Highlighting The LCS' 2020 Season
From Cloud9’s early historical dominance during the League of Legends Championship Series’ (LCS) Spring Split, through Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng’s eyebrow-raising situation with Team Liquid after four straight LCS titles and historic international performances for the region. From North America’s disappointing performance at the League of Legends World Championships for a second year in a row, as well as the retirements of LCS legends Søren “Bjergsen” Bjerg and Doublelift — the LCS has gone through one hell of a year.
With all of that in mind, we’re going to highlight what were some significant moments throughout the year for the LCS.
Cloud9
One cannot begin to highlight the LCS’s 2020 season without the mentioning of Cloud9’s dominance during the Spring Split. A historic run to start the year put them in many people’s eyes as one of the three teams that were going to represent the North American region at this year’s Worlds. Only dropping two games all split long — one during the regular season and one during their dominant playoffs run — this team, for all intents and purposes was the team to beat. That dominant Spring Split run culminated in a swift 3-0 over first-time finalists, FlyQuest. The complete control over the region carried over to the Summer Split in which one of the LCS’ mainstay organisations were able to net themselves nine consecutive wins and zero losses until a surprising 100 Thieves were able to put a halt to the fun.
Once the dust of the surprising defeat had settled, Cloud9 kept on their way, but their road soon became bumpy. Uncharacteristic losses here and there nearly put them in a tiebreaker position against Team SoloMid for the second seed — winner takes the second playoff bye. A Team Liquid defeat over Team SoloMid kept Cloud9’s bye secured eventually pitting them against, once again, eventual finalists in FlyQuest for the second round of the playoffs. A continuing of their momentum towards the tail end of the split by FlyQuest sent Cloud9 into the losers bracket after just one series where they would await long-time rivals, Team SoloMid.
Disappointingly, Cloud9’s Worlds hopes were slashed as they merely just stood in the way of a Team SoloMid who was on a mission — making history of their own with their miraculous playoffs run. This leaves one thinking: What if Cloud9 had made Worlds? How would have they fared?
Doublelift’s departure from Team Liquid and eventual retirement
Click to enlargeIn the midst of all of the commotion that Cloud9 were causing, Doublelift was going through a commotion of his own with Team Liquid. The team that won four LCS titles in a row — spanning the 2018 and 2019 seasons — finished at ninth place during the Spring Split. Many attribute their fall from grace to Doublelift’s “lack of motivation” alongside jungler Mads “Broxah” Brock-Pedersen’s visa issues forcing him to show up to the split late.
In a vlog, Doublelift went on to explain his side of the story on what happened with Team Liquid. He mentioned the worsening of his relationship between him and the organisation as he was the only player who wanted to keep Jake “Xmithie” Puchero who was eventually replaced by Broxah. Doublelift had a lot of faith and trust in Xmithie’s communication as he had built a strong camaraderie with him through those four dominant years. The former LCS pro also resented the fact many saw Xmithie as one of the major reasons Team Liquid underperformed at their most recent Worlds in 2019.
A mid-season benching of Doublelift led to Team Liquid bringing on Edward “Tactical” Ra in which Doublelift refused to split playtime with. This eventually led to Team Liquid trading Doublelift to Team SoloMid — making Tactical the mainstay AD Carry. Now in a familiar home, Doublelift, alongside other LCS great, Bjergsen, and the rest of his team were able to bring a decent performance for Team SoloMid during the Summer Split’s regular season. After being sent down early to the Losers’ Bracket, Doublelift and Team SoloMid would go on to make one of the most historic playoffs runs the LCS has ever seen. Playing a total of six best-of-five series, Team SoloMid bounced back from that devastating loss to Golden Guardians by defeating them in a reverse sweep in Round 2. They went on to dominate Cloud9, dominate Team Liquid and eventually thwart a near-reverse sweep by FlyQuest in the finals.
Due to this playoff run, Team SoloMid netted themselves the first seed representing North America at this year’s World Championships. They severely underperformed in which they were not able to get a single win in the group stage. Many saw Team SoloMid’s group as a group that Team SoloMid could possibly take one or two wins in. Following the underperformance of Team SoloMid and the region as a whole, Doublelift, after nearly a decade of pro play, retired
Bjergsen’s retirement
Before Doublelift retired, Bjergsen did it first. His retirement was so shocking that it nearly made Doublelift retire alongside with him.
Bjergsen, in many people’s eyes, is the NA GOAT — The Greatest Player of All Time. That battle will go in between him and his former teammate, Doublelift, for ages. What Bjergsen was able to accomplish for the region as a whole is nothing short of incredible; all while always being on the same team, Team SoloMid. His dominance from the first time he stepped foot on the LCS stage to his final hurrah as a player will forever go unmatched. The way he would single-handedly carry Team SoloMid in key moments was truly inspiring and downright terrifying. He was the reason many people became fans of Team SoloMid, he was the reason people became fans of League of Legends and became fans of esports as a whole. He transcended the game, he transcended his team, he transcended his region. So much so, that he was compared to Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok. Anytime an international tournament would happen, be it the Mid-Season Invitational, Worlds or even All-Stars, everyone would talk about the potential Bjergsen v. Faker matchup.
At the end of the day, one cannot help but be grateful for Bjergsen and Doublelift having played in the LCS. All the memories, hardships, and rewards they brought to not just the teams they played in, but the region as a whole will be forever cherished by the region. The LCS region now has big shoes to fill as it’s two cornerstones have finally retired, and it’s exciting.
Images via Riot Games