2019 LoL Championship Series Spring

26 January, 2019 - N/A Los Angeles, United States

The League of Legends Championship Series is the premier circuit in North America, hosting some of the most recognized brands within western esports. The spring split leads up to the Mid Season Invitational with the season winner qualifying for the event.

2019 LoL Championship Series Spring Betting Tips

Team LiquidvsFlyQuest2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-04-07 19:00:00
Win

Under 3.5

2.20

Galaktikos

Team SoloMidvsEcho Fox2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-03-31 19:10:00
Loss

Echo Fox

5.50

pashaBiceps_

Team SoloMidvsEcho Fox2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-03-31 19:10:00
Loss

Over 4.5

3.75

pashaBiceps_

FlyQuestvsGolden Guardians2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-03-30 21:10:00
Win

FlyQuest

1.77

Vqx7

FlyQuestvsGolden Guardians2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-03-25 00:00:00
Loss

Golden Guardians

1.92

Petar

Team SoloMidvsTeam Liquid2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-03-24 22:10:00
Loss

Team Liquid

1.74

Trasckas

Team SoloMidvsTeam Liquid2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-03-24 22:10:00
Win

Team SoloMid

2.50

ilikecheese

Cloud9vsClutch Gamers2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-03-24 21:15:00
Loss

Clutch Gamers

4.33

Trasckas

Cloud9vsClutch Gamers2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-03-24 21:15:00
Loss

Clutch Gamers

4.33

Petar

Cloud9vsClutch Gamers2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-03-24 21:15:00
Loss

Clutch Gamers

4.33

Vqx7

Cloud9vsClutch Gamers2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-03-24 21:15:00
Loss

Clutch Gamers

4.33

ilikecheese

Echo FoxvsCLG2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-03-24 20:15:00
Loss

CLG

2.02

Trasckas

Echo FoxvsCLG2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-03-24 20:15:00
Win

Echo Fox

1.83

Petar

Cloud9vsFlyQuest2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-03-24 00:00:00
Loss

FlyQuest

2.55

ilikecheese

100 ThievesvsEcho Fox2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-03-17 21:15:00
Win

Echo Fox

2.10

Galaktikos

FlyQuestvs100 Thieves2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-03-17 01:15:00
Win

FlyQuest

1.54

Galaktikos

OpTic GamingvsCLG2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-03-16 21:10:00
Win

CLG

2.39

Galaktikos

CLGvsClutch Gamers2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-03-10 23:00:00
Loss

CLG

1.86

Galaktikos

100 ThievesvsCloud92019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-03-10 22:00:00
Win

Cloud9

1.27

heitorpereira

100 ThievesvsCloud92019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-03-10 22:00:00
Loss

100 Thieves

4.33

Galaktikos

OpTic GamingvsTeam SoloMid2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-03-10 20:50:00
Win

Team SoloMid

1.43

Galaktikos

FlyQuestvsEcho Fox2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-03-10 20:10:00
Win

FlyQuest

1.64

Petar

FlyQuestvsEcho Fox2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-03-10 20:10:00
Win

FlyQuest

1.64

Vqx7

FlyQuestvsEcho Fox2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-03-10 20:10:00
Win

FlyQuest

1.58

Galaktikos

Echo FoxvsOpTic Gaming2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-03-10 02:40:00
Win

OpTic Gaming

1.64

heitorpereira

Echo FoxvsOpTic Gaming2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-03-10 02:40:00
Loss

Echo Fox

2.26

Galaktikos

Clutch GamersvsFlyQuest2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-03-10 01:45:00
Loss

Clutch Gamers

2.10

heitorpereira

Clutch GamersvsFlyQuest2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-03-10 01:45:00
Win

FlyQuest

1.74

Galaktikos

Team SoloMidvs100 Thieves2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-03-10 00:30:00
Win

Team SoloMid

1.38

heitorpereira

Team SoloMidvs100 Thieves2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-03-10 00:30:00
Win

Team SoloMid

1.38

Vqx7

Cloud9vsTeam Liquid2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-03-09 23:10:00
Loss

