The 2022 LCS Lock-In tournament Finals saw last year’s champions, Team Liquid, repeat in a surprising 3-0 sweep over an upstart Evil Geniuses side to take home the $150,000 prize pool and the championship.
Coming into the match, EG had all the momentum in the world. Riding a nine-match winning streak, including a win over Liquid in the group stage, Evil Geniuses looked like world-beaters.
In Game 1, though, Team Liquid showed why they should be the team to beat in the LCS this year. Liquid top laner Gabriël “Bwipo” Rau was a dominant force as Graves, while mid laner Soren “Bjergsen” Bjerg’s Sylas took over in the mid-game, smashing through EG’s weakened team-fighting composition en route to a 26-minute win.
In Game 2, both teams opted for similar drafts to Game 1, which ended with similar results. Sure, Evil Geniuses did well to stay even with Team Liquid in the early game, but giving Liquid bot laner Steven “Hans sama” Liv’s Aphelios a pocket Lulu is a recipe for late-game disaster. Hans sama dominated later on in the game, protected by a stout frontline, posting a 5-0-6 Kills-Deaths-Assists ratio for a 34-minute win.
With their backs to the wall, EG played well early in Game 3, but they gave Hans sama Jinx and surrounded him with a veritable wall of supports and tanks. In turn, while EG controlled the mid game through early converted leads, they couldn’t get to Hans sama while he sprinted around the battlefield while dealing tons of damage.
With a 7-2-3 K-D-A ratio for a perfect 100 percent kill participation, Hans sama and Liquid demolished the would-be usurpers, claiming the LCS Lock-In tournament with a 30-minute Game 3 win.
The Lock-In tournament had teams divided into two groups by the Summer 2021 finalists: 100 Thieves and Team Liquid. The top four teams from each group went to the playoffs, which was an eight-team single-elimination bracket. Quarterfinals were best-of-three, whereas semifinals and Grand Finals were best-of-five.
LCS Lock-In 2022 results:
1. Team Liquid ($150,000 grand prize)
2. Evil Geniuses
3-4. Dignitas, Cloud9
5-8. 100 Thieves, FlyQuest, Golden Guardians, Counter Logic Gaming
9-10. TSM, Immortals
–Noah Waltzer, Field Level Media