Machi E-Sports vs Team Liquid

For our first match of the day, we have a rather peculiar match-up: Team Liquid vs. Machi Esports. Now, on paper, this isn't exactly a premier match-up, nor is it the most exciting one of the day. Still, it should prove to be quite entertaining, especially if both teams bring their A game.

On the side we have TL, the former LCS champions, and also one of the few teams that steamrolled through the Play-Ins with relative ease. That's really saying something given just how incredibly competitive that part of the tournament turned out to be. We saw the Team Liquid of old -- somewhat one-dimensional, slow, subdued, macro-oriented, and clean in execution. They went for their comfort picks and won each game exactly as most of us expected. There was nothing new or overly impressive about them, at least not if you've watched their play over in North America. It's not that they weren't fun or entertaining, but when you've seen them win time and time again through the exact same formula, things do tend to become a bit stale, as you can imagine.

Once they can set things up and execute, they're definitely a force to be reckoned with. And, naturally, few teams managed keep up during the Play-In stage. This time around, however, they'll face a much stiffer challenge. To start things off, they have Machi Esports, the PCS champions. They hail from a region that was once known as the LMS, and if you're an OG fan of competitive League, that abbreviation certainly rings a bell. The PCS, as a region, is still as aggressive and prone to playmaking as ever, but their biggest stars and former playmakers no longer compete on home soil. Instead, they've gone on to bigger and more revered organizations, mainly over in the LPL. Still, the PCS should not be taken lightly. After all, they're constantly scrim against Chinese teams and they've certainly picked up a thing or two as a result.

They're not predicted to accomplish much, but they should not be underestimated. This, essentially, will be a clash of styles. We have a team that's much more in tune with today's meta (Machi), and another that might not be all that up-to-date but has darn good fundamentals and is stacked with talent. With two former World Champions, two Western legends, and a highly promising rookie who's already made waves in his first year of LCS play, this Team Liquid line-up has all the right tools to not only get the win but also dominate in the process. Whether that'll happen still remains to be seen, but the odds are definitely on their side.