After day 1, the fight for the playoffs spots is officially over: with Team Liquid and TSM winning their respective games, they guaranteed each a spot in the top 6, while Counter Logic Gaming, despite an incredible run during the last weeks of the split, are eliminated.

But there is still something to battle for: with Echo Fox securing themselves the first semi-final bye, the second slot is completely open for grabs, with the other five playoffs teams having realistic chances to book their ticket to Miami.

Continuing my series from yesterday – where I managed to get only 2 out of 5 results right :/ -  I would like to present here a quick overview of the final games of the 2018 NA LCS Spring Split Regular Season, alongside my own prediction of the outcome for every single match-up. Once more: don’t agree with me? Then feel free to write down a comment below!

Cloud9 v FlyQuest

Does North America even have a top team right now? Even after a strong early game – thanks to a smart invade by Dennis "Svenskeren" Johnsen – Cloud9 were completely apathetic during their loss to Team Liquid today, displaying a number of mistakes we are simply not used to see too often coming from such a seasoned line-up.

With their semi-finals bye now endangered, C9 have to win against FlyQuest, who despite a decent show during most part of the game against Echo Fox, succumbed after a single, disastrous team fight which costed them everything.

But still, not saying that Cloud9 arrive as clear favorites would be simply reckless: the superior team both individually and collectively during the entire split, Zachary "Sneaky" Scuderi needs to be put on a marksman with more mobility, as his Varus pick was heavily punished by Liquid’s engage heavy composition. With more freedom and safety, the star ADC can find the openings given by the rest of his team to do the necessary damage and be the carry he normally is.

Meanwhile, for FlyQuest, their best hope lies on the shoulders of Lee "Flame" Ho-jong, who today once again showed a good performance to bring his team close to a surprising win against a top side. But that will probably won’t be enough against a Cloud9 hungry for victory to secure 2^nd place, who should dominate the early game – especially if Svenskeren picks an aggressive jungler once more – opening a lead big enough to eventually close out the contest comfortably.

Winner prediction: Cloud9 – the superior team in all aspects, only a series of mistakes – which were however seen today against Liquid - can take the win away from them. However, if C9 manage to impose their game style, there won’t be much this struggling FlyQuest side will be able to do.


Golden Guardians v Clutch Gaming

Even after losing to a very strong 100 Thieves today, Clutch Gaming are definitely the favorites against Golden Guardians, who didn’t stand a chance versus a likewise solid TSM.

Normally the glimmer of hope for the Californian organization, Juan "Contractz" Arturo Garcia’s Nocturne pick against TSM completely backfired, rendering the jungler virtually completely useless for the entirely of the game.

Clutch on the other hand, failed to give the support needed to toplaner Colin "Solo" Earnest, who went throughout a classic case of “getting camped” by the opponent team. With their frontline considerably behind, they weren’t able to resist during teamfights, losing the game after a little more than half an hour. But nonetheless, no further analysis is required to state the fact that Clutch still is a much better team than the Golden Guardians, with the latter having to play on a level beyond their boundaries to stand a chance tomorrow.

Winner prediction: Clutch Gaming – not much to say: superior in every aspects, Clutch should and must get the win against the arguably worst team in the league during the Spring Split.


Counter Logic Gaming v TSM

Despite all the expectations – mostly from neutral fans - the match-up between Counter Logic Gaming and TSM will not have any implications for the playoffs, but of course, taking into account the historic rivalry between two of the most traditional North American organizations, it is be nonetheless a special game.

A game where TSM will definitely arrive as favorites: continuing their positive momentum, they smashed the Golden Guardians to finally secure their playoffs spot, and against their long-date enemy, will be perhaps looking for more. Yesterday I wrote about Michael "MikeYeung" Yeung serving as a catalyst for Søren "Bjergsen" Bjerg’s incredible performances throughout the last weeks, and that proved true once more, with his Skarner delivering kills on a silver platter to the superstar Dane in the midlane.

