Hot Takes for LCS Championship 2023
Fans of North Amereican League of Legends esports will be piling into the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ for the grand final of the 2023 League Championship Series Championship this Sunday. Cloud9 will be facing off against NRG, who won the lower bracket final the day prior 3-2 against Team Liquid Honda.
Cloud9 will understandably be favored, but the nature of the matchup is bound to be one to remember for a plethora of reasons. Let’s take a closer look at the upcoming grand finals of the 2023 LCS Championship through the lens of some hot takes.
A Cloud9 win solidifies Blaber as the best NA jungler of all time
Robert “Blaber” Huang’s name has been brought up constantly in the conversation of North America’s greatest jungler of all time for the past few years, usually alongside six-time LCS champion Jake “Xmithie” Puchero. A dominant win from Cloud9 this Sunday would put an end to the conversation.
Like many LCS stars, Blaber hasn’t always found success in international competition. However, his track record on the global stage is already the best of any North American jungler and is punctuated by Cloud9’s top 4 finish at the 2018 World Championship. Domestically, Blaber is a four-time LCS champion, a two-time MVP, and only needs one more game win to eclipse Søren "Bjergsen" Bjerg for the highest career winrate through the first 300 LCS matches of any player.
Photo by Robert Paul/Riot Games
For some, Blaber is already the best North American jungler ever, and among those who aren’t convinced, the question isn’t if he will solidify himself in that position during his career – it’s just a matter of time. A dominant victory and a third consecutive domestic title for Cloud9 this weekend would leave no doubt that Blaber is the greatest jungler in North American history.
The jungle matchup will be a boar
All three teams competing this weekend feature electrifying player in the jungle position. Blaber’s impact on Cloud9’s success this split earned him runner-up for the 2023 LCS Summer Split MVP, and Juan “Contractz” Garcia is the proverbial go-button for NRG in almost every scenario.
That being said, Cloud9 boasts more firepower in other positions than any other team, and NRG have come alive in the post-season due to their increased proficiency in carrying through multiple roles. Sejuani, an engage tank jungler that, intrinsically, feels antithetical to the livewire playstyle of all three junglers, is in the top 3 most picked for both junglers and is the most pick/ban jungler (23 picks, 11 bans) in the LCS Championship.
Look for these junglers to try to influence the matches for the team with a more utility-focused role instead of trying to take over the game themselves. Blaber in particular will likely look to stifle the early game aggression of Contractz on a pick like Sejuani while allowing his carries to do the heavy lifting through individual skill gaps.
All eyes on Berserker
Across the past two years, no LCS player has been more elite than Cloud9 AD carry Kim "Berserker" Min-cheol. Berserker’s major region career is only in its second season, and in that time, he’s won two domestic titles and two MVP awards. He was named Finals MVP last summer on the way to his first title and led the 2022 LCS Championship in Player of the Series awards during that run.
This summer, Berserker was named to the LCS All-Pro team for the first time, and while he finished outside of the top 3 for MVP votes (Golden Guardians jungler Kim “River” Dong-woo came in 3rd behind Blaber and Evil Geniuses mid laner Joseph Joon "jojopyun" Pyun, the latter of whom won the award), he’s currently leading the post-season in Player of the Series awards despite only playing two matches thus far in the 2023 LCS Championship.
While jojopyun’s impact on Evil Geniuses’ success this summer cannot be eclipsed, Berserker has, pound-for-pound, been the best individual player in the LCS across the past two years. With the jungle likely looking to be more about containment of the opponent as opposed to taking over the game, Berserker is in a prime position to win the finals MVP just like he did last summer.
