The LCS Summer Split is about to reach its big finale and four of North America's strongest teams are en route to Detroit in the search of greatness.
Both Team Liquid and Cloud9 have already confirmed their place in this year's World Championships in Europe and the NA giants will compete for the LCS title.
Before that, Clutch Gaming and Counter Logic Gaming will face off in the third-place match which will decide the seeding heading into the Regional Qualifiers.
Both series are going to be great to watch but are tough to call. We've done our best to predict both best-of-fives.
Clutch Gaming (2.34) vs Counter Logic Gaming (1.53)
Saturday, August 24th, 2019, 4pm ET / 9pm BST / 10pm CEST / 1pm PT | Live stream
A few weeks a go, the result of this would have been clear. CLG were looking like one of the best teams in the league, competing for a spot in the top two thanks to their phenomenal macro play. Clutch on the other hand, were a non-story, a team who didn't even look likely to reach the Playoffs.
Yet here we are in the finals weekend after CLG were embarrassed by Cloud9 and Clutch were one game away from causing a huge upset versus Team Liquid.
Clutch were simply phenomenal last week, pushing the league leaders all the way in an entertaining five-game series. Tanner "Damonte" Damonte proved he is absolutely lethal on Qiyana while Cody "Cod Sun" Sun was impressive once again. Then there is of course the sheer mechanical talent of top-laner Heo "Huni" Seung-hoon who couldn't hold back his tears after having to settle for yet another third-place match in NA.
CLG on the other hand will be sweating considering they didn't really show up last week in what was really, their biggest game of the season. The squad were dismantled with ease by Cloud9 in the first two games and looked set to be swept 3-0 but managed to mount a comeback to take one game back.
The only strong performer really was Trevor "Stixxay" Hayes who will have to be at the top of his game if he wants to deal with Cody Sun.
Still, it's entirely possible that Cloud9 are simply stronger than we expected and comparatively made CLG look bad. CLG are a smart team with very strong fundamentals but Clutch's coaching staff have also clearly been working hard.
Though, it was Clutch's shocking draft in game five which cost them the series and that is the kind of mistake will simply be punished heavily by CLG. This one is close but don't be surprised if CLG bounce back.
Prediction: CLG win 3-1
Team Liquid (3.50) vs Cloud9 (3.50)
Sunday, August 25th 2019, 4pm ET / 9pm BST / 10pm CEST / 1pm PT | Live stream
Yes, you read that correctly, the odds for the grand final are completely even. It's extremely difficult to call.
Reigning LCS champions and MSI finalists Team Liquid have long been the best team in North America but their struggles against Clutch have left fans questioning just how far ahead they really are.
Meanwhile, Cloud9 are in sensational form with an extremely talented and flexible squad. Against CLG, Cloud9 won through sheer individual talent alone with Eric “Licorice” Ritchie, Dennis “Svenskeren” Johnsen and especially Yasin "Nisqy" Dinçer all looking incredibly strong.
Nisqy is making a late run for being known as the strongest mid-laner in NA, especially consdiering the man he replaced, Team's Liquid's Nicolaj "Jensen" Jensen, had a rather poor showing against Clutch.
Still, in the games that they did win Team Liquid looked very convincing. The sheer quality in their roster is inredible with two former world champions in Jung "Impact" Eon-yeong and Jo "CoreJJ" Yong-in.
While C9 might have an advantage in the mid-lane, Liquid have the advantage in the bot-lane with Spring Split MVP CoreJJ and legendary ADC Peter "Doublelift" Peng.
C9 have very strong players but have been incosistent at times this year which could cost them dearly in a best-of-five. On their day they can certainly take down Team Liquid but you probably have to back the champions to lift the trophy once again. It's going to be close though, we might have a five game final for the second split in a row.
Prediction: Team Liquid win 3-2
More tips: Check our our bet on LoL guide.
Pictures: LoL Esports / Flickr
