Team Liquid vs Golden Guardians

For our first Best of 5 of the second round of the LCS playoffs, we have an absolute barnburner: Team Liquid vs. Golden Guardians. Now, on paper, this isn't such an exciting clash, given the disparity in rank between the two. But, if we look at gameplay alone, then things get a whole lot more interesting.

Team Liquid is ranked as the number one team and there's a good reason why that's the case. They were the most consistent, they had the best team play, and were able to weather the storm no matter the meta or opponent. Overall, they stood strong regardless of the over-arching narrative that sprung into life after their historic fall from grace. That, in short, is quite commendable. What's even more impressive is the fact that they went from ninth to first in the span of just a couple of weeks. They worked on their biggest flaws (after successfully identifying them, of course) and re-created a bit of that 2018/2019 Team Liquid magic we've all become accustomed to. Their play has been extremely enjoyable, in no small part because of their staggering team cohesion and individual talent. Still, they were not without fault. Their tendency to focus on the late game isn't all that advisable in a meta that favors early and mid game skirmishing. Furthermore, they've shown a lack of proactivity and a certain passiveness that's more akin to an age-old LCK team -- macro-oriented, subdued, and reserved from start to finish. They're not the kind of team that's going to run head-first into battle and risk it all but will rather wait for as long as possible before pulling the proverbial trigger. Sometimes that's less evident, but it's in their DNA and there's no way they can change it despite what the fans might want.

Still, with a metric ton of talent and mechanical prowess within their ranks, Team Liquid have all the right tools to not only compete for the LCS throne but even claim it. With Cloud9 and Team SoloMid fumbling in the most unexpected of ways, it seems as though TL is bound to face someone like FlyQuest in the LCS finals, but before that can happen, they need to go through the Golden Guardians.

Now, historically speaking, GGS hasn't been all that impressive. In fact, they always went from abysmal to somewhat acceptable and then back to abysmal again. That's not what you want to see from a permanent partner in the LCS, but given the talent GGS had to work with (or lack thereof), they've been doing quite nicely, especially over the last two years. This split, however, they were able to break through and are currently considered as one of the best and most dangerous teams the LCS has to offer. You'd never guess it based off of their starting line-up, but their play backs it up. They've been incredibly strong and dominant across the board, and each and every member of the team has been doing wonderfully over the last couple of weeks. Their bottom lane, in particular, has been making waves, and that's perhaps even an understatement. FBI and Huhi are, at this point in time, the best bottom lane duo in North America. Let that one sink in. They've been outclassing everyone game after game, and their team fighting prowess is no less impressive. Even if Closer decides to forego the bottom lane in favor of Hauntzer or Damonte, he can always be certain that this peculiar duo will excel no matter the odds. They've been so good, in fact, that it doesn't even make sense, especially considering whom they were facing on a weekly basis. FBI is by no means a household name and Huhi, while obviously a staple player and a former champion, didn't look that good as support mere months ago. But here they are, dominating week after week.

What a world of difference a few months can make when players are given the right guidance and room to grow. It's baffling, really. That's another point of discussion: GGS' coaching staff. They've been coming out with insanely competitive drafts, always focusing on what their line-up is good at, and giving them right tools to work with regardless of how well the game might start off. This might sound like a no-brainer, but after witnessing many top-tier teams like Cloud9 and TSM fumble in the pick and ban phase, seeing GGS excel has been nothing short of mesmerizing. They're fully aware of what's good and why, and this one fact allowed them to run circles around TSM mere weeks ago. Now, however, they're up against a much stronger opponent in TL -- a team that won't make the same mistakes.

Predicting the outcome of any Best of 5 in the LCS seems nigh impossible. You're never quite sure who's good and why, and we've been proven wrong even when it seemed like there was no room for an upset. Take the C9 vs. FLY series yesterday. Both teams squared off seven times throughout 2020 and Cloud9 found a way to win every single time -- including the Summer Split regular season. They were a stylistic nightmare for the boys in white and green and yet it didn't matter whatsoever. They drafted the wrong champions, put all of their eggs in the Zven basket and didn't play even remotely well. The same can be said for TSM vs. GGS and even 100T vs. EG. There's very little logic behind what's going on, and teams are adapting on a weekly basis -- some better than others, obviously.

This time around, however, we simply have to side with Team Liquid, although we're doing so with slight hesitation. They're better across the board than GGS, but that doesn't mean they're going to win in one-sided fashion. On the contrary. GGS have all the right tools to trade heavy blows with the former LCS champions and they're bound to do so from the moment they spawn on the Summoner's Rift. The thing is, TL has a couple of extra weeks to prepare, recuperate, and enter this Best of 5 firing on all cylinders. That's no small feat, especially seeing how they had the luxury of watching GGS play against TSM. They're well known for their preparation and stellar coaching staff, making this somewhat of an easy prediction -- although it's obvious that they'll have to fight tooth and nail to get the win tonight. Hopefully they'll make their fans proud and advance further into the playoffs.