As of the time of posting, the “Losers Bracket” finals have not been played. In that Final Evil Geniuses will play FlyQuest. FlyQuest and Evil Geniuses met in the first round of the playoffs. The series ended with Evil Geniuses advancing with a 3-1 win. This series will more likely than have the same result. But anything can and will happen, so here is a preview of both playing Cloud9 is necessary.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 3: — during 2020 LCS Spring Split at the LCS Arena on February 3, 2020 in Los Angeles, California, USA.. (Photo by Paul de Leon/Riot Games)
FlyQuest has had the honor of not having to play Cloud9 in nearly two months. In that time they haven’t exactly taken advantage of this, finishing the season 2-5 in the seven games after playing Cloud9. They avoided Cloud9 in the first round of the playoffs, by Cloud9 selecting to play 100 Thieves. After losing to Evil Geniuses 3-1, FlyQuest swept Golden Guardians 3-0 and then emerged from a great series with TSM after the full 5 games played. This rematch looks to be no different that their previous game, with Evil Geniuses as the expected winner.
But if FlyQuest manages to soar passed Evil Geniuses, they will face a difficult uphill climb against Cloud9. In order for FlyQuest to challenge Cloud9, not only do they have to play a near-perfect game but they have to punish any small mistakes Cloud9 makes. FlyQuest has to play Colin “Solo” Earnest in both series to win. He gives the team the best chance to win, he was crucial in their sole win against Evil Geniuses in the first round. Unleashing IgNar is a must as well, allowing him to roam and engage at will allows the rest of the team to not fall behind.
This series will feature a chess match between the two supports. It is highly unlikely the results of this match will show on the scoreboard, however following each support will prove the importance of this chess match.
Lee “IgNar” Dong-geun is of utmost importance in a series against Cloud9. He has the ability to temper Cloud9’s aggression and counter it with plays across the map. Expect to see Blitzcrank, Rakan and possibly Thresh banned by Cloud9 in an attempt to take IgNar out of the game.
Philippe “Vulcan” Laflamme may well be the most important Cloud9 player if this series comes to fruition. All other roles are heavily Cloud9 favored, but FlyQuest support IgNar will look to at least try to control Cloud9’s lane advantages. Anticipate Vulcan to roam more than ever, creating advantages and ensuring leads around the map.
Prediction – Cloud9 3-1
Evil Geniuses Roster via @EvilGeniuses on Twitter
These two teams played one week prior with Cloud9 winning 3-1. Bae “Bang” Jun-sik of Evil Geniuses was the reason for their one win and will play a big part if Evil Geniuses wants to take down Cloud9. That being said, the most likely results is 3-1 again or even 3-0 as Cloud9 knows to shut down Bang as early as possible.
Once again, Daniele “Jiizuke” Di Mauro is the wildcard. He can carry just as easily as he can feed. Last week Yasin “Nisqy” Dincer did a great job controlling Jiizuke’s play and forcing him on to his comfort picks. Jiizuke has over 15 games played on each of Ekko, Zoe and Ryze which may seem low, but they account for nearly a third of his career games played. Even with those picks Nisqy handed him the loss.
Bot lane is going to be the interesting one for this series. The reason for Evil Geniuses beating Cloud9 was an amazing Aphelios game by Bang. He found his groove early on Aphelios and just ran away with the game. Cloud9 was unable to catch Bang in any teamfights as he prevailed deathless for the game.
In their last series Evil Geniuses top laner Colin “Kumo” Zhao struggled to keep Licorice in check. He played tanks in 3 of the 4 games with the outlier being a 2/6/0 Aatrox game. This series will be no different with Kumo most likely going back to tank duty. He will attempt to not lose his lane super hard, provide an adequate front line and possibly counter to some of Cloud9’s picks. Kumo’s Game 3 and 4 were both Poppy games, with the purpose of countering Licorice’s Aatrox dash.
Licorice will have free reign over the map because Kumo will be building defensive items. Couple that with Licorice’s proficiency on carries means his influence will be felt map-wide. Expect Licorice and the rest of Cloud9 to continue their aggression knowing top lane will be safe without Licorice there.
Prediction – Cloud9 3-1
Whoever wins will more likely than not lose to Cloud9. There’s a reason the whole 1st All-LCS Team was Cloud9 and the 3 Finalist for Split MVP were also on Cloud9. They are the best team in the league and will demonstrate that on April 18. FlyQuest making the Finals will just add to a great storyline for FlyQuest, but will produce a somewhat boring series. Tristan “PowerOfEvil” Schrage will challenge Nisqy in the mid lane but FlyQuest will lose the other lanes and their jungle. Evil Geniuses will challenge Cloud9 more than FlyQuest would and more importantly, produce better memes.
Jiizuke’s career stats can be found here
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