Cloud9

2.50

heitorpereira

Cloud9vsTeam Liquid2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-03-09 23:10:00
Win

Team Liquid

1.54

Galaktikos

Golden GuardiansvsCLG2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-03-09 22:05:00
Win

Golden Guardians

1.90

Galaktikos

Golden GuardiansvsCLG2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-03-09 22:05:00
Win

Golden Guardians

1.90

Petar

Golden GuardiansvsCLG2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-03-09 22:05:00
Win

Golden Guardians

1.86

Vqx7

Team LiquidvsCLG2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-03-03 23:20:00
Win

Team Liquid

1.17

heitorpereira

100 ThievesvsGolden Guardians2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-03-03 21:05:00
Win

Golden Guardians

2.16

Petar

OpTic GamingvsTeam Liquid2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-03-03 03:00:00
Win

Team Liquid

1.25

heitorpereira

Team Liquidvs100 Thieves2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-02-25 00:20:00
Loss

100 Thieves

3.32

Galaktikos

FlyQuestvsTeam SoloMid2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-02-24 23:10:00
Loss

FlyQuest

2.27

Galaktikos

FlyQuestvsTeam SoloMid2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-02-24 23:10:00
Win

Team SoloMid

1.74

Vqx7

Cloud9vsCLG2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-02-24 22:00:00
Win

Cloud9

1.33

wakanda111

Cloud9vsCLG2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-02-24 22:00:00
Loss

CLG

3.32

pashaBiceps_

Cloud9vsCLG2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-02-24 22:00:00
Loss

CLG

3.32

Galaktikos

OpTic GamingvsClutch Gamers2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-02-24 21:05:00
Win

OpTic Gaming

1.80

Galaktikos

OpTic GamingvsClutch Gamers2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-02-24 21:05:00
Win

OpTic Gaming

1.85

Vqx7

Golden GuardiansvsEcho Fox2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-02-24 20:10:00
Loss

Echo Fox

1.74

Galaktikos

Golden GuardiansvsEcho Fox2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-02-24 20:10:00
Loss

Echo Fox

1.74

Vqx7

Team SoloMidvsCLG2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-02-24 02:20:00
Win

Team SoloMid

1.54

Galaktikos

Team SoloMidvsCLG2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-02-24 02:20:00
Win

Team SoloMid

1.53

JeanClaudeVanDamme

Team SoloMidvsCLG2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-02-24 02:20:00
Win

Team SoloMid

1.53

wakanda111

FlyQuestvsCloud92019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-02-24 01:00:00
Loss

FlyQuest

2.65

Galaktikos

FlyQuestvsCloud92019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-02-24 01:00:00
Win

Cloud9

1.53

JeanClaudeVanDamme

FlyQuestvsCloud92019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-02-24 01:00:00
Win

Cloud9

1.53

wakanda111

Clutch GamersvsGolden Guardians2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-02-24 00:20:00
Loss

Golden Guardians

1.90

Petar

Clutch GamersvsGolden Guardians2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-02-24 00:20:00
Loss

Golden Guardians

1.90

Trasckas

Clutch GamersvsGolden Guardians2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-02-24 00:20:00
Win

Clutch Gamers

2.01

Galaktikos

OpTic Gamingvs100 Thieves2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-02-23 22:05:00
Win

OpTic Gaming

2.27

Galaktikos

FlyQuestvsClutch Gamers2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-02-17 23:20:00
Win

FlyQuest

1.83

Petar

FlyQuestvsClutch Gamers2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-02-17 23:20:00
Win

FlyQuest

1.77

apogio3

100 ThievesvsCLG2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-02-11 00:15:00
Win

100 Thieves

1.68

ilikecheese

100 ThievesvsCLG2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-02-11 00:15:00
Loss

CLG

2.20

rainpainter

Golden GuardiansvsTeam SoloMid2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-02-10 23:10:00
Loss

Team SoloMid

1.33

heitorpereira

Golden GuardiansvsTeam SoloMid2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-02-10 23:10:00
Win

Golden Guardians

3.25

rainpainter

Team LiquidvsOpTic Gaming2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-02-10 22:10:00
Win

