Team Liquid vs Cloud9

Team Liquid have started off the second half of the competitive season with as big a bang as humanly possible. And, well, it's not like anyone expected anything less from as stacked a line-up as theirs. It's still somewhat surprising to see them compete with such zest and fervor -- it's like they want to redeem themselves for "dropping the ball" in the Spring Split playoffs.

An angry and motivated Team Liquid. We shudder at the thought of them keeping this up across the entirety of the split. They already have the tools to win Summer, and if they can keep building on this momentum and maintain it over the coming weeks and months they might even be able to go the whole nine yards.

Cloud9, on the other hand, simply didn't have any luck -- and it wasn't the first time, either. Them not being able to compete with Berserker and Zven is, in a way, a "death sentence." They'll have their full starting line-up around week four, at which point they will have played over a third of the split. That's... not quite optimal, all things considered. They're still amongst the most capable and dangerous teams in the LCS, but they sure will face an uphill battle going forward -- that much is both clear and obvious.

Still, it's Cloud9 we're talking about. If there's one team that has the tools to bounce back and correct course at the most unfortunate of positions and timings, it's them. Things could still go awry, but we're optimistic for the time being.

In any case, Team Liquid are not only better but they're also more cohesive and have all of their players as well, so betting on them is not only advisable but also the *only* logical option.