The LCS Lock In started last week, giving us our first glimpses of the best NA Teams for 2022. After the first week of play, Cloud9 and Evil Geniuses are the two teams left undefeated, but we have seen that plenty of teams have the potential for an upset.
The Lock In Tournament is the start of the NA spring season for 2022, bringing the ten LCS teams for a two-week tournament that lasts for the latter half of January. The event begins with a four-day preliminary stage, where the teams will be separated in two groups of five playing a single round robin. The top four teams of each group will be seeded into a playoff bracket, with the eventual final taking place on January 30th with bragging rights and $150K on the line.
Cloudy Skies Above
After the first three days, Cloud9 is the only team left undefeated in this group, but they have yet to play the other favorite - 100 Thieves. Despite some very impressive victories, the 2021 summer champions dropped a game to a surprisingly dedicated FlyQuest on the third day, while C9 managed to stay in charge throughout their games. This leaves FlyQuest third with an extra game over TSM - both teams have lost two matches, but the green team has played four and won two. Golden Guardians, meanwhile, had their moments but overall looked far too sloppy and disjointed. They can still make it to fourth place if they defeat TSM in their last game, but so far it’s looking rough.
When You're Evil
We expected Evil Geniuses to do fairly well in that group, but we did not expect them to do that well. The team had a close game with the initial favorites Team Liquid, but as time went on their mid-game execution proved superior. Outside of this game, both TL and EG looked quite impressive. Counter Logic Gaming and Dignitas showed a few good moments, but they looked overwhelmed against the two favorites. The biggest losers of the group so far are Immortals, who came close several times but ended up losing time and again as the games went on. Perhaps the team would look stronger with time - but with a 0-3 score and a last match against Team Liquid, their time is running out.
Read More:
- LEC Superweek Ends with Wins for Rogue, Fnatic
- LCS Lock In | Schedule, Teams & More
- Cloud9 Completes 2022 LCS Roster
The Lock In tournament resumes on Saturday, January 22nd. Make sure to join our Discord server to let us know what your favorite LCS team is and how you think they will do!