Team Liquid

1.24

heitorpereira

Team LiquidvsOpTic Gaming2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-02-10 22:10:00
Loss

OpTic Gaming

4.90

rainpainter

Golden GuardiansvsOpTic Gaming2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-02-10 02:35:00
Loss

OpTic Gaming

1.55

heitorpereira

CLGvsEcho Fox2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-02-10 01:25:00
Loss

Echo Fox

1.88

ilikecheese

CLGvsEcho Fox2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-02-10 01:25:00
Win

CLG

1.88

heitorpereira

100 ThievesvsClutch Gamers2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-02-09 22:10:00
Loss

Clutch Gamers

2.37

heitorpereira

Clutch GamersvsOpTic Gaming2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-02-03 02:00:00
Loss

Clutch Gamers

1.57

rainpainter

Clutch GamersvsOpTic Gaming2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-02-03 02:00:00
Loss

Clutch Gamers

1.57

heitorpereira

FlyQuestvsCLG2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-02-03 01:00:00
Loss

FlyQuest

1.62

rainpainter

FlyQuestvsCLG2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-02-03 01:00:00
Loss

FlyQuest

1.61

heitorpereira

Echo FoxvsGolden Guardians2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-01-28 00:00:00
Win

Echo Fox

1.68

heitorpereira

Echo FoxvsGolden Guardians2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-01-28 00:00:00
Loss

Golden Guardians

2.20

ilikecheese

Clutch GamersvsTeam SoloMid2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-01-27 23:00:00
Loss

Team SoloMid

1.67

ilikecheese

Clutch GamersvsTeam SoloMid2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-01-27 23:00:00
Loss

Team SoloMid

1.67

Trasckas

CLGvsTeam Liquid2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-01-27 22:10:00
Win

Team Liquid

1.34

heitorpereira

Cloud9vs100 Thieves2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-01-27 21:10:00
Loss

100 Thieves

1.80

heitorpereira

Cloud9vs100 Thieves2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-01-27 21:10:00
Win

Cloud9

2.10

ilikecheese

OpTic GamingvsFlyQuest2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-01-27 20:10:00
Loss

OpTic Gaming

1.72

bijoBoy

OpTic GamingvsFlyQuest2019 LoL Championship Series Spring
2019-01-27 20:10:00
Loss

OpTic Gaming

1.72

heitorpereira

Preview

For North America, 2018 was a year filled with ups and downs, but also incredible twists and unexpected outcomes. No one though that TSM, the perennial NA titan, would fail to reach Worlds, or even the finals of both Spring and Summer. No one thought that the long-established status quo of the region would get turned upside down.

We no longer heard chants for the titans that came before. TSM, CLG, and Cloud9 no longer had a stronghold on the region, and for the first time in a long time, North America would celebrate a new champion.

These were exciting moments, mainly because they came after years of expected results. We had become accustomed to a certain narrative, and anything that deviated from that storyline didn’t have a place in the North American LCS.

Until 2018.

Team Liquid finally assembled a super team, one that seemed rather unbeatable throughout the regular season. They won two splits back-to-back in spectacular 3-0 fashion, and they’ve shown no signs of stopping during the off-season with a couple of key signings. 100 Thieves emerged as a solid contender, one that’s willing to go the extra step in order to reach greatness and, finally, Cloud9 solidified themselves as an incredibly capable contender.

Other teams had their own surges of brilliance, but ultimately it wasn’t enough to warrant a spot in the Top 3, or a ticket to the World Championship.

So with all of that in the rearview mirror, we’re looking ahead to 2019, and that begs the question — has anything changed between 2018 and 2019? In short — not a lot, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

First of all, starting with the 2019 regular season the North American LCS will drop the “NA” prefix and will only exist as “LCS”. This change makes sense, especially with the EU LCS becoming “LEC”. Both regions now get simplified acronyms, much like the LCK (Korea), TCL (Turkey), LPL (China), LMS (Taiwan), and so on.

Because the LCS was franchised, we’re going to see the exact same ten teams compete in the 2019 regular season. That said, almost every single team underwent concrete changes when it comes to their starting line-up, so we can expect things to shake out a bit differently in 2019.

