Teams To Look Out For In The LCS 2022 Summer Split
Apart from the players within them, teams are what make the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS). Thanks to them, the league has been able to exist, thrive, create storylines and amazing moments.
Teams give something to root for no matter the region and when it comes to a region like North America, there’s plenty to talk about. Be it their past failures to perform well on the international stage or their two newest champions that made LCS history in 100 Thieves and Evil Geniuses, they always give something to root for.
That’s why we’ve decided to list out some of the teams to look out for in the LCS 2022 Summer Split.
Team SoloMid
To kick off this list is none other than the LCS’ long-time darling, Team SoloMid. There’s just so much to say about this team, ranging from their miracle playoff run in the 2020 Summer Split and their subsequent abysmal performance at that year’s Worlds to a ninth-place finish in the LCS 2022 Spring Split, this team hasn’t been having a pleasant time as of late. That’s why we have them on this list. Thanks to their tumultuous last two years, you’d expect a team of Team SoloMid’s calibre to bounce back.
It’s difficult to follow up on a tough Spring Split. The split for Team SoloMid was filled with roster issues and other outside matters - they have a lot of work to do.
Thankfully, they’re trying to do something about it. With their move to bring on veteran mid-laner Huang "Maple" Yi-Tang, Team SoloMid look to turn it around. Add the fact that this team is full of players like top-laner Heo "Huni" Seung-hoon and jungler Mingyi "Spica" Lu who all have proven to show up when needed, it’s all a matter of time before everything begins to click.
FlyQuest
FlyQuest’s start to the LCS 2022 Spring Split was red-hot, so much so that they ended up in first place, surprising the whole landscape. However, unfortunately for them, they weren’t able to translate this type of play towards the later parts of the split, which led to a swift Losers’ Bracket exit in the playoffs versus eventual champions, Evil Geniuses.
But even though they weren’t capable of performing well throughout the whole split they still have a few positives to look into the summer. Players like mid-laner Loïc "toucouille" Dubois and jungler Brandon Joel "Josedeodo" Villegas show some promise.
Ultimately, time will tell if LCS’ resident nature-loving team will perform well.
Cloud9
To say that Cloud9 had a terrific Spring Split regular season is a massive understatement. A second-place finish going into the playoffs, an MVP-winning top-laner in Park "Summit" Woo-tae, and an overall dominant split - it was one of the patented Cloud9 springs.
However, instead of ending it on a good note, it all came crumbling down… The team got figured out, Summit couldn’t do Summit things, and suddenly they end up finishing in fourth place in the playoffs. These later usher in some significant roster changes: Summit leaves, Ibrahim "Fudge" Allami goes back to the top lane, Jesper "Zven" Svenningsen comes in as a support and mid-laner Nicolaj "Jensen" Jensen returns.
With that, things truly get interesting for one of the LCS’ legacy teams. On paper, this roster is still very solid, however, there are several things to note. To start off, how will Fudge perform back in the top lane? Second, will Jensen be able to shake off the rust and pick up where he left off? Will Zven prove to be a worthy support? And lastly, how will the team just gel together. In a current LCS landscape where many of the teams didn’t make many midseason roster changes, the league will be looking at teams that will have its players be accustomed to each other.
