Who are the top dogs of NA in the spring split?
LCS Spring Split Predictions
Despite rumors of its demise, the LCS is fast approaching and quite a few teams have managed to pick up what should be amazing teams on paper. Of all of them, Team Liquid, FlyQuest and Evil Geniuses are the ones we expect to fight for the cup.
2022 was not an easy year for the LCS, as talks of growing popularity and lower budget, as well as less than stellar international performances and announcements for weekday slots for the current year made many speculate that the North American league is set to struggle. Still, in the off-season we saw some interesting roster moves which point to several teams that are, at least in theory, set to play some great League of Legends. Admittedly, the LCS has seen instances of a hyped team failing to deliver. Yet here we are, ready to proudly state which teams we think will be good, bad or somewhere in between for the spring split. What could go wrong?
Bottom of the Pack
10. TSM
9. Immortals
8. Golden Guardians
We'll start at the bottom, and this is where we suspect TSM may end up. The organization was long part of the LCS elite, but last year they barely got to the playoffs - and while they scored a few wins there, this also had to do with their opponents being in bad shape and with great play by Mingyi "Spica" Lu, who is no longer with the team. TSM's academy team boasts some veteran players, but on the whole, we don't expect much from either roster.
Immortals is another team we expect to trail the table - they ended ninth last season and we expect a similar showing. A relatively low-budget revamp saw the team attract Nicholas Antonio "Ablazeolive" Abbott and ex-TSM ADC Edward "Tactical" Ra, but we wouldn't expect miracles. The rework that Golden Guardians did is somewhat more promising, as they hired Kim "Gori" Tae-woo - formerly of PSG Talon and FPX - for their mid laner and Choi "huhi" Jae-hyun from 100 Thieves. This is a team we can see going to playoffs, though it might struggle there.
Middle Tier
7. Counter-Logic Gaming
6. Dignitas
5. 100 Thieves
4. Cloud9
As we enter the middle of the pack, things get a lot spicier. We expect CLG to just miss the top 6, though it may be a close thing. They stayed fourth in the regular summer split before faltering in the playoffs, and have kept the same roster. We expect them to slide slightly, but if another team stumbles CLG should be in a good position to capitalize. Dignitas, meanwhile, is on the other pole - after a very bad last season they only kept the bot lane, adding several proven names like Nicolaj "Jensen" Jensen and Lucas "Santorin" Larsen. This is a team with several veterans eager to prove they are still among the best, but we are not sure they will be able to come out of the gates swinging.
- Need more high-speed Storage? Try the Samsung EVO 850 SSD!
100 Thieves is a team that we are torn on. On one hand, it has been consistently good for the last two years, and the presence of the solid jungler Can "Closer" Çelik gives us some confidence. On the other, while we love to see the star duo of Søren "Bjergsen" Bjerg and Yiliang "Peter" "Doublelift" Peng back together again, it's been a while since either of them has been on top of their game. They might rise back to the top, but it might take a while.
Finally, Cloud9 is a team that we considered in the top 3 - they did perform quite well in the last split and only changed one member, but former Vitality.Bee jungler Dimitri "Diplex" Ponomare has some pretty big shoes to fill. Jensen has been arguably the best mid lane of the LCS in recent years and without him, Cloud9 may need a while to get to the high level that we saw from them last split.
The Race to the Top
3. Team Liquid
2. FlyQuest
1. Evil Geniuses
After the 2022 superteam failed to make worlds, Team Liquid has opted for a Korean-speaking roster. To that end, the organization attracted 2022 World champion Hong "Pyosik" Chang-hyeon and Park "Summit" Woo-tae to join veteran Jo "CoreJJ" Yong-in to provide the team with its heavy hitters. With the language barrier gone, TL could be the team to beat if all the import player can transition to a NA environments - so far, we are mildly optimistic.
If one team can be said to have won the off-season, though, it's probably FlyQuest. The organization attracted Spica from TSM and the very reliable Jeong "Impact" Eon-young from Evil Geniuse, then added two more Korean players and the coach of the world champion DRX Kim "Ssong" Sang-soo. Barring something going very wrong - and we don't expect that - FlyQuest suddenly became a contender to the top.
To get there, however, they would have to go through Evil Geniuses - and in our view, this is the best team in the LCS at the moment. EG kept the core of the team that went 15-3 last season, making only one change - trading Impact for another S-tier top laner Kim "Ssumday" Chan-ho. While several teams could do better than EG ifthe stars align, this is the team that should be the reliable best of the LCS.
Read More:
- LoL Worlds 2023: New Format Changes Revealed and Location Confirmed
- LCS Fans Afraid For Future of Region and League in General
- Dash Steps Down as the Host of the LCS
Do you agree with our predictions or do you think you have a better call? Let us know!