So with that out of the way, let’s focus on the ten LCS contenders, their predicted power level, and focus a bit more on how each team could perform come 2019. Do have in mind that this is only a preliminary power ranking, and these things tend to change on a weekly basis. That said, we have more than enough information available so we can form an initial ranking with a solid amount of confidence.

The Contenders

1. Team Liquid

At number one we have none other than Team Liquid.

It’s hard to bet against a team that clean swept both of their opponents in 2018. Regardless of the region, that's a really hard thing to do, and yet Team Liquid made it look effortless.

They’re also not the ones who lean towards drama. They’re professionals — they come in, do their due diligence, and leave. If there are any issues they resolve it internally. Liquid also has the best players in the region for each and every role. So that’s World Champion Jeong "Impact" Eon-yeong in the top lane, legendary NA jungler Jake "Xmithie" Puchero, as well as Yiliang "Doublelift" Peng — the best North American AD carry that ever stepped foot on the NA LCS stage.

They made two big changes coming into 2019, and that’s a new mid laner in Nicolaj "Jensen" Jensen and support in Jo "CoreJJ" Yong-in" — 2017 World Champion and former Samsung Galaxy (now Gen.G) support.

While Jensen doesn’t have any fancy titles to his name (yet), he’s been one of the best mid laners in the world for years now, and he’s consistently been at the very top in North America, or at worst Top 2 depending on the year.

Now, while Eugene "Pobelter" Park isn’t bad by any stretch of the imagination, he wasn’t able to compete with the cream of the crop on the international stage, and for a team that’s aiming to exceed all expectations that’s a problem. So coming into 2019, they looked around and realized that Jensen is the absolute best fit, especially considering his deep champion pool and mechanical prowess.

The switch from Kim "Olleh" Joo-sung to Jo "CoreJJ" Yong-in should also be a noticeable one that should positively impact the team.

While Doublelift surely had some issues with Olleh, you really couldn’t notice them when they were playing on the Rift, especially as the regular season came to a close. Was Olleh a weak link in an otherwise stellar Liquid roster? That’s hard to say, and although he’s a fantastic performer, he wasn’t the best possible choice for Liquid. His confidence took a serious toll throughout the year and it showed in his play as well.

Doublelift, on the other hand, is resilient regardless of the outcome. He always comes out with his "A game" and he needs a support player that can compliment his mentality.

So is CoreJJ the right one? Only time will tell, but he seems to be a better fit than Olleh, that’s for sure.

Perhaps the most important change that Liquid made this year was the switch from Pobelter to Jensen. He’s a consistent performer, and a rare breed of mid laners that can dominate on home soil as well as internationally. If everything goes according to plan, Nicolaj should be lifting his very first LCS trophy in 2019 — and the guy deserves it after three years of playing second-fiddle to TSM.

In short, this Team Liquid roster has the best players in every single position. That doesn’t mean they’re invincible, but they have a really big chance of repeating their success from 2018. They’re poised to make another incredible run, and this time they should have an even easier time in reaching the very top.

2. Cloud9

Next up, we have Cloud9 at number two. Predicting just how high the latest iteration of C9 will go is next to impossible — but their potential is undeniable. The organization retained six of the seven players that they had signed in 2018, and that’s a fantastic feat considering just how well they all performed this year.

Cloud9 is, and always was, a special kind of team.

If we take a quick look at their 2018 achievements, it’s immediately clear that they’re unique in every way, shape, and form. Always have been. The fact that they’ve been able to go from tenth place in the LCS Summer Split to reaching Top 4 at Worlds is absolutely mind-boggling. It’s the kind of achievement that only Cloud9 could pull off, both due to their stellar players as well as relaxed in-house atmosphere and incredible coaching.

Cloud9’s Eric "Licorice" Ritchie won Rookie of the Split in Spring, whereas Robert "Blabber" Huang got the nod in Summer. They’re one of the only teams in the region that’s consistently been able to groom young, unproven, native NA talent into superstars. The fact that they were able to reach Worlds with a couple of rookies and just a handful of veterans is worthy of the highest praise.

