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3 Takeaways for Team Liquid from Mid Season Showdown Round 1

by Thomas Baker
Team Liquid plays against Cloud9 in Round 2 of the Mid Season Showdown.

The LCS entered the Mid Season Showdown this past weekend, as the top six teams fight their way towards the title. Team Liquid and TSM kicked things off in the winner’s bracket, alongside Cloud9 and 100 Thieves. Team Liquid and Cloud9 came away with the victories, while TSM and 100 Thieves fall to the loser’s bracket with Dignitas and Evil Geniuses. Winning the next series could send Team Liquid straight to the Finals. Here are 3 Takeaways from Mid Season Showdown Round 1.

[Related: 3 Takeaways for Team Liquid from Spring Split Week 6]

Team Liquid May Be Able to Win Without Tactical at 100%

Tactical has been the main focus of criticism for Team Liquid for the last couple of weeks. The bottom laner has certainly brought negative attention onto himself through poor positioning and decision-making which has cost Liquid to lose leads and lose games. Some of those moments played out in this series versus TSM, but, surprisingly, TSM were unable to capitalize enough to take the series.

Based on the other teams’ performances, Tactical’s woes may not even matter. Team Liquid played out some generally strong wins. They showed champion diversity, early lane control, and better objective control. The other top three teams all looked comparatively weaker in their Round 1 games. Spica and Closer made some unfortunate errors and lacked early presence.100 Thieves clearly lacks team coordination and vision. Meanwhile, even Team Liquid’s drafting seems better than the pack. As long as all the teams are suffering blunders, Tactical’s issues will not matter at the moment.

Jensen won Player of the Series versus TSM


Jensen won Player of the Series versus TSM

Jensen is Online

If this was the Jensen audiences saw during the regular season, then he would have won 1st Team All-Pro no problem. He expanded his champion pool, as mentioned as a weakness previously. The Everforst Ahri, Sylas and Twisted Fate open up so many more possibilities for strategies and drafts for Team Liquid, which they can build on leading into their matchup versus Cloud9.
On top of the extended champion pool, Jensen also just showed up in a huge way. He played a critical role in their wins, moving around the map with dashes and teleports. Jensen even started to get fed on Sylas in TL’s loss. He was cleaning up fights and turning them less in TSM’s favor. He outshined PowerOfEvil, which won Jensen Player of the Series. With Perkz named Player of the Series versus 100 Thieves, this mid-lane matchup should deliver in a big way in the next stage.

Waiting Until April 3rd Sucks

The way Mid-Season Showdown is set up, Team Liquid do not face Cloud9 until April 3. Fans have to wait two weeks to see them play again. While TSM versus Evil Geniuses and 100 Thieves versus Dignitas will be exciting to watch, most will anxiously await Round 2. It’s the trade-off for having a double-elimination bracket.

If Team Liquid win versus Cloud9, then fans will wait another week to see them play in the Finals. This format really drags the whole competition out. It helps build hype, but it also helps lose it throughout the week. It feels so slow compared to the regular season, where all LCS teams played three nights per week. Team Liquid gets two weeks to prepare, but the audience gets two weeks of anticipation.

Stay Connected

Image from LoL Esports’ Twitter

Listen to The Liquid Lowdown Episode 6: https://www.spreaker.com/user/10719087/liquidlowdown6

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