Golden Guardians vs Team SoloMid

On paper, this is nothing more than a one-sided beatdown. How could a clash between a top-tier challenger and a bottom-tier dweller be anything else? In actuality, though, this will probably be a lot more competitive than anyone thought was possible coming into the second half of 2021.

Team SoloMid are still a championship-worthy team, but they haven't been all that consistent lately — for reasons that still elude us. They look amazing in one game and then fall flat just a day later, without any apparent reason.

Of course, it's hard to fully criticize them seeing how they're sitting on a very impressive 11W-5L record, but their play does leave a bit to be desired. They're 4W-3L in their last seven games which, to be fair, isn't all that impressive for the second-best team in North America. They're inconsistent, and their loss to Counter Logic Gaming yesterday tells the same tale as well. Their immense talent, experience, and potential mean very little if they cannot get on the same page and execute on game day. This time around they're up against the tenth-ranked Golden Guardians, but they've been doing a lot better than anyone thought was possible lately.

Moreover, their clean win over 100 Thieves yesterday tells us that they do, indeed have the tools to compete on even footing with the top dogs of the LCS — when the stars align, that is. They've brought over Licorice from FlyQuest and, despite the odds, looked downright incredible with this Cloud9 alumnuns in the top lane. It was vintage Licorice, and watching him snip his way through 100T on Gwen has been nothing short of mesmerizing. Whether they'll have a repeat performance against Team SoloMid still remains to be seen, but it's hard not to be worried if you're partial to the boys in black and white.

In any case, we'll go with TSM on this one and hope for the best. They're better, of course, but they don't always deliver when it matters most. Still, we can rightfully assume that they'll be looking to make a statement after dropping the ball against CLG, so expect a most aggressive, in sync TSM this time around.