But coming into 2019, they lost one of their key players — Nicolaj "Jensen" Jensen. It’s hard to imagine Jensen playing for anyone else, but after three years of wearing the iconic white and blue jersey, Nicolaj decided to change teams. It’s hard to blame him though, seeing how incredible Team Liquid looked throughout last year.

Jensen, with all of his incredible lane dominance, mechanical prowess, and mind-blowing team fighting was their pillar ever since he joined the team. He’s the kind of guy who did wonders with even the slimmest of gold leads, and if he was ahead — there was no going back. He was consistently in the Top 2 over the last three years for mid laners, and he often overshadowed his biggest adversary Søren "Bjergsen" Bjerg both in lane as well as team fights.

But one thing he was never able to attain, and that’s the part that stings the most, is an actual LCS title. Three years, six whole splits, and not a single regional trophy to his name.

This change begs the question — how will this affect Cloud9’s play?

Sure, they’ve always been able to bounce back, and seeing just how well Licorice, Blaber, and Tristan "Zeyzal" Stidam played throughout 2018 no one should be too worried. But losing a player of Jensen’s caliber, one of the best mid laners in the entire world, is quite a big hit.

Replacing him will be none other than Yasin "Nisqy" Dinçer, of Team EnVyUs and Splyce fame. Nisqy is a very solid choice, and he’s been hovering near the top of the pack for quite some time now. His laning is somewhat mediocre, but the guy can clutch things out when it matters the most — as we’ve seen numerous times before in both his North American as well as European stints.

He also hasn’t hit his peak yet, and for an incredible coach like Bok "Reapered" Han-gyu that could be his biggest asset. Molding him into a top-tier mid laner seems highly possible, especially seeing how the mid lane pool isn’t particularly deep in North America.

They lost one of their biggest performers, so it’s hard seeing Cloud9 at the very top of the region. Since they weren’t able to take down Liquid with Jensen by their side, there’s no reason as to why they should be able to do so now with a mid laner that’s inferior in every conceivable way.

That said, they absolutely have the tools at their disposal to hover within the Top 3 come Spring Split. They’ve retained a ton of their existing synergy from 2018, and Nisqy was never a guy that needed a lot of time in order to acclimate to a different team. They have the right tools at their disposal in order to make a run at the title, but they probably won’t be able to go all the way and win in the finals.

While 100 Thieves could, by all means, overtake Cloud9 in the Spring Split, the odds are stacked against them mainly because they’re entering 2019 with two big changes, so they’ll need more time in order to build synergy.

Which brings us to our number three team.

3. 100 Thieves

All things considered, 2018 was a full-blown success for 100 Thieves and their owner Matthew “Nadeshot” Haag. The Spring Split of 2018 was their inaugural split, and they managed to finish second, behind only Team Liquid. That, in itself, is an astonishing achievement. While their Summer Split run wasn’t particularly impressive, they were eventually able to clutch onto third place after beating out both FlyQuest and Echo Fox in tiebreakers.

Finishing third isn’t bad by any means, but they did so with at a very sluggish pace, often through sloppy team fighting (primarily in the late game) and indecisive shot calling.

They were able to win mostly through Kim "Ssumday" Chan-ho and his spectacular bruiser/tank play. They looked far worse in Summer than they did in Spring, and a shift in team culture/atmosphere could be the primary reason.

With William "Meteos" Hartman getting traded for FlyQuest’s Andy "AnDa" Hoang, they lost a ton of leadership and in-game shot calling — and it was evident in their play as well.

Coming into 2019, however, they made some really big changes. Two, in fact, and both of them are for the better. First of all, they swapped Ryu "Ryu" Sang-woo in favor of Choi "Huhi" Jae-hyun, of Counter Logic Gaming fame. This change, by itself, will seriously bolster the line-up and introduce a bit of consistency in the mid lane, one thing that Ryu has been lacking over the last two years.

But 100 Thieves didn’t stop there. In what was one of the more exciting roster moves of the off-season, they brought over none other than SKT T1’s AD carry — Bae "Bang" Jun-sik. That alone should get anyone excited for their upcoming Spring Split. While Bang didn’t exactly play to the best of his ability throughout 2018, he’s still an absolute powerhouse and a beast in the bottom lane.

