EsportsGG’s LCS Championship Finals weekend preview and predictions

The culmination of the LCS Championship is here with Cloud9, Team Liquid and 100 Thieves being the last teams standing. While all three have secured their spot at Worlds, there is still plenty of LoL to be played. Starting things off, Cloud9 and 100 Thieves will be battling it out in the lower bracket finals. This is the third best-of-five meeting between the teams. The winner of that series will then go on to face TL in the grand finals. Both best-of-fives will be played from the LCS studio.

Two of Esports.GG's League of Legends experts, Marn and Germanicus, will break down the LCS Championship weekend, predicting the winner for both best-of-fives and the MVP of the opening series.

This will be the third time C9 and 100T face off in a best-of-five this season. The first was in the Lock-In tournament where Cloud9 reverse swept 100 Thieves in the semi-final. Their second encounter was in the Mid-Season Showdown with Cloud9 again coming out on top, this time in a 3-0 sweep. Both sides will be itching to get another shot at taking down Team Liquid. Cloud9 fell to their long-time rivals in round one of the upper bracket while 100T lost a very close five-game series one round later. Here is how our League of Legends experts predicted this tie:

"This series could honestly go either way, it is so difficult to call. While form should indicate 100 Thieves are the clear favorites, Cloud9 and Perkz in the playoffs always have a trick up their sleeves. When things are more controlled, they are a force to be reckoned with. Their early game has been less than desirable, however. In their final two games against TSM, C9 came to the realization they do not need to make hyper proactive plays. Once they toned that down, it was a walk in the park for them. This should be the platform for Cloud9 to use to springboard themselves into the finals. I am going Cloud9 3-1."

"As much as I love 100 Thieves, I think I have to give the edge to Cloud9 here. They come into this series with the momentum on their side, while 100T looked a bit shaky in their upper bracket run, especially when compared to the performance they showed earlier in the split. I think this will be a very interesting match to watch, and probably will go all the way. But C9 have just been playing better in their last few series. I’ll give it to them 3-2."

"If Cloud9 intend on playing a slower paced game, this is the perfect opportunity for Fudge to shine. Fudge has matured tremendously this split, seeing him a top candidate for MVP. I believe 100 Thieves will adopt a similar strategy that they did against TL. In that series 100 Thieves left Ssumday alone on an island to defend against Alphari. While Fudge is no Alphari, he is the next best thing and should cause many problems in the top lane. While he may not have exquisite laning, Fudge's ability to marshal team fights is second to none. He was my MVP in this series last split and I am calling for history to repeat itself."

"When I look at these two teams, my eyes immediately go to the Jungle. Closer and blaber are so good for each of their teams, out-jungling their opponents to help their teams build up leads. I think whichever one manages to get the upper hand will have a huge influence on the series. Say what you want about blaber internationally, but in domestic play he’s a 2-time MVP for a reason. He’s my pick for MVP here."

As both experts predicted a Cloud9 victory, this will be a repeat of both the Lock-In final and the MSS final. In terms of their finals head-to-head record, this teams are tied at one victory a piece. Team Liquid stopped a C9 reverse sweep to win the LCS Lock-In. Meanwhile, Cloud9 found their 1-2 comfort zone to win 3-2 and book their ticket to MSI. Here is how our experts saw this one playing out:

"While I would like to think Cloud9 will TL sweat for it, this TL side is in the form of their life. Jensen had a monstrous series against Perkz, making a claim he is the big dog in the LCS. The re-introduction of Santorin has done wonders for this team. They now have a clearway of playing and it's a damn scary way at that for any opposition. I think Cloud9 may get one good punch but with TL in this form, there is only one winner. Team Liquid 3-1."

"Team Liquid’s sudden improvement in performance as soon as playoffs hit has been quite the story. No matter how impressive C9’s lower bracket has been, Liquid are quite clearly the best team in North America right now, and I’m gonna have to predict 3-1 in their favour. As for MVP, who else but Alphari? He’s had a dominant return to form in top lane and there’s no reason that shouldn’t continue."

The LCS Championship kicks off this evening with Cloud9 and 100 Thieves going head-to-head. The winner will face Team Liquid on Sunday for the LCS Championship title.

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