergsen (7.8k / 24.13) (9.2k / 24.13) | FBI (8k / 19.63) (10.2k / 19.63) | CoreJJ (6.2k / 17.54) (7.3k / 17.54) | Team Liquid (5.8k / 17.75) (7.8k / 17.75) |
| Neo (11.4k / 30.840) (14.7k / 30.840) | Ssumday (6.8k / 15.95) (8.2k / 15.95) | Santorin (7.2k / 21.38) (9.1k / 21.38) | Abbedagge (7.6k / 18.13) (8.8k / 18.13) | Hans sama (7.8k / 24.95) (10.1k / 24.95) | huhi (6k / 13.59) (7.4k / 13.59) | 100 Thieves (5.6k / 17.36) (7.9k / 17.36) | |
| Medium | Santorin (10.8k / 32.070) (13.65k / 32.070) | Gamsu (6.4k / 14.56) ( / 14.56) | River (6.8k / 17.18) (8.5k / 17.18) | Blue (7.4k / 22.12) (8.7k / 22.12) | Neo (7.6k / 20.56) (9.8k / 20.56) | Biofrost (5.8k / 15.25) (7k / 15.25) | Dignitas (5.4k / 16.02) (7.5k / 16.02) |
| Jensen (10.2k / 27.555) (14.25k / 27.555) | |||||||
| Low | Blaber (9.6k / 30.180) (13.5k / 30.180) | Fudge (5.6k / 19.81) (7.5k / 19.81) | Blaber (6.4k / 20.12) (9k / 20.12) | Jensen (6.8k / 18.37) (9.5k / 18.37) | Berserker (6.4k / 20.35) (8.8k / 20.35) | Zven (4.8k / 21.37) (6.7k / 21.37) | Cloud9 (4.4k / 13.06) (7.2k / 13.06) |