Pair him with a legendary playmaking support in Zaqueri "Aphromoo" Black, and you get what could quite possibly be the best bottom lane in the region.

On paper, this roster is absolutely frightening. They have the potential to go blow-for-blow with Team Liquid, and no one should be surprised if we get a repeat of the 2018 Spring Split finals. They have the perfect mix of mechanical prowess, in-game leadership, shot calling as well as incredible team fighting.

The only question mark is how much time they’ll need in order to develop synergy as a five-man unit. Sometimes that can take a while, especially with a foreign player that has never played for a Western team before.

That said, this squad has the potential to make waves and perhaps even lift an LCS trophy this year.

4. Team Solo Mid

The last team that has a ton of potential is none other than the perennial LCS titans themselves — TSM. If you’re a TSM fan, 2018 was downright depressing from start to finish. It was the first year that the most established and respected North American team didn’t reach an LCS final, and the first year in the organization’s history that they didn’t go to the World Championship.

In short, the boys in black and white needed a big reset.

Fortunately, it seems as though they’ve made the right changes coming into 2019, but seeing just how hard they fell last year, it’ll take a lot of work in order to get back to the top. But if there’s a team that’s willing to practice day and night in order to prove something, it’s definitely Team Solo Mid.

They’ve made two key changes to their roster. First up, they signed a new top laner in Sergen "BrokenBlade" Çelik, a hyped young prodigy from the Turkish region, and Andy "Smoothie" Ta, one of the best and most consistent supports that the region ever produced.

These two changes could become the difference between being a strong gatekeeper, and a top-tier team that can go blow-for-blow with the very best in the region. Seeing TSM miss out on every international competition in 2018 was strange, and even though it was a breath of fresh air, it was still unfortunate seeing them struggle with each and every step.

With Smoothie in the line-up, they’re getting an incredibly strong support player that’s also able to shotcall in every stage of the game, thus lifting the burden from Bjergsen’s shoulders. It’s been quite a long while since he didn’t have to micromanage four other players, and this should “unlock” and propel him back towards the pantheon of mid laners.

Come Spring Split, TSM will actually have threats in every single lane. BrokenBlade is regarded as an absolute mechanical beast that can dominate on both fighters as well as tanks, Bjergsen is as good as they come, and Zven and Smoothie should be more than capable of competing with even the strongest NA bottom lanes.

They also signed former CLG coach Tony "Zikz" Gray, along with numerous staff upgrades, so all in all they did make the necessary changes during the off-season — we just don’t know if it'll be enough.

This roster has the potential to become Top 3, but seeing how other teams upgraded as well, giving out an overly optimistic prediction this time around is impossible. TSM has a lot to prove, and they have the right pieces of the puzzle in order to do so, but until that day comes don’t put too much faith in TSM — this wouldn’t be the first time that they failed to play up to their full potential.

Rounding Out the Playoffs

Rounding out the Top 6, we have two teams that should, by all accounts, be able to reach the playoffs without much trouble. They’re not exactly world-beaters, but they’re incredibly solid middle-of-the-pack teams that have the potential to upset. Their players have all been at the top at one point or another, and they’re all looking for redemption after an extremely lackluster 2018.

5. Counter Logic Gaming

First up, we have Counter Logic Gaming.

Their eighth-place finish in Summer last year was underwhelming, to say the least. Problem is, you could just see their potential, and at times they were able to reach it, but when it came to overcoming various hurdles in-game they were rarely able to clutch things out. All things considered, seeing them struggle so much was a strange sight considering they had a fairly strong roster without any glaring holes in their game.

Coming into 2019, they made two changes that should bring them back to playoff contention with relative ease. They retained three fifths of their line-up, promoted Raymond "Wiggily" Griffin from their Academy team, and signed former Unicorns of Love, Misfits, and OpTic Gaming mid laner Tristan "PowerOfEvil" Schrage.

These are highly welcomed changes that’ll positively impact CLG as a whole. More proactivity, a wider array of strategies, as well as an incredibly versatile and capable mid laner that was able to take SKT T1 to five games just a year ago.