For CLG, tomorrow’s game serves to end the split with their heads high after a disappointing day, which not only saw their playoffs hope getting buried, but also a somewhat embarrassing loss to OpTic Gaming, led by Tristan "PowerOfEvil" Schrage’s AP Ezreal. Even worse, they were actuallyg in control for most part of the early game, only to completely fell apart after losing Baron to OpTic, managing losing the lead and the game in the span of just 6 minutes.

If however they can put themselves back together, and show what we became used to during thei past few weeks, CLG can put a decent fight, even if the odds right now speak completely in favor of the reigning North American Champions.

Winner prediction: TSM – with another clean and dominating game, TSM are looking unstoppable right now, with all pieces of their star-filled line-up stepping up just in time for playoffs – which normally happens when the subject is TSM. Still with chances to somehow get themselves a semi-finals bye, the 5-time North American Champions should have the upper hand against CLG, especially if they put their superior jungle-mid combo to good use.


Echo Fox v 100 Thieves

How can things change so quickly in League of Legends: if this match-up was just 3 weeks ago, I would say that Echo Fox were undoubtedly the favorites coming to this game. But now, despite still sitting behind Echo Fox in the standings, 100 Thieves are definitely looking like the team to be beaten, and will arrive to the final day of the split with an edge over their rivals. But why?

Yesterday, I mentioned that one of the keys for 100 Thieves to beat Clutch Gaming in this week’s opener game was to put William "Meteos" Hartman on a champion he could dive straight into the opponent’s carries throats. And that is exactly what happened. With a strong showing from the veteran on Skarner, 100T will go to the decisive game in their quest to possibly walk away with the all-important semi-finals bye looking to repeat that: if Meteos can shut down Heo "Huni" Seung-hoon, the rest of Echo Fox are expected to fall – even if Johnny "Altec" Ru, with a good display on Caitlyn, was actually their main carry today.

Talking about Echo Fox, they will be coming from a shaky win over FlyQuest, where they used two substitutes, Tanner "Damonte" Damonte in the midlaner and John "Papa Chau" Le in the support position. However, despite a good performance by both rookies, the problems kept on showing, with the team simply lacking creativity, being stuck with the same pattern and playstyle we saw from them throughout the split. Have they enough time to prepare something different and surprise 100T tomorrow? I am skeptical to believe.

Winner prediction: 100 Thieves – perhaps alongside TSM the best performing team in the NA LCS right now, 100 Thieves will indeed arrive as favorites against an Echo Fox who just won their game today due to their opponents’ failure to further capitalize on their own mistakes. Taken that 100T will definitely not be as forgiving, they have all conditions to come out with the win


Team Liquid v OpTic Gaming

With one of their best performances this split, Team Liquid took down leaders Cloud9 today to secure their spot in the Top 6, and with a win against OpTic tomorrow, will guarantee at least the fourth seed coming to the playoffs. Liquid and fourth once more. Yes, the meme can indeed come back, and right now, it is looking it will become reality.

Liquid played textbook League of Legends against Cloud9, even after a rather rough earlier game. Trailing 1 to 4 in kills, they showed immense mental fortitude to turn everything around, and led by an exceptional showing from Jake "Xmithie" Puchero on Skarner, showed a much more cohesive collective performance to take down C9.

But OpTic also showed signs of life today, and carried by a PowerOfEvil on a surprising AP Ezreal pick, defeated Counter Logic Gaming convincingly. The German was however not the only one showing up, with Matthew "Akaadian" Higginbotham punishing Orianna’s and Varus’ lack of escapes, jumping deep across the backline to nullify the power of CLG’s carries.

It still will be tough, but in a match that it is worth nothing for them, OpTic’s lack of pressure can actually play in their favor, with the team looking to play more comfortably and trying different picks: that surprise factor can exactly be what they need in order to come out ahead from Liquid tomorrow.

Winner prediction: Team Liquid – the stigma of Liquid and fourth place is stronger than anything in NA, and therefore, to keep all memes alive, they will, they must come out ahead! But jokes aside, Team Liquid are indeed highly favorited coming to the game which will be closing the regular season, and if Xmithie and Eugene "Pobelter" Park manage to shut down PoE, most of OpTic’s firepower will vanish, opening the path to a perhaps comfortable win for them.

(Photo Credit : lolesports Flickr)

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