by After two months of action, we finally know which six teams will enter the LCS Summer Split playoffs and continue fighting for a ticket to the LoL World Championship.
With countless close-fought battles, upset wins and exciting matches, the tournament has lived up to its billing as one of the most exciting Leagues of Legends esports events in the world.
Let’s look at how our finalists performed throughout the season and their chances going forward, along with the latest LoL odds from the best esports betting sites.
Team Liquid
It would be hard to imagine the LCS playoffs without Team Liquid, who secured their ticket only seven weeks into the summer split.
Liquid did not have the best start, suffering two defeats in the opening fortnight, but they took off in week three and never looked back.
TL finished top of the LCS Summer Split ladder with a dominant 14-4 record to progress straight to the semi-finals, where they will choose which of the quarter-final winners they wish to face.
Cloud9
Joining Team Liquid in the semi-finals are Cloud9, who stayed in the top three throughout the whole split despite some shaky patches.
As one of the elite three teams in North America, C9 enter every event with high expectations. The upcoming playoffs are no exception.
Led by a team of experienced players and coaches, they will look to make the most of their first appearance in the playoffs since the 2018 LCS Summer Split.
Counter Logic Gaming
CLG’s return to the North American elite has come as a welcome surprise as they look to reach their first semi-finals since the summer of 2017.
Whether their run to the playoffs is a fluke or a sign of future greatness will be answered in detail on August 10, when they take on OpTic Gaming in the quarter-finals.
Online bookmakers seem to agree that Counter Logic (-250) are the favourites to defeat OpTic (+175), which is more than fair when you consider CLG’s super form towards the end of the split.
Team SoloMid
To say the LCS Spring Split finalists looked weak at points throughout the summer would be an understatement, with some analysts even expressing their concern about Team SoloMid’s chances of reaching the playoffs.
They did enough to finish fourth, however, and set up a quarter-final clash with Clutch Gaming, who TSM defeated twice in the course of the summer season.
That fixture heavily favours TSM (-357.14), as there is little to suggest CG (+250) can overthrow their star-filled opposition in a best-of-three environment.
Clutch Gaming
We have to give Clutch Gaming a round of applause for their performance this split.
After starting at the bottom and looking like one of the weakest teams in the LCS, they fought their way to the top six with an impressive 3-1 run in last two weeks.
CG now face their toughest test of the split in the quarter-finals, where they will hope for a repeat of their playoff win over TSM in spring 2018.
OpTic Gaming
OpTic Gaming fought a long and hard battle to reach the playoffs, surviving an up-and-down season to finish in a three-way tie for sixth place with Golden Guardians and 100 Thieves.
OpTic then defeated both of those teams with solid performances in the tiebreaker round, thus earning a spot in the playoffs for the first time in the team’s history.
Sadly, this is where OpTic’s journey will most likely end, as Counter Logic Gaming will take no prisoners when the two sides meet on August 11.
LCS Summer 2019 quarter-final predictions
CLG to defeat OpTic – -250 at BetOnline
TSM to defeat Clutch – -357.14
