Cloud9 vs 100 Thieves

The 2022 LCS Spring Split has thus far been an incredibly weird ride, one that was riddled with numerous inexplicable twists and turns, moments which we've yet to fully grasp and understand. This Best of 5 has a very similar vibe, and we're not too happy for that being the case. An uncertain state of affairs is not the kind of thing we're after as it leaves *us* in a very precarious position and makes betting on competitive LoL a "living nightmare."

You want a lopsided beatdown, a clash that's easy to predict, and outcome one can foresee days if not weeks in advance. You do *not* want an even, competitive fight that may or may not resolve in the way you expect it to. 100 Thieves and Cloud9 are both stacked. They have some of the very best players around and could, by all means, end up hoisting the LCS trophy in a couple of weeks' time. They're dead even in regard; they're also inconsistent and somewhat exploitable, depending on what they draft and prioritize in game.

At their absolute best, they're every bit as good as Team Liquid, if not even better. At their worst, though, they can pretty much drop a game to anyone ranked below them. We've seen it happen many a time and, well, we're not quite sure what to make of it. They've also slipped a few times in the most recent past which only further complicates things from a betting perspective.

On paper, 100 Thieves should actually be a fair bit better and more cohesive than Cloud9 (at least right now). They, however, seem to be complacent. Or they *were* complacent, rather. As the split progressed, they slowly but surely realized at how big of a risk they were and, to their credit, certain adjustments were made and progress attained. They're still iffy at times (Abbedagge, in particular), but they've improved a ton and are currently one of the very best teams in NA, even in their flawed and inconsistent state, the severity of which varies on a weekly basis.

Cloud9, on the other hand, are a huge question mark. They were the absolute best team in NA for weeks and then, out of the blue, came a downfall for the ages. They've won just two of their last five games and have looked downright dreadful more often than not. What exactly is the issue still remains to be seen, but it's hard not to be worried. They were in the lead for so many weeks and it'd be quite depressing to see them come up short after everything that went down. An LCS with a well-performing Cloud9 is an LCS that could, potentially, stand a chance at doing some damage on the international stage. We, therefore, all want to see them perform at their absolute best — something we haven't really seen throughout the last couple of weeks.

So we have one team that was atop the region for weeks and has somewhat crashed and burned, and another whose trajectory was completely the opposite. 100 Thieves started off slow. Too slow, in fact. They were meek and feeble and flawed and inconsistent no matter whom they faced — they were their own biggest enemy. Over time, though, they *were* able to shore up their most egregious flaws, but we're still not fully convinced they've "figured it all out."

And so we have two teams whose destinies sort of linger in the air. And, well, we have a slew of questions, most of which will be answered in a matter of hours. Was that just a one-off occurrence for Cloud9? A moment of weakness, if you will? Or, perhaps, a telling sign that a most tremendous implosion is in the cards? Both scenarios are wholly possible, but we fear that the latter is ever so slightly more probable.

To make things even more complicated, Cloud9 have reportedly been getting wrecked in scrims. That's... not a promising sign. And it's a verifiable thing, too, as it came directly from Cloud9 mid laner. Their confidence must be in shambles and the fact that they're going to face a team that demolished them mere days ago sure as heck doesn't help. They have the tools to win but they have no momentum whatsoever, and we can only theorize on how that'll affect their odds of leaving a mark. They're favored here but, frankly, we're not fully convinced they've earned it.

League of Legends is a game of momentum. Some team thrive more off it than others but they all need it in some way, shape, or form. And Cloud9 have next to none of it after getting smacked around at the very tail end of the split. And it's a strange thing, inexplicable even, to see them dominate so much for months and then somehow just throw it all away in a blink of an eye.

And so now we are left with a myriad of questions, none of which can truly be answered. We have a sizable sample size at our disposal but almost none of it is usable given the way things developed. Both teams are resilient and they have mental fortitude for days, too, but only one of them can emerge victorious.

We've lost quite a bit of faith in Cloud9. They could still go the distance and win the LCS, but we have our doubts in regards to their current power level and, well, our skepticism is wholly justified. That's the thing with a match like this one: you have such a limited amount of information to work with. Cloud9 have thus far been more impressive, but the way in which they've played last week *has* sort of cast a shadow over their previous successes. There's no "right" choice here as both teams have the tools to win. 100 Theives just so happen to have a bit more momentum and that could very well prove to be the deciding factor. In any case, we should be in for one truly spectacular Bo5!