While you can still point fingers and say that both Darshan "Darshan" Upadhyaya and Trevor "Stixxay" Hayes haven’t been playing well throughout 2018, they’re still veterans of the scene and they should be able to get back to their prior form.

Furthermore, the fact that they’ve signed Weldon "Weldon" Green as their head coach is definitely a step in the right direction when it comes to developing mental fortitude and resilience.

Overall, this incarnation of CLG has what it takes in order to become a very tough challenge for any LCS team.

Will the faithful finally be rewarded?

6. Golden Guardians

And lastly, rounding out our Top 6, we have the unlikeliest of candidates — Golden Guardians. You might know them because they’re owned by the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, or because of the fact that they entered LCS history as the only team that managed to end two splits in tenth place back-to-back.

That’s obviously nothing to be proud of, but at least they’re first at something.

Even though their record doesn’t show it, they were able to be somewhat competitive throughout a good portion of the split, and even upset from time to time. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough to warrant a spot anywhere near the playoffs.

Coming into 2019, the Golden Guardians had to make substantial changes if they wanted to have a chance at making a run towards the playoffs after a year of absolute mediocrity.

And against all odds, they actually managed to pull off some insanely creative signings and roster shuffles. In fact, you could argue that they’re the biggest winners of the off-season, just based off of whom they were able to sign.

Starting in the top lane, we have former Team Gravity and Team Solo Mid top laner Kevin "Hauntzer" Yarnell, they retained Juan Arturo "Contractz" Garcia in the jungle, signed legendary EU mid laner Henrik "Froggen" Hansen, and bought out Kim "Olleh" Joo-sung’s contract from Team Liquid.

With Matthew "Deftly" Chen still being their starting AD carry, the Golden Guardians will be fielding a very formidable five-man roster. They also have one thing in common — they’re all on a downward trajectory in their careers. None of these players are considered top-tier any longer, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have what it takes in order to compete at the highest level and make a solid run.

They’re all veterans in every way, shape, and form (excluding Deftly), and they still have the urge to compete. If they channell their underdog status, there’s no telling how high they can go. We all saw what happened to Dennis "Svenskeren" Johnsen once he was freed from the burden of playing for TSM.

With head coach Nick “Inero” Smith at the helm, the Golden Guardians finally have a roster that can compete and perhaps even attain success come Spring. While they probably won’t be knocking on Team Liquid’s door, do not underestimate the potential that this five-man roster has.

The Rest of the Bunch

When it comes to ranking teams beyond the Top 6, things get considerably harder. In fact, predicting how the bottom four teams will stack up against each other is downright impossible. They all have fairly similar rosters and that goes for their potential as well. They could be somewhat better than most people expect, but they won’t be able to reach the top of the LCS.

They could, however, upset when you’d least expect it, and that’s why they’re dangerous. 

If we had to rank the bottom four teams, the list would go as follows:

7. FlyQuest

FlyQuest are entering 2019 with a very solid, well-rounded roster. They won't blow anyone's mind, that's for sure, but they don't have to. With Eugene "Pobelter" Park in the mid lane, and Omran "Viper" Shoura as their new top laner, they can definitely tango with other mid-tier teams in the region. How high they'll climb remains to be seen, but they have the right coaching staff in order to make a solid run.

While the loss of head coach Brandon "Saintvicious" DiMarco will slow them down, they still have ample potential in order to hover near the playoffs, or perhaps even reach the Top 6.

8. Echo Fox

Next up, we have Echo Fox. This is a complete mindbend of a team, if there ever was one. You can see the potential outright — jungler Lee "Rush" Yoon-jae is one of the most feared, mechanically gifted junglers in the world, and Apollo "Apollo" Price and Nickolas "Hakuho" Surgent were always a surprisingly solid bottom lane duo.

But after you see Kim "Fenix" Jae-hun in the mid lane and Samson "Lourlo" Jackson in top, the hype immediately whittles down. It's not that they're bad, because they're not, they're just not synonymous with top-tier play at this point. Even though Lourlo has been playing a lot better over the last couple of years, it's still hard seeing him beating some of the top lane talent that's present in North America, and the same goes for Fenix. The stakes are higher, and there are some incredibly skilled players in every role.

