Team SoloMid vs Cloud9

What a truly sublime way to end the postseason: Cloud9 taking on Team SoloMid is what dreams are made of and, frankly, we wouldn’t have it any other way! There’s so much on the line here, we’re really at a loss of words. There’s just a single spot at Worlds left, and the sheer fact that one of these two teams won’t be traveling to China come October is simply astounding. They had spent such obscene amounts of money mere months ago precisely to stand a shot at not only winning the LCS but also leaving a mark internationally.

And yet here they are, the “best of the rest,” competing for scraps with Team Liquid and 100 Thieves cruising on auto-pilot, seemingly better in every regard. It’s tough being a C9/TSM fan at this point and, needless to say, things could only get worse depending on how this upcoming Best of 5 unravels.

Be that as it may, we love high stakes Best of 5s, and it doesn’t get any more “high stakes” than this.

Who’ll win, however, is anyone’s guess. Team SoloMid had looked a lot better throughout the regular portion of the split, but have, in fact, slowed down a bit as the playoffs came around. Conversely, the opposite happened with Cloud9. They were pretty darn dreadful for what felt like an eternity before upping the pace and delivering once things shifted to the Best of 5 format.

Their 3-0 wins over the Golden Guardians and Evil Geniuses have cemented their place as one of the best and most capable teams in North America, but that doesn’t mean they’ll be able to lock down a spot at Worlds — Team SoloMid know darn well what needs to be done (and in what fashion) to get the “W” over the boys in black and blue, and it’s fair to say that we’ll witness an insanely competitive affair that’ll be determined by the slimmest of margins.

Team SoloMid have generally been a fair bit better whenever they faced off with Cloud9, and that’s the general vibe here as well. They might not be better per se, but their win conditions are a lot more pronounced and they haven’t made nearly as many mistakes as their (equally as revered) peers. Now, in all fairness, this doesn’t have to mean much once they take the stage to compete, but it’s definitely something to keep in mind.

In the end, we’ll give TSM the nod on this one but it’s worth mentioning that it could really go either way. In any case, expect a hectic, skirmish-heavy Best of 5 that’s all but guaranteed to go the distance. Both teams will fight their hearts out and if you have the time, definitely make sure to tune In!