With many things on the table yet – semi-finals byes and the final spots to the playoffs - the 9^th and decisive week of the regular season in the NA LCS is fast approaching, so I would like to present here a quick overview of the first five games of the weekend, alongside my own prediction of the outcome for every single match-up? Don’t agree with me? Then feel free to write down a comment below!

So let’s start:


100 Thieves v Clutch Gaming

In theory two teams centered around two carries - Kim "Ssumday" Chan-ho for 100 Thieves and Fabian "Febiven" Diepstraten for Clutch - 100T’s keys to winning is to put William "Meteos" Hartman on a champion he is most comfortable at – Sejuani or Zac, for example, while giving room for support Zaqueri "aphromoo" Black to make plays and shut down Clutch’s star mid laner.

Whereas for Clutch, it is expected that they will indeed play around Febiven, who will try to do play all across the Rift to open up the map in the early game. If they put their superior mid and jungler combo to good use, they have all conditions to come out ahead, especially if ADC Apollo “Apollo” Price is also having a good day – having two strong carries with the responsibility to shut-down the opposition is obviously much better than relying on a single member.

Winner prediction: Clutch Gaming – both teams play a similarly good macro game, and despite Clutch not having the best of records against Top 5 sides, they have more than enough individual talent to come out ahead this time.


FlyQuest v Echo Fox

After a disastrous week, Echo Fox definitely need to return to their mid-split form, otherwise their semi-finals bye will be greatly endangered. Luckily for them, they have two things to look forward on Saturday: first, it will be the first game on patch 8.5, which means that superstar Heo "Huni" Seung-hoon can finally go back to carry top lane champions, instead of being forced to play tanks – an area he is clearly struggling at.

And second, their opponent, FlyQuest, have no other aspirations for Spring other than trying to finish on a good note following a very mediocre split. However, that doesn’t mean they are completely chanceless: with their own star Korean top laner in form of Lee "Flame" Ho-jong, who alongside midlaner Song "Fly" Yong-jun are the two more constant members of the team, FlyQuest’s path to victory evolves around their solo lanes, who can carry the rest of the line-up to the win if provided with enough resources.

But even so, Echo Fox arrive as big favorites, and should come out ahead even if they don’t necessarily play their very best League of Legends.

Winner prediction: Echo Fox – the gap between both teams (both mechanically, and teamplay-wise), is right now of great proportions. However, as shown in recent weeks, Echo Fox is prone to big and silly mistakes….and such mistakes, if they appear again, can cost them a theoretically easy win.


Team Liquid v Cloud9

Despite the star-filled rosters, both Liquid and Cloud9 are showing weaknesses lately, dropping games that in theory should be winnable. Last week, both lost to TSM, albeit due to different reasons: while C9 lost to individual mistakes, especially from Dennis "Svenskeren" Johnsen, TSM’s key to beat Liquid was camping Jung "Impact" Eon-yeong, rendering the star toplaner virtually useless throughout the contest.

And that is also what Cloud9 should seek in order to defeat Team Liquid for the second time of the split: with still too much lying upon Impact’s shoulders, if they are able to shut down him early on. C9’s chances increase substantially. A big task for Eric "Licorice" Ritchie, who despite the good season so far, has perhaps his biggest challenge yet.

At the same time, they need to make sure their carries to their job, especially Zachary "Sneaky" Scuderi, outstanding in 2018. For that to happen, Andy "Smoothie" Ta needs to provide the peeling necessary to let his marksman goes loose, so expect him once again on the likes of Taric, Braum and even Alistar.

Meanwhile, for Team Liquid, the rest of the lanes need to step up: Yiliang "Doublelift" Peng and Kim "Olleh" Joo-sung are incredible players individually, but things simply haven’t been working so far. However, if they manage to “tick”, and jungler Jake "Xmithie" Puchero manages to stop Svenskeren’s attempts, Liquid can come out ahead In the early stages, putting them in a good position to take control of the entire game.

Winner prediction: Cloud9 – but still, I would predict C9 to come out ahead. Right now they have the superior line-up in 4 out of the 5 positions, and allied with their overall better macro, can run havoc through Liquid, who usually can’t reply well when the opposition plays aggressively. However, if Liquid manage to come out from even from the early game, with the right composition, they have a very fair shot at taking down C9.


Golden Guardians v TSM

Expected to be the most one-sided game of the day, taking into account both teams’ current form as well as their situation in the standings, TSM arrive to the final week overflowing with confidence, following an excellent Week 8, and everything seems to be finally getting into order after some very chaotic performances earlier in the split.

Feeling the pressure at the start of the season, Michael "MikeYeung" Yeung is clearly more comfortable, enabling TSM’s solo lanes to play more aggressively and do plays across the map, which in turn gives their botlane more freedom to play and win the 2-on-2.

For the game against the Golden Guardians, they should simply stick to their current mindset: play with confidence, creating up situations for MikeYeung or Kevin "Hauntzer" Yarnell to dive deep into the enemy’s backline and gradually open a lead that sooner rather than later will be out of reach for the struggling Guardians, who honestly, need to show a level of performance we haven’t been even close to see from them so far this split if they want to stand a chance against a very motivated TSM side.

But there is still a glimmer of hope: remember that GGS managed to defeat an Echo Fox during their best moment of the season. But for lighting to strike again, everything needs to work out perfectly, especially the synergy between Juan "Contractz" Arturo Garcia and Hai "Hai" Du Lam to shut down Søren "Bjergsen" Bjerg. Definitely a very tough nut to crack, but not 100% impossible.

Winner prediction: TSM – a vastly superior team, only a series of big mistakes can see the game not going in TSM’s favor. Considering the current situation, a GGS win would likely be one of the biggest upsets of the split.


Counter Logic Gaming v OpTic Gaming

Closing out the day, Counter Logic Gaming will try to keep their miraculous run alive against an OpTic with absolutely no ambitions other than finish the split on a slightly better tone. CLG however, can arrive to the game already eliminated, if both TSM and Liquid manage to win their games earlier in the day.

But that scenario shouldn’t be even near the team’s mind. Arriving as big favorites against a struggling OpTic, it took a long time, but CLG have been performing the way we expected at the start of the split. With jungler Kim "Reignover" Yeu-jin starting to fulfill expectations, being the main initiator CLG means, they have been able to decide important brawls in the favor, also thanks to Trevor "Stixxay" Hayes, who is substantially showing improvements throughout the last weeks.

Therefore, CLG’s keys to beat OpTic is similar to TSM’s: be proactive, forcing OpTic into situations they will be able to come out ahead due to their increase individual and collective prowess. Reignover needs to be ready to dive into the backline to render OpTic’s two biggest threats, Tristan "PowerOfEvil" Schrage and Noh "Arrow" Dong-hyeon, powerless.

Meanwhile, OpTic’s perhaps only path to victory is to prevent that: Derek "zig" Shao needs to be a big shield in front of his team, and hold off CLG’s attempts to break their defensive line. Still a Herculean task, but they keep that in-mind, the team could find the opening and an opportunity to surprise Counter Logic Gaming.

Winner prediction: Counter Logic Gaming – CLG’s momentum speaks completely in their favor for this match-up, although OpTic’s carries shouldn’t be underestimated. Furthermore, the fact that CLG can arrive for the game already eliminated from playoffs should increase OpTic’s chances to upset the favorites.

(Pictures courtesy of Riot Games)

Disclaimer: The following article was written freely based on the author's opinion, and it may not necessarily represent Inven Global's editorial stance.