Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports
Cloud9 defeated 100 Thieves 3-1 to earn a berth in the grand final of the League of Legends Championship Series Summer Split playoffs.
Cloud9, which won the upper-bracket final, now get a full week off until facing the lower-bracket champ on Sept. 11. The Thieves drop into the lower bracket, where they await the winner of Sunday’s matchup between the Evil Geniuses and Team Liquid. The winner there will take on 100 Thieves on Sept. 10.
The $200,000 double-elimination event culminates the season for the top North American League of Legends circuit. The top three finishers will earn berths in the $2.25 million League of Legends World Championships, scheduled for Sept. 29-Nov. 5 in San Francisco, Atlanta, New York and Mexico City.
The LCS winning side will pocket $100,000 and the runner-up will get $50,000. All LCS Summer Split matches are best-of-five, including the grand final.
Cloud9 took the first map in 44 minutes while playing on red, but the Thieves came back to win the second in 37 minutes on blue. Cloud9 scored wins on the next two maps, in 31 minutes on blue and 43 minutes on red, to clinch the win.
Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen of Denmark and Kim “Berserker” Min-cheol of South Korea led Cloud9’s win. Jensen finished with a kills/deaths/assists ratio of 16/8/26, nearly matched by Berserker’s 16/8/17. Felix “Abbedagge” Braun of Germany topped the Thieves at 15/8/23.
The LCS Summer Split playoff schedule for Sunday:
–Lower-bracket semifinals: Team Liquid vs. Evil Geniuses
League of Legends Championship Series Summer Split prize pool
1st: TBD — $100,000, Worlds
2nd: TBD — $50,000, Worlds
3rd: TBD — $30,000, Worlds
4th: TBD — $20,000
5th-6th: Counter Logic Gaming, TSM — no money
7th-8th: FlyQuest, Golden Guardians — no money
9th: Immortals — no money
10th: Dignitas — no money
–Field Level Media