LCS 2022 Summer Playoffs – Predictions & Picks

The LCS summer split regular season has drawn to a close after eight long weeks. The last week saw Golden Guardians break an eight-match streak of losses to seal the final playoffs spot, while Cloud9 trumped FlyQuest in a tie-breaker to secure the fifth seed.

Team Liquid v FlyQuest

The first round of the upper bracket sees seed numbers three and six, Team Liquid and FlyQuest, face off in the first battle for the Championships. According to the LoL predictions, High achievers Team Liquid are expected to win this one.

Predictions: Team Liquid to win

Odds: 1.22

Betting Site: Odds provided by GG.Bet

When: Saturday, August 20 – 22:30 CEST

Team Liquid

It’s been a satisfactory season overall for TL, but they’ve had their share of highs and lows. They finished as third seed, but will be smarting at the way their season finale denied them a top two finish. A victory against 100 Thieves in their season finale would level both teams with 13 wins, the second seed decided by a tie breaker. For most of the game it looked as if TL would get there, Hans Sama and CoreJJ in particular going on the offensive.

Twenty minutes in, and TL had secured a sizeable lead. But 100 Thieves clawed their way back into the game by winning consecutive team fights, then gathered an advantage after the 30-minute mark to close it out. So in the end, all speculation turned out to be futile. Third seed or not, getting past FlyQuest shouldn’t present much of a challenge to the North American super team, even if they have been a little off-color this summer.

FlyQuest

Ever since FlyQuest’s upset victory over 100 Thieves in week eight of the regular season, they’ve been on a roll. In fact they’ve beaten them in both encounters, which no other team has managed this split. They backed it up with consecutive victories over TSM and Immortals, and went from staring down the barrel of a gun at seed eight-nine, the lower bracket, to tying Cloud9 for fifth place.

But that was as far as FlyQuest’s luck would hold out. The difference in ability between the two sides was stark as Cloud9 pulled off a clinical victory in under 30 minutes. FlyQuest have always been one of the most likable teams in the LCS, but their approach heading into the playoffs has to be less nice-guy and more killer. Beating TL certainly means going the hard mile, and the LoL odds indicate the chances of this are low.

Counter Logic Gaming v Cloud9

Counter Logic Gaming and Cloud9 play each other in the second game of the upper bracket, the losers demoted to the bottom bracket alongside TSM and Golden Guardians. Though both teams have an equal record against each other this season, League of Legends betting tips point to Cloud9 as the more likely winners.

Predictions: Cloud9 to win

Odds: 1.46

Betting Site: Odds provided by GG.Bet

When: Sunday, August 21 – 21:30 CEST

Counter Logic Gaming

CLG has been one of this summer’s best surprises. For years they have been part of the middle-of-the-pack tribe, a decent team but in a totally different league from TL and 100 Thieves. The dead bottom finish in 2021 LCS prompted the need for changes, and led to an overhaul of players, management and staff. CLG invested in youth, and the payout has been immense.

After three years of finishing at the lower seeds, they have now seeded at number four behind Evil Geniuses, 100 Thieves and Team Liquid. Dhokla ‘Dhokla’ Niship, Cristian ‘Palafox’ Palafox and Fatih ‘Luger’ Güven have been revelations despite their inexperience. Their head-to-head record this split against Cloud9 is one each, so this game is difficult to call.

Cloud9

In terms of talent, Cloud9 have always been able to maintain their status among one of the league’s best. A perfect streak in the middle of the regular season, including a gratifying victory over TL saw them rank as high as three, behind the untouchable EG and 100 Thieves, but it didn’t hold.

Eventually they had to compete for fifth place in the tiebreaker against FlyQuest. They brushed them methodically aside, looking ahead to bigger, better things. The four-time LCS champions started their split slowly, hampered by visa issues, but Nicolaj Jensen’ Jensen and Kim ‘Berserker’ Min-cheol have been the cream of the crop. Moving Ibrahim ‘Fudge’ Allami back to the top lane has turned out to be a masterstroke.

They hold the slightest of edges over CLG in the split, owing to the fact that the latter have been somewhat erratic despite having a higher seed. Both these teams have shown they’re genuine competitors, and should not, at any cost, be written off for the championship.