Few teams have cemented themselves as top contenders in North America's League of Legends preseason tournament. In Group B, Evil Geniuses (EG) and Team Liquid (TL) have both looked far and away the better sides, although Counter Logic Gaming (CLG) has also been putting up impressive results in LCS Lock-In. Securing first and second seed, respectively, EG and TL will be looking to continue their dominant streak as they face off against Group A's teams in the playoffs bracket.
Evil Geniuses, Team Liquid outclassed Group B teams at Lock-In
Even before the final day of the LCS Lock-In group stage, the results for Group B had been pretty much decided. EG had handed TL's superteam their sole loss of the tournament to remain as the only undefeated team in the group thus far. This meant that even if TL won their final game and went 3-1—and they did, stomping Immortals (IMT) earlier today—and if EG lost to Dignitas (DIG) in the closing game, EG would still get the top seed because they had the head-to-head advantage.
Of course, this scenario didn't unfold, as EG have just been looking way too good in preseason. Despite having a bit of fun and limit-testing in their final game, the squad stamped their presence all over the map, taking the objectives early to secure a sub-30-minute victory. Never really looking troubled by their opponents, except for the 50-minute thriller against TL earlier on, Evil Geniuses have shown why they are the team-to-beat this Lock-In, still sporting an undefeated streak heading into playoffs.
Head-to-heads decided LCS Lock-In standings
Using head-to-head matchups to decide tiebreaker scenarios also meant that if TL had lost and gone 2-2, they still would find themselves in the same position, because they had the advantage over CLG. And hypothetically, if DIG had taken down EG, their 2-2 record wouldn't have catapulted them to third, since CLG holds the head-to-head over them.
It's a convenient way to decide on the seeding results for Lock-In playoffs, although perhaps a little disappointing because the fans might have enjoyed seeing their teams play more, even if it is just preseason. After all, tiebreakers have always paved the way for some spicy games in the LCS.
A similar case unfolded in Group A, with 100 Thieves and Cloud9 topping the standings, with both having 3-1 records. But 100T's crucial win over C9 on the final day meant that they won the head-to-head and secured the first seed out of groups. As Golden Guardians put one in the win column with a victory over TSM, they tied up their win-loss record and effectively snatched the playoffs berth away from TSM. IMT, meanwhile, had a poor showing as the only LCS team to go winless in Lock-In groups.
When the LCS Lock-In knockout stage kicks off, Evil Geniuses will face off against Golden Guardians, while Team Liquid matches up against FlyQuest. 100 Thieves will take on Dignitas, whereas Cloud9 get to test the metal of Counter Logic Gaming. The brackets also make it such that TL and 100T cannot both be finalists; if they win their respective quarterfinals series, they'll meet each other in the semi-finals—a huge test for Liquid's superteam.
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