Team SoloMid vs Evil Geniuses

What a truly phenomenal match-up to start things off! It is, in all fairness, inherently one-sided, but that doesn't mean it won't deliver in terms of entertainment and top-tier League of Legends! We all know what Evil Geniuses are capable of, and we'd all tune in even if they were facing a bunch of solo queue randoms -- they're *that* good at League of Legends, and watching their games will be an absolute must going forward!

TSM FTX, on the other hand, is still a question mark. We've never seen this line-up in action before, so whether they're any good or not remains to be seen. They do have three seasoned veterans under their banner -- one of which happens to be a two-time LCS MVP -- but their new mid laner and support have yet to prove their worth on the biggest of stages. They must've shown ample promise, but being impressive in scrims and tryouts is completely different to playing in a coordinated setting against the best teams in North America.

They're good, if not even great, but it'll still take a while before they can spread their proverbial wings and trade blows with the who's who of the LCS. Unfortunately, they won't have a lot of time -- just six weeks in total. They can still experiment a bit and drop a few games, but if TSM want to reach the playoffs and leave a mark in some way, shape, or form, they'll have to find their footing sooner rather than later. A few missteps along the way are all but guaranteed (and wholly justified), but they will need to find a way to "stem the bleeding" and mount an offensive before it's too late. The LCS is pretty darn competitive this year, so the margin for error is going to be even narrower than before.

Evil Geniuses are the heavy favorites in this one, but it might be ever so slightly more competitive than the odds would imply.