Golden Guardians vs Clutch Gamers

For our fourth match of the day we have a rather interesting clash between the Golden Guardians and Clutch Gaming. Now, this is by no means a fight between the LCS creme de la creme, but it still a match-up that should bring fireworks.

For both of these two teams, this is a do or die type of moment. All of their efforts, all of the hard work they put in over the last eight months comes down to this. They're tied in the standings and they absolutely need to win this game in order to either lock down a playoff spot or force a tiebreaker. There's no more room for error -- they cannot afford to fumble at this point in time.

So it all comes down to the fact who has the more experience and stronger mental fortitude on this one given day? Both teams have a fair bit of potential, and the fact that they're fighting for a spot in the Top 6 shouldn't come as a surprise. That said, they are completely different when it comes to hype and momentum. Their journeys up to this point were completely different, and they're both defined by incredible inconsistency and volatility.

That said, it always felt like the Guardians had more tools to work with -- until they swapped out their bottom lane duo. Now, even though they're still somewhat competitive, they're much more vulnerable and less cohesive. The Golden Guardians can mostly be seen as Hauntzer and Froggen trying their hardest in order to hard carry their team over the finish line.

Sometimes they succeed, but those moments are few and far between. They're not as versatile and flexible as they should be in the current meta, and they're also not a layered threat. Neutralizing their five-man line-up is fairly straight-forward, although they do always put up a solid fight.

Clutch Gaming, on the other hand, has more tools to work with at this point in time, but they're still as volatile as ever. You never really know how competitive they're going to be until they actually spawn on the Summoner's Rift. That said, they have a fair bit of potential and should be more than capable at taking the Guardians down. That said, this is going to be an extremely close game and could, in theory, go either way.

Nuances will be the determining factor, now perhaps more than ever.