LCS Summer 2020 Finals Preview - FlyQuest vs TSM/Team Liquid And Predictions
This coming weekend the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) will crown its 2020 Spring Split champion, as FlyQuest await their finals counterpart in the form of either Team Liquid or Team SoloMid. Team Liquid and Team SoloMid will battle it out on the Saturday before the finals on Sunday to decide who will face FlyQuest.
FlyQuest - can they avenge their Spring Split finals loss?
Click to enlargeLeading up to the playoffs, FlyQuest ended their regular season on a six-game win streak, with half of their opponents being teams in the lower part of the standings, and the other half being teams in the middle of the pack - apart from the eventual number one seed in Team Liquid. FlyQuest began to peak at the perfect time with this six-game win streak, later translating it into the playoffs. Their playoff run began with them thwarting a near reverse sweep by Evil Geniuses, to later make quick work of the 2020 Summer Split champions in Cloud9 — getting revenge on that 3-0 finals loss.
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FlyQuest has been steadily improving having each of their members step up at key parts of the regular season and the playoffs. This team is a threat that can beat you however they so choose. Lucas “Santorin” Larsen’s consistent jungle play will make sure they don’t waver nor falter, couple that with Lee “IgNar” Dong-geun’s flashy plays and engages. Add Colin “Solo” Earnest and Jason “WildTurtle” Tran’s sudden late-season resurgence, then top it off with Tristan “PowerOfEvil” Schrage’s immaculate Azir play. This team is not a team you want to face when it’s firing on all cylinders.
Team Liquid - can they complete their midseason turn around?
Click to enlargeWhile the last split was a complete wash, ending at ninth place, this split would be the complete polar opposite, finishing at first place with the best record in the organisation’s history — outshining that historic four-time split winning team. Team Liquid’s consistent risk-averse style that forces the enemy team to come to them netted them a first seed and a bye. They kept this consistent play through all of the split, only finishing with three losses splitting regular-season games with Cloud9, Evil Geniuses, and FlyQuest.
Things would change for Team Liquid in the playoffs after they swept Golden Guardians and secured their League of Legends World Championship spot. Team Liquid began trying out new compositions and champions to prove that they were not a one-dimensional team, making it more difficult for their opponents in the pick and ban phase, as well as in the matches themselves. This would lead them to lose a difficult five-game series against the team awaiting their opponents in the finals, FlyQuest.
Team SoloMid - can they be champions of North America once again?
Click to enlargeWith an unimpressive Spring Split for the winningest LCS organisation of all time, they looked to turn it around after re-acquiring Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng from Team Liquid. This led to a better performance this time around in the Summer Split, being one tiebreaker game away from claiming the second bye going into playoffs.
Team SoloMid began their playoffs run by being upset by Golden Guardians in an unexpected sweep. This left every fan, analyst, and player wondering what would Team SoloMid’s next move be. They quickly bounced back though after a sweep of their own onto Dignitas in the lower bracket. Later getting revenge on Golden Guardians in a 3-2 victory in which Team SoloMid showcased a completely new style of full damage compositions with exquisite team fighting.
Storylines & Predictions
Team SoloMid vs Team Liquid
Going into this match, the clear storyline is Doublelift versus his old team. After a sour ending to Doublelift’s time on Team Liquid, he sought to find new life and motivation in the form of Team SoloMid. In his vlog postpartum, Doublelift gave his side of the story opening up on some of the issues he had with Team Liquid the organisation, claiming that his then teammates wouldn’t forgive him for his rough start to the split and that he wanted to “destroy” his former team for their treatment of him.
The other storyline, of course, is the storied rivalry between mid-laners Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen and Søren “Bjergsen” Bjerg. A rivalry that dates back to when Jensen was on Cloud9 when he first joined the LCS. This is another chapter for the age-old rivalry of who is the best mid-laner in LCS history.
Although Team Liquid has been trying their hand at a new style — integrating new champions and compositions — we think Team SoloMid’s newfound style won’t be enough to best the stalwart consistency of Team Liquid. If all else fails, Team Liquid can revert back to their old style that netted them the best record in the organisation’s history, as well as first place for the regular season.
Team SoloMid looked impressive during their series versus Cloud9, but that’s also due to Cloud9’s fall from grace. Cloud9 was not the same historic team that dominated Spring Split all the way through the first few weeks of summer, and it showed. We have Team Liquid besting Team SoloMid in a close 3-2 series.
FlyQuest vs Team Liquid
We expect a repeat of last Sunday’s matchup between these two teams for the finals, but this time around we see FlyQuest being more dominant. FlyQuest having a week to prepare for their opponent to be will be of great benefit as it allows them to refine their already strong playstyle that they’ve shown this past couple of weeks. Add the fact that they will be able to see any new playstyles, compositions, and champions shown by Team Liquid in their match versus Team SoloMid. FlyQuest will defeat Team Liquid 3-1 — getting the organisation’s first championship.
Images via Riot Games
