For the first time in the League of Legends North American League Championship Series (NALCS), neither of the league’s previous winners will be in the finals. Both Team SoloMid (TSM) and Cloud9 (C9) were knocked out of the playoffs in their quarterfinal matches against newcomers Clutch Gaming and seasoned veterans Team Liquid, respectively. As the first split in the newly reformed franchise system, these losses aren’t as rough as they could be, because teams no longer have to worry about being expelled from the league should they continue to have bad results the following split.
C9 was, for the first half of the Spring Split, a major contender for the number-one seed in the league. After a terrible second half of the season, the team continued its downward spiral by getting sweeped in their quarterfinal match. While I don’t see there being any changes made to the team, it’s unfortunate that the organization will be taking an early holiday.
TSM, however, were the opposite of C9. After a terrible first half of the season and draining fans of all hope, the team pulled off a huge streak of games to barely squeeze into the playoffs. TSM is known for coming around during playoffs; after winning the first game of their match against Clutch Gaming, it was looking like the defending champions would be making a run once again. However, due to some incredible play from Clutch Gaming’s support player Nickolas “Hakuho” Surgent and some crisp and clean team play, the Houston Rockets-backed organization pulled off one of the biggest upsets in domestic League of Legends in recent years.
Whoever wins the championship finals—being held on April 7 and 8 in Miami, Florida—will not only get a huge money prize, but will also have the pride of being the first “non-C9 or TSM” team to ever win a split.
As a spectator, this season has definitely been the most interesting one to watch for years; if this level of play continues, the NALCS can certainly cement its spot as one of the most-watched esports events of all time.