2022 LCS Championship Upper Bracket Round 2: 100T And C9 Qualify For Worlds

This past week, the 2022 League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) Championship decided on two of the three teams it will send off for the 2022 League of Legends World Championship. They will be 100 Thieves and Cloud9.

During the second round of the upper bracket, both 100 Thieves and Cloud9 showed off some stellar play. On the Thieves' side, the team showcased why they are one of the top dogs in the LCS ever since they won their first LCS title with their stellar victory over Team Liquid. While Cloud9 completely turned around expectations when they defeated Evil Geniuses.

With that in mind, here's how the second round of the upper bracket in the 2022 LCS Championship went.

100 Thieves Show Championship-Level Resilience Against North American Super Team, Team Liquid

Ever since the 2021 LCS Championship win, 100 Thieves have looked like one of the teams to beat in the league. With a strong roster from top to bottom that's filled with clutch players and a strong foundation in their coaching staff, getting a best-of-series win over them was seemingly impossible. This was until they met a red-hot surging Evil Geniuses earlier in this year's Spring Split where it was all thrown out the window, where they suffered a record-breaking defeat in the finals.

Since then the Thieves have had their eyes set on revenge, one that isn't just a "we want our championship back" but more of a "we want to show why we are still one of, if not the best team in the region." Possibly stopping that was North America's super team, Team Liquid. A team built with proven skilled veterans that were determined to take the league by storm, coming with high expectations. 

It was the team looking to acclaim their glory once again versus the one looking to achieve it and the series showcased that to its limits.

In what was perhaps the most entertaining LCS playoff series in quite some time, both 100 Thieves and Team Liquid pushed each other to the brink. Through games one and two, the Thieves dominated every step of the way, showcasing precise control of their opponents with superior late-game team fighting, setting themselves up for a sweep. However, for games three and four, Team Liquid adjusted, and they adjusted hard off the backs of Soren "Bjergsen" Bjerg's Zilean and Gabriel "Bwipo" Rau's Sett, pushing it to an all-deciding final and fifth game.

Staring at a possible reverse sweep, the Thieves' had to bring out their ultimate weapon, one that was crucial to their 2021 LCS Championship title run - Can "Closer" Celik's Lee Sin. With the Blind Monk in his hands, 100 Thieves' jungler was unstoppable, pulling off some of the most impossible Insec kicks to swing the tide, and alter seal their win.

With this loss, Team Liquid will now face the split's surprise performer, Counter Logic Gaming in the second round of the lower bracket. Loser goes home, winner moves on to face the winner between Team SoloMid and Evil Geniuses.

Cloud9 Shock A Seemingly Sluggish Evil Geniuses, Punch Their Ticket To Worlds

Against all odds, Clould9 took a page out of 100 Thieves' book and pulled off a heist of their own after they defeated the reigning LCS champions, Evil Geniuses.

Going into this series, into this LCS Championship, Evil Geniuses were undoubtedly the favourites. After dominating the 2022 Summer Split clean, only suffering three losses, they were poised to take part in another LCS finals versus 100 Thieves.

To start off the 2022 LCS Championship bracket, the Geniuses gave themselves a well-earned first playoff bye, allowing them to take a step back, and watch all of the other teams duke it out. One of these teams that they watched was Cloud9, one that, after Team Liquid dominated FlyQuest, Evil Geniuses themselves hand-picked to face.

The series started with a statement victory from Cloud9, one that had the team boast a near-perfect performance. From then on, apart from game three, it was outright superior play from one of the league's dynasties, leading to a series victory.

With this loss, Evil Geniuses will now face off against Team SoloMid in the second round of the lower bracket. The loser goes home, winner moves on to face the winner between Team Liquid and Counter Logic Gaming.

As for Cloud9, they will face 100 Thieves in the upper bracket semifinals. The winner clinches a spot in the grand finals while the loser will await the winner of the matches mentioned above.