What we learned from the second weekend of LCS

Week 2 of the League of Legends Championship Series in North America saw teams like 100 Thieves and Cloud9 rise to the top, while FlyQuest and Team Liquid had varied success. There were not many roster changes heading into the second weekend of the LCS – outside of Team Liquid confirming Barney “Alphari” Morris will not be returning until the end of June – which means teams are past any ‘honeymoon’ stage they may have been in before.

The overall standings continue to shift too, with TSM losing their first-place title after going 1-2 during Week 2. Cloud9 has resumed their position at the top after going undefeated, and 100 Thieves is close on everyone’s heels after having the best win/loss record in the summer split so far.

100 Thieves are the best team in the league

After an uncharacteristic loss to Immortals in their debut game of the LCS summer split, 100 Thieves has swiftly recovered. They opened this weekend by taking down an undefeated TSM who looked lost against the Thieves. 100 Thieves also overcame possible upsets by defeating Golden Guardians and Evil Geniuses to move to 16-8 overall.

.@100Thieves take the W and go 3-0 on the week! #LCS pic.twitter.com/3JT24G3uqS

— LCS (@LCSOfficial) June 14, 2021

With the entire first weekend filled with Felix “Abbedagge” Braun on Karma, the European mid laner showed that he was not just a one-trick. Abbedagge easily smoked his opponents by playing more aggressive mid-lane champions like Akali and Orianna. Across the LCS, 100 Thieves has the best summer split win/loss record at 5-1. They have confidentially closed out their games and appear to be unstoppable against the top teams in the league.

Cloud9 are finally back

Cloud9 looked like a shell of their former selves after coming back from the Mid-Season Invitational. They made the controversial decision to bench Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen for rookie Calvin “k1ng” Truong. After going 1-2 in the opening weekend, they have finally recovered to go undefeated in Week 2 of the LCS.

Stealth Mission: FAILED ⚠@Cloud9 march onto the Nexus! #LCS pic.twitter.com/m5Sjjlh5kT

— LCS (@LCSOfficial) June 13, 2021

The team is gelling with k1ng now that they have had more practice time with him, and it’s certainly showing. Cloud9 closed out their games against FlyQuest and CLG while also besting an impressive-looking Dignitas. With a 3-0 weekend under their belts, Cloud9 has also regained their first place position in the standings.

Team Liquid experiencing growing pains in second weekend of the LCS

Team Liquid has not recovered from losing most of their original superstar roster with Jake “Xmithie” Puchero, Peter “Doublelift” Peng and Jeong “Impact” Eon-young. With teams like TSM, Cloud9, and 100 Thieves rapidly improving, Team Liquid’s legacy has faded into the background. The same can be said during the 2021 summer split after they benched Alphari after their first loss of the season. They have fallen to fourth place in the standings and seemingly struggle against teams they should be beating.

QUADRA KILL!!! @BobjenkinsLoL #LCS pic.twitter.com/SEj0bhibF4

— LCS (@LCSOfficial) June 13, 2021

Evil Geniuses, TSM, and Cloud9 have all taken down the Lock In tournament champions. At 3-3 overall in the LCS so far, there is room for Team Liquid to improve as a team. They are still experiencing growing pains with the newest addition Thomas “Jenkins” Tran, who could leave the squad at the end of June. What Team Liquid may need is consistency in their roster which they should have during Week 3. They play FlyQuest, CLG, and Golden Guardians – who are all in the bottom half of the standings – which may spell an easier third weekend for the team.