2023 LCS Spring Playoffs: Elimination Weekend Preview
The 2023 League Championship Series Spring Playoffs began only two days ago, but two of the three teams traveling to Raleigh, NC to compete in the final weekend of the post-season have already been decided. 2nd seed FlyQuest punched their ticket to the Tar Heel State with a clean sweep of 3rd seed 100 Thieves in the first match of the upper bracket, and on the other side, 1st seed Cloud9 followed suit with a 3-1 victory over 4th seed Counter Logic Gaming.
From here on out, the stakes could not be higher. With post-season elimination on the line, 100 is up against 6th seed Golden Guardians on one side of the lower bracket, while CLG will take on 5th seed Evil Geniuses on the other. The two teams left standing will face off against one another to see who will join FLY and C9 in the PNC Arena next month, but first, let’s break down the matchups of 100 vs. GG and CLG vs. EG coming up this weekend.
Bjergsen competing during the LCS Spring Split Playoffs
Colin Young-Wolff via Riot Games
Saturday, March 25: 100 Thieves vs. Golden Guardians
Despite fielding a roster featuring the two best LCS players of all time in mid laner Søren "Bjergsen" Bjerg and AD carry Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng, 100 Thieves was punished for their one-dimensional playstyle for the majority of the Spring Split until a 7-0 surge to end the season saw them take 3rd place in a tiebreaker over CLG. Against FLY in the Spring Playoffs, however, 100 Thieves’ lack of dimension was exposed as their winning streak came to a screeching halt.
Golden Guardians had a similar streakiness to 100 Thieves, starting the season 0-4 before winning seven games straight only to finish 2-5, which forced them to settle for the 6th seed at a record of 9-9. 100 Thieves has the advantage of already having played a best-of-five and certainly finished the regular season in better form than GG, but based on their series against FLY, it’s tough to say whether they’ll have the advantage coming down to the lower bracket.
GG Gori has ruled the mid lane in the 2023 spring split
Colin Young-Wolff via Riot Games
Key Matchup: Mid Lane
Bjergsen might be the greatest LCS mid laner of all time, but in the 2023 Spring Split, Kim "Gori" Tae-woo reigned supreme. Despite missing the first two games of the split due to visa delays, Gori’s superb level of play was enough to earn him LCS All-Pro honors in his first ever competitive split in North America.
When Golden Guardians were at their best this spring, jungler Kim “River” Dong-woo would often utilize innovative pathing to get Gori an advantage in the mid lane, which would open things up enough to coordinate with support Choi “huhi” Jae-hyun for map-wide plays. It’s difficult to imagine a world where Golden Guardians wins if Gori does not have an advantage over Bjergsen in the mid lane.
Inspired competing as the jungler for Evil Geniuses
Colin Young-Wolff via Riot Games
Sunday, March 26: Counter Logic Gaming vs. Evil Geniuses
CLG was only able to take a single game from Cloud9 in their first series of the Spring Playoffs, but all four games were back and forth up until a single deciding teamfight in the later stages of the game. CLG’s greatest strength is their synergy – the cohesion between the five players who have now spent almost a full year playing together (four of them for nearly 18 months) has come to fruition in a roster that is truly more than the sum of its parts.
Evil Geniuses held a top 4 position for the majority of the Spring Split, but many of their wins came down to a single late game teamfight after an initial lead from their strong early game was squandered by their disastrous mid game. EG’s mistakes often seem to be due to a lack of focus or clear direction as opposed to outright misdirection, and while they may be the lower seed in this matchup, they should come into the series with an advantage if they’ve managed to shore up the problems with their mid game.
Contractz playing jungle for CLG
Colin Young-Wolff via Riot Games
Key Matchup: Jungle
The match between CLG and EG might feature the most interesting stylistic contrast between junglers in any potential post-season matchup. Reigning LCS MVP Kacper "Inspired" Słoma is EG’s crown jewel, and his cerebral approach to jungling and resilience to seemingly any meta shift is the nucleus of one of the strongest early game systems in the LCS.
Juan “Contractz” Garcia, on the other hand, approaches the early game with reckless abandon, aggressively ganking for his lanes and doing his best to make as much action as possible happen with the players opposing him. Per Oracle’s Elixir, Contractz had the highest Team Damage Percentage at 15 Minutes amongst all junglers in the 2023 LCS Spring Split at 17.9%, and his overall Team Damage Percentage of 16.9% was second only to FlyQuest jungler Mingyi “Spica” Lu. Contractz’s bloody playstyle comes with a price, though – he placed 3rd amongst all junglers in the LCS Spring Split in Total Deaths and Percentage of Team Deaths.
Contractz has singlehandedly won games for CLG this split, but he’s also been the main reason they’ve lost a handful, too. If Inspired gets the better of Contractz, especially early on, CLG will be put in a position where they must rely on a mid-game mistake from EG to have a chance at a win.
How to watch the LCS 2023 Spring Split Playoffs
Viewers will be able to tune into the LCS 2023 Spring Split playoffs through the LCS Twitch and YouTube channels each weekend up to the finals on April 8th and 9th.