That said, they could very well surprise a lot of people. This is a running theme with Echo Fox. They’ll either reach the top, or implode while trying.

At least they’ll be extremely exciting to watch, regardless of the outcome.

9. Clutch Gaming

At number nine we have Clutch Gaming. Much like Echo Fox, this is a team that has some potential, but even if we presume the most optimistic scenario, this roster shouldn't be able to crack the Top 6. Heo "Huni" Seung-hoon is still a sensational player but he's as inconsistent as ever, Nam "LirA" Tae-yoo was once regarded as a pathing genius but those days are long gone after his abysmal showing in 2018, and the rest of the roster doesn't exactly scream top-tier either.

They will almost surely be very solid, but anything better than a Top 6 or Top 7 finish would be a small miracle.

10. OpTic Gaming

And lastly, we have OpTic Gaming. When news broke out that they had signed former Samsung Galaxy mid laner Lee "Crown" Min-ho, everyone thought that this would be the year when OpTic made waves in the LCS. Unfortunately, other than signing former Cloud9 and 100 Thieves jungler William "Meteos" Hartman they didn’t do anything else worth mentioning. To be fair, it’s not like they had a lot of options, and in a way they did the best they could with what they had available.

They have a very solid three-man core with Meteos, Crown, and Noh "Arrow" Dong-hyeon. On the other hand, Niship "Dhokla" Doshi and Terry "Big" Chuong aren’t particularly bad, but they’re pale in comparison to many of their peers. Now, this team could, by all means, be ranked a bit higher, depending on how well they mesh. Arrow hasn’t been particularly dominant throughout 2018, but Meteos brings a ton of leadership and guidance in-game, which is nothing to scoff at.

But they don’t really have a win condition, nor a lane through which they can win. Crown is a highly regarded mid laner and with good reason — the guy won a World Championship in 2017, but his level of play was downright abysmal when it mattered the most in 2018, and he’s not exactly entering the upcoming Spring Split with a ton of hype, if any. If Arrow doesn’t step up then there’s no one to hard carry this team forward. They don’t have a Huni, or a Rush, nor any exceptional redeeming quality that you can really highlight.

That’s kind of the biggest problem with this roster. A lot of “okay” and “good enough”, but nothing “great”. While they might be able to perform a bit better than predicted, don’t expect to see them anywhere near the playoffs.

Verdict

This is just a preliminary power ranking based on what we’ve seen from these teams and individual players in 2018. The team that’s predicted as tenth could, by all means, finish at seventh, or perhaps even upset and reach the playoffs instead of, say, Counter Logic Gaming or the Golden Guardians.

When it comes to the middle-of-the-pack, we’re focusing on the small nuanced differences, and in competitive play that’s always an ethereal constant. You can only presume what’ll happen, but there are too many factors at play.

Furthermore, don’t forget that the LCS is played in a Best of 1 format, and that’s arguably the most volatile format there is. Just because a team is favored doesn’t mean it’ll win on a given day. It all comes down to preparation, and since almost every team is entering 2019 with a different roster they’re all playing on a level playing field.

The LCS, as a region, is known for its deviation towards the fiesta realm, especially in the beginning of a split. Teams are trying things out, they’re experimenting, and as a result unexpected outcomes become the norm, at least for a while.

Things will settle sooner rather than later, but in those first few couple of weeks you should expect absolute, unfiltered chaos from everyone involved. As always, try to watch as many games as possible because things tend to change and fluctuate on a weekly basis, and having an updated grasp on the meta and each team’s strength is for the best if you’re into betting on the LCS.

The 2019 LCS Spring Split starts on January 26th, and you can watch on both Twitch as well as YouTube.

Tournament Format

Group Stage:

Double round robin. Matches are Best-of-One.

Top six teams qualify for the Summer Playoffs.

Playoffs:

Single elimination Best-of-Five bracket. Top two teams from group stage are seeded into semifinals with the remaining four teams seeded into the quarterfinals. First placed team from group stage will select their opponent from quarterfinals.