League of Legends: LCS 2023 Spring Split Predictions
Once more unto the breach," proclaimed Henry V in the titular work by William Shakespeare. And just as the King encouraged his soldiers to once again storm the walls of Harfleur, so too do we now stare down the maw of another League of Legends (LoL) LCS season, with all the horrors, excitement, disappointments, and questions that entails.
We have, all of us in North America, been subject to some soul-crushing disappointment over the last ten years. And perhaps none more so than the certain weight of inevitability that has pressed upon our shoulders at the prospect of another year of ineptitude on the international stage. But as much as Shakespeare captured the futility of things, so too did Alexander Pope capture how we all feel on the eve of the LCS: "Hope springs eternal." And to that end, let's take a look at some League of Legends (LoL) LCS predictions for the 2023 spring split.
2023 LCS Spring Split Predictions - League of Legends (LoL)
- Evil Geniuses look like the best team on paper
- Team Liquid switch to a full Korean-speaking roster
- FlyQuest will need time to settle in
- Doublelift's return won't lift 100T to MSI
- TSM might be the worst they've been
Evil Geniuses Have Inside Track
It's not often you drop a player on the level of Impact and still manage to improve, but Evil Geniuses have done just that. Ssumday joins an already strong roster, and gives Evil Geniuses the early nod as season favorites. FBI should slot nicely into the bottom lane alongside Vulcan, and jojopyun will look to build on a strong 2022 season where he became the youngest player to ever win the LCS.
Evil Geniuses feel like a team that has done things the right way, investing in young developing talent and surrounding them with veterans to help them grow. Now those young talents are blossoming into stars and should form a good competitive core for years to come. Of course, there's no trophy for being the favorites at the start of the season, just expectations.
Team Liquid LoL Comms Will Be In Korean This Season
Team Liquid today really does feel like the New York Yankees or Detroit Red Wings of the 90s. Win at all costs, and make sure you get the players to do so. Utilizing imported and naturalized players, Team Liquid will be featuring a star-studded lineup of Korean-speaking players, including former world champions like CoreJJ in 2017 and Pyosik from 2022. Yes, the same Pyosik that helped DRX to the most improbable world title win in esports history.
TL will also have a decent youth movement going this year, as Haeri and Yeon have both been promoted from their academy roster, and Summit will round out the team, fresh off a stint on FunPlus Phoenix.
And say what you will about the Yankees or Wings, they won, and they won a lot. If Team Liquid wins at MSI this season, no one is going to complain about how they put their team together. As Al Davis famously said, "Just win, baby!"
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FlyQuest Will Need Time To Get The Swing Of Things
FlyQuest might be the darlings of the league, and with good reason. They're environmentally conscious, charitable, fun, and all around a feel-good story in the LCS. Even better, they've assembled a really competitive roster that should see them in the thick of it for the LCS in 2023. Following the 2022 Summer Split, FlyQuest opted for a full rebuild, and indeed, this team isn't returning a single player from last year. But what they've assembled might just be the best roster in the LCS this year.
Impact in top lane and Spica in the jungle might form the scariest top side in the LCS, while VicLa joins North America after coming up through KT Rolster's academy system. He spent a year on KT's main team, eventually being denied a chance to compete in the World Championships by the eventual champions DRX. Meanwhile, on the bottom side, Prince will join a player off of Team Liquid's academy roster in Eyla.
On paper, this should be a very strong team. But teams often need longer than a month to gel, and FlyQuest will struggle out of the gate to living up to expectations. However, they'll be the team to beat come summer time.
Doublelift Is Back But Won't Be Enough For 100 Thieves LoL
After a storied career that spanned nearly a decade, Doublelift retired following the 2020 season. But sitting on the sidelines is hard when you think you've still got it in you, and so he's returned to join 100 Thieves as they try to get back to Worlds again this year. He's also joined by another long time veteran in Bjergsen, while Busio and Tenacity have been promoted from the academy roster.
While it'll make for a good storyline this year, it wont be enough to get by the likes of Evil Geniuses and Team Liquid. 100 Thieves will fall just short of making it to MSI. Still, it feels good to have Doublelift back. It doesn't feel right doing an LCS predictions piece without him.
TSM LoL Might Be The Worst They've Been
Yikes.
TSM is one of the most storied organizations in esports, and maybe they are just the smartest people in the room, but it seems unlikely. It's hard to say what the plan is here. It's not a youth movement; the average age of the team is 25. It's not a promote from within, develop your talent play; not a single player comes out of TSM's academy team. And it doesn't feel like a rebuild, as it doesn't seem to establish a good young core to build around.
Maybe we'll all be looking like the idiots at the end of the split, but it's much more likely we'll be seeing TSM in dead last this season.
So there are our LCS predictions for the 2023 Spring Split. Many questions yet linger, the most pressing of all being whether or not we'll be able to compete on the bigger stage regardless of what happens in the LCS. Fortunately, we should be able to get an answer to that at MSI, and we'll see the expanded format in action at this year's Mid-Season Invitational.
Another season of professional League of Legends is upon us, so remember: Hope springs eternal.
How To Watch LCS Schedule
Check out all the action on Thursdays and Fridays at the League of Legends (LoL) Esports Twitch and Youtube channels.
