With the LCS 2021 Mid-Season Showdown right around the corner, we preview the start of the tournament
The LCS Spring Split 2021 wrapped up last week and has found its 6 teams that move onto the Mid-Season Showdown. The Spring Split ended with Cloud9 taking the top spot in the league. The Spring Split also ended with all the playoff teams within 2 wins of one another. Hence, the Mid-Season Showdown promises to be a good playoffs tournament. Let’s now preview the tournament and the upcoming series this weekend.
Mid-Season Showdown Format
Like the LEC playoff bracket, The Mid-Season Showdown will feature a double-elimination system. All matches in the tournament will be a best of 5 series. The first two rounds will have an Upper Bracket and a Lower Bracket. In the Upper Bracket – Round 1, the first seed (Cloud9) will play the 4th seed (100 Thieves) this week. Also, The 2nd seed (TSM) will play the 3rd seed (Team Liquid) this weekend as well. The loser of either series will go down to the Lower Bracket.
In the Lower Bracket – Round 1, the higher seed of the two teams that lost in the Upper Bracket will play the 6th seed (Evil Geniuses). The other team will play the 5th seed (Dignitas). The winners of either series will advance to Round 2 and the losers are out of the tournament. This will conclude Round 1 of the tournament.
In the Upper Bracket – Round 2, the two winning teams will face-off against each other. The winner of this will advance straight to the Finals while the loser will move to the Lower Bracket in Round 3. In the Lower Bracket – Round 2, The winners of the previous Lower Bracket matches will face-off against one another and the victor will continue their tournament.
Round 3 will have only one Lower Bracket match where the loser in Upper Bracket – Round 2 will play the winner of Lower Bracket – Round 2. The winner advances to the Finals to face the winner of Upper Bracket – Round 2. The last round is the finals where the winner will qualify for MSI.
The Playoff Preview:
Cloud9 comes in as the top seed for the playoffs and are slight favorites to win it all. However, if the Spring Split has shown us anything, it is that Cloud9 is not as dominant as they were last Spring Split. The team has faced some growing pains and has had problems, especially when facing Team Liquid.
Like C9, TL also faced issues versus TSM and TSM has faced Dignitas and Evil Geniuses. Thus, this just shows how the tournament is somewhat of an open playing field. We also expect the tournament to be competitive and entertaining. We will preview the upcoming two series and the rest will be previewed in future articles.
TSM vs TL Preview:
TSM vs TL kicks off as the first series of the Mid-Season Showdown on Saturday. In this split, TL has not beaten TSM once so this promises to be either a series of dominance for TSM or a series of redemption for TL. Alphari is clearly the best top laner in NA and its not even close. Huni can be competitive with Alphari but Spica will need to put some emphasis on the top lane if TSM wants to win top side.
TSM seems to have a bit of a leg-up in the jungle. Spica has been playing really well and his clutch smites have actually willed the team to winning games. TSM’s baron control has been very high with Spica at the helm.
Comparing both teams, TL has had a better early game this split while TSM has a better mid to late game. TSM’s baron control is much higher than TL and TL is a better dragon control team. Both teams have their strong points and weak points and this matchup will come down to individual prowess. Winning lanes will be a key for both teams and the drafting would have to be on point for both teams.
Overall, both teams will have their advantages that they need to exploit. For TL, it’s the top lane that is their primary focus. For TSM, it’s definitely going past the early game and scale up and fight around objectives. If TSM can weather the early game storm from TL, they can win any game and the series.
C9 vs 100T Preview:
This is one of the most interesting matchups in the tournament to say the least. C9 is the most lane-dominant team in the LCS and they are one of those teams that can win through any lane. 100T on the other hand are pretty similar in that regard as well. With the introduction of ry0ma into the roster, the team has a bit more pep up their step. Whether that was a good decision or not will be seen in this tournament.
Regardless, these two teams have similar strengths but C9 is a slightly better team. The difference between the two teams will likely come in the mid lane. Perkz has been relatively quiet in his first split and him stepping up in a playoffs game is usually what happens. Given the inexperience ry0ma has, C9 could be focusing the mid lane and enabling Perkz to carry this series.
On the other hand, 100T should look more towards going to the bot lane and try to get FBI ahead. They could also focus on the top side and try to create a winning point in the top lane. Having said that, 100T’s early game will be very crucial if they want to win the series. C9 remain consistent as a good early game and mid to late game team but 100T kind of dips in the mid to late game.
Whichever team gets an advantage in the early game will attempt to snowball any game of the series. However, as mentioned it is in 100T’s interest to be the proactive team and take the helm in this regard. Summing up, its clear that C9 is the better team out of the two but 100T is not a slouch and will be a tough opponent even for C9. This will be a fun series to watch
Our Predictions
In the TSM vs TL game, we are going with 3-2 in favor of TL. In our opinion, TL has too much of an advantage in the top lane that will just get worse for TSM as the series goes on. Even if TSM manages to stop the bleeding in the top lane, TL still has a solid bot and mid lane and a very good jungler. However, TSM will make it hard on them and perhaps we will see better drafts from TSM as well.
In the C9 vs 100T game, we are going 3-1 in favor of C9. Perkz playoff buff is going to happen and it will be hard for 100T to contain him. Coupling that up with the fact of how good the C9 lineup is will be a bit much to handle for 100T. 100T’s only avenue of winning is to make sure their bot lane wins every game and even that is not a guarantee. All in all, C9 should be favorites in this series.
Wrapping up, the LCS 2021 Mid-Season Showdown promises to be a great tournament. There is a good level of competition and we expect it be a fun playoffs to watch. To find the entire schedule, please go to this link.
