After the first weekend of the LCS, it would be very premature to make predictions for the rest of the Spring Split based off of two games. For this reason, I am going to do it anyways. Here are my top four predictions for the rest of the Spring Split.
1. Clutch Gaming is the third best team behind Team Liquid and C9
Before the Split started, many were picking 100 Thieves or TSM to be the best team behind the two powerhouses of Team Liquid and C9. After this past weekend, Clutch Gaming showed up big, and proved to me they will be the third best team in the Spring Split. The only returning member to the team from the 2018 season is Tae-yoo “LirA” Nam. CG added Seung-Hoon “Huni” Heo and Tanner “Damonte” Damonte from Echo Fox, Gwang-jin “Piglet” Chae from the Academy league, and Philippe “Vulcan” Laflamme who is a rookie. A talented roster with much to prove, they performed admirably in their first two games.
Most notable was Damonte’s performance on Akali in their second game. Huni was feeding in top lane and CG’s bottom lane was behind. While all of this was taking place, Damonte was quietly farming in mid until the point he came online and wreaked havoc on TSM’s backline. He ended the game with 9.0 KDA and looked solid on a carry pick in mid lane, something he was not known for in the 2018 season.
2. Golden Guardians will struggle in this Split
Golden Guardians made some very notable signings in the offseason and many analysts and players felt they were a team to watch this Split. GGS added Kevin “Hauntzer” Yarnell from TSM, Henrik “Froggen” Hansen who was unsigned last season, and Joo-Sung “Olleh” Kim from Team Liquid. These players were supposed to make GGS relevant after finishing last in both splits last season. After starting off with two losses in the first weekend, this team looks like it will have some growing pains.
I still believe in this team, but I think they will finish outside the top six in the Spring Split. The Summer Split is when this team will truly shine.
3. Nisqy is a better replacement for Jensen than we originally believed
Reapered, the coach for C9, has said it himself that Yasin “Nisqy” Dincer was not a one-for-one replacement for former mid laner Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen. It was expected to take Nisqy some time to live up to the lofty expectations C9 fans would have for him. After getting smashed in a game against Jensen, it looked like Reapered and everybody else was correct about Nisqy.
So what did Nisqy do? He responded by completing trashing 100 Thieves in his second game and making Jae-hyun “Huhi” Choi look bad. Nisqy solo killed Huhi early in the game, and worked his way up from there to end the game with a 10.0 KDA with zero deaths. Is Nisqy up to par with Jensen yet? No, but I do not think he has as far of a climb as was originally expected. Look for Nisqy to keep improving as the season goes on.
4. Team Liquid will go undefeated in the Spring Split
Obviously, Team Liquid is the best team in the LCS. After adding Jensen and Yongin “CoreJJ” Jo from Gen.G, they took a stacked roster from last year and improved even more. Despite all of this, it is still hard for a team to go undefeated. One slip up or mistake can be the difference between a win and a loss.
I believe Team Liquid is fully capable, and will, go undefeated. This may not translate into success outside of the LCS, but we will have to wait and see what this team is capable of.
If you have any thoughts or predictions, please feel free to comment them below!
