Takeaways From The 2022 LCS Lock In
The 2022 League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) Lock In tournament had much to say about what’s to come in this year’s Spring Split. From Evil Geniuses performances throughout most of the tournament and Dignitas’ surprise victory over 100 Thieves to Team Liquid’s win of the whole thing with substitutes.
With that in mind, here are five takeaways from the Lock In tournament going into the 2022 Spring Split.
Evil Geniuses Dominate Most Of The Tournament
Although the Geniuses didn’t quite end the Lock In tournament how they wanted, having been swept by Team Liquid, their overall performance was phenomenal. All of their young guns performed well giving even more excitement to a roster that was already exciting to begin with due to their offseason moves.
ADC Kyle "Danny" Sakamaki, jungler Kacper "Inspired" Sloma, and mid-laner Joseph "jojopyun" Joon Pyun all will undoubtedly have their say at the LCS table and with the likes of top laner Jeong "Impact" Yon-young and support Philipe "Vulcan" Laflamme at the helm there’s no telling what the future will hold for this team.
Dignitas’ Performance In The Playoffs
Although they weren’t similar to the likes of Team SoloMid or Golden Guardians in having to play without their full roster, Dignitas were just scraping by, eventually getting into the playoffs. Once in the playoffs through, they had their starting jungler, Kim "River" Dong-woo in full force.
All of the questions pertaining to River’s integration to the team and the region as a whole might have been thrown out the window with just one series alone. After they beat reigning LCS champions, 100 Thieves in the quarterfinals, there’s no doubt in LCS watcher’s eyes that this team can be legit.
By all rights, Dignitas had no business beating a 100 Thieves that kept its championship-winning roster intact, but they did it. Not only that, they completely outclassed the Thieves with ADC, Toan "Neo" Tran, and River being the main carries.
Team Liquid’s Confidence In Substitutes And Eventual Tournament Win
During last year’s Lock In tournament and the season overall, Team Liquid displayed maximum willingness to play their substitutes from their Academy team. Although not on purpose, due to various factors such as Lucas "Santorin" Larsen’s early-on visa issues and later on health-related problems, Team Liquid were forced had to bust out some second-stringers. These second-stringers, such as jungler Jonathan "Armao" Armao proved to be crucial in times of need, and once again, although not particularly at the same level, it’s happened again.
They committed even more to it with the usage of Bradley "Bradley" Benneyworth in the top lane. This allowed for Steven "Hans Sama" Liv and Jo "CoreJJ" Yong-in to finally set foot in the Summoner’s Rift together.
Not only did it give a chance for what is surely going to be a great duo to finally get some LCS stage playtime, but it also brought forth Team Liquid’s ability in substitutes.
All in all this confidence and strengths in substitutes gave them a second Lock In championship in a row, and although the team is already stacked with the likes of Soren "Bjergsen" Bjerg, Lucas "Santorin" Larsen and Gabriel "Bwipo" Rau, the fact that they won it all while interchanging bot lanes almost every game makes this team downright scary.