After both LCS Spring Playoff best-of-fives ended in 3-0 stomps, these might be the easiest Power Rankings we’ll write all year. However, nothing is ever set in stone, and the playoffs could still have a twist or two awaiting us.
Starting things off, we have to congratulate Cloud9, who are officially going to the Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) after their dominant victory over FlyQuest. As the two supposed top teams in North America clashed, many hoped for a tight and entertaining series, but it wasn’t even close.
All eyes were on Bot Lane as Korean superstars Kim "Berserker" Min-cheol (Cloud9) and Lee "Prince" Chae-hwan (FlyQuest) collided. It’s always been a hotly contested debate over who’s better, but “Berserker” - in this instance - came out on top time and time again.
In the second game he was able to win a 2v2, and then a 2v3 during the laning phase to get insanely far ahead. And then in the third and final match, he wasn’t even the most fed player on his team - as Mid Laner Jang "EMENES" Min-soo was popping off - but “Berserker” still managed to shine by getting a Double Kill in a 1v3 fight.
Cloud9 were good, but FlyQuest also looked disjointed and messy. Usually, they’ve been bailed out by their superb team fighting, but Cloud9 did a great job of splitting them up during skirmishes. FlyQuest had no chance of getting around the superb frontline play of Ibrahim "Fudge" Allami - especially when he was backed up by heals from Soraka in Game 2.
The moment that probably summed up FlyQuest best in that series was the opening to Game 3. “Fudge” managed to escape a 1v2 gank up top, and then seconds later Cloud9 got First Blood as Lee "VicLa" Dae-kwang died to a gank despite the opposing Jungler being spotted on a ward.
However, purely due to the gulf in quality of opponents, we’re still narrowly giving FlyQuest the narrow advantage over our other series winners, Golden Guardians.
It was another one-sided series as Golden Guardians simply outclassed Evil Geniuses in their 3-0 victory, which featured a 24-minute stomp in Game 2, and a beautiful wombo combo clean ace to end the series.
Golden Guardians looked like a fantastic unit with excellent team play and cohesion. And they showed brilliant creativity with massive flex picks, and some great counters like Rumble Top. If they can continue to draft that well in the finals, then they have a very real chance of qualifying for MSI – hopefully they have some creative picks left in their back pocket.
What to expect from LCS Spring Playoffs Finals Week
Obviously, Cloud9 are heavy title favourites, though their eventual opponents will have the benefit of warming up with a series the day before.
So the question is, who will win between FlyQuest and Golden Guardians and advance into the LCS final and qualify for MSI? Considering their performance last week, Golden Guardians look set to cause an upset.
However, Golden Guardians lost both of their regular season games against FlyQuest, who should have a better showing this week considering the experience and quality among their ranks.
