Team Liquid and 100 Thieves capitalized on a loss by front-runner Cloud9 as the standings tightened in the top portion of the League of Legends Championship Series Spring Split on Saturday.
In the middle day of Week 8, the final week of round-robin play, Liquid (13-4) defeated Dignitas (7-10) to move into a tie for first with Cloud9 (13-4), which stumbled against 100 Thieves (12-5). The Thieves are alone in third place just a game back of the co-leaders.
In Saturday’s other matches, Golden Guardians defeated Evil Geniuses. Also, the two teams tied for last place also won. TSM (5-12) knocked off Counter Logic Gaming (6-11), and Immortals (5-12) defeated FlyQuest (8-9).
The loss eliminated Counter Logic Gaming from playoff contention.
The group stage (Feb. 5 through Sunday) of the North American competition consists of a double round robin with each team playing 18 best-of-one matches. The top six teams qualify for the playoffs — meaning Evil Geniuses, FlyQuest, Golden Guardians and Dignitas are battling for the last three spots.
The top four playoff finishers will split a $200,000 prize pool, with first place taking home $100,000.
Team Liquid, which was playing on red, needed 39 minutes to defeat Dignitas. Soren “Bjergsen” Bjerg of Denmark led the way with a kills-deaths-assists mark of 5-1-8. Ersin “Blue” Goren of Belgium finished at 3-3-1 for Dignitas.
The Thieves, also playing on red, got the win in 28 minutes. They were led by Ian Victor “FBI” Huang of Australia with a KDA of 12-0-11. No player had more than two kills for Cloud9.
Golden Guardians were playing on blue in their 32-minute win. Lawrence “Lost” Sze Yuy Hui of New Zealand led the way at 8-1-4, while Jeong “Impact” Eon-young of South Korea finished at 3-4-0 for the Geniuses.
TSM, also competing on blue, won in 27 minutes, led by Edward “Tactical” Ra of the U.S. at 10-2-5. Cristian “Palafox” Palafox of the U.S. posted a 3-4-4 for Counter Logic Gaming.
Immortals won in 30 minutes while playing on red. Tristan “Power of Evil” Schrage of Germany led with a 3-0-6 mark, while FlyQuest’s team combined for only three kills.
Week 8 concludes Sunday with these five matches:
–Dignitas vs. 100 Thieves
–Evil Geniuses vs. Counter Logic Gaming
–FlyQuest vs. Cloud9
–Immortals vs. Golden Guardians
–TSM vs. Team Liquid
League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) Spring Split standings:
T1. Cloud9, 13-4
T1. Team Liquid, 13-4
3. 100 Thieves, 12-5
T4. Evil Geniuses, 8-9
T4. FlyQuest, 8-9
T4. Golden Guardians, 8-9
7. Dignitas, 7-10
8. Counter Logic Gaming, 6-11
T9. Immortals, 5-12
T9. TSM, 5-12
–Field Level Media