It’s do or die for Cloud9 and Evil Geniuses in the lower bracket of the 2022 LCS Spring Split playoff as the two teams face off in a best-of-five for further advancement in the bracket.
Both teams had a rough start to the playoffs in the upper bracket, with C9 taking a 0-3 loss against 100 Thieves while EG made it close against Team Liquid but ultimately fell short. After that, the teams redeemed themselves in the first round of the lower bracket by taking down Golden Guardians and FlyQuest respectively.
Based on regular-split performances, C9 should be the clear favorite in this match. But after how the playoffs have developed, it seems like this could go in either direction and become a close series. The winner will be decided based on who is showing up on the day and can do the preparation needed. Both teams have struggled to find consistency and a real grasp on the current meta.
Top laners in focus between C9 and EG in the LCS playoffs
Leading up to this match, C9 top laner Park “Summit” Woo-tae has struggled to find success and play his style against the playoff opponents that C9 has faced. This was especially clear against 100 Thieves, where the Korean top laner was shut down completely.
In C9’s series against Golden Guardians, Summit started to find momentum once again but is still not looking like the potential MVP candidate that he was during the regular split. This has put a lot of focus on the C9 top lane as it has proven to be a crucial point of success for the team.
For this match, Summit will go up against Jeong “Impact” Eon-young in what is always a tough matchup. Impact is a true veteran and has been in pressure situations countless times. EG probably expects Summit to play his aggressive style, which could mean that EG jungler Kacper “Inspired” Sloma will be spending a lot of time at the top of the map.
In Summit’s case, he wants to be careful not to play overly aggressive as it seems that teams in the LCS are finally starting to figure out how to punish him. Instead, Summit could fall back on a scaling pick such as Gangplank, which he succeeded with against Golden Guardians.
If Summit turns up to play like everyone knows he can, then Impact may struggle in lane. But if Summit struggles to find momentum, EG will be more than capable of punishing him. So far this playoff, EG seems to have the better team coordination and that could be a huge advantage when facing C9, who tend to play off of their individual strengths.
Cloud9 vs. Evil Geniuses rosters
Cloud9 roster:
- Top – Park “Summit” Woo-tae
- Jungle – Robert “Blaber” Huang
- Mid – Ibrahim “Fudge” Allami
- Bot – Kim “Berserker” Min-cheol
- Support – Jonah “Isles” Rosario / Kim “Winsome” Dong-keon
Evil Geniuses roster:
- Top – Jeong “Impact” Eon-young
- Jungle – Kacper “Inspired” Sloma
- Mid – Joseph “jojopyun” Pyun
- Bot – Kyle “Danny” Sakamaki
- Support – Philippe “Vulcan” Laflamme
C9 the betting favorite against EG despite recent struggles
Even though C9 went down hard against 100 Thieves, the team is considered a big betting favorite against EG according to bookmakers. C9 is coming off a flawless win against Golden Guardians, but on paper EG should be a much harder opponent. This was proven when EG took Liquid to all five games, which confirmed that EG has improved since the regular split and is more comfortable in a best-of-five setting.
This sets up the match for some interesting betting opportunities, as value can be found for those that believe EG might pull this off. It’s definitely a risk to go with an EG win, but we believe that it has better value than going with lower odds on C9. It’s also an option to bet on individual games played in the series, as it could go to all five games based on the way these teams have played thus far.
Going with C9 to advance further in the playoff will grant odds of 1.46 while EG is at much higher odds of 2.52. C9 is the best team on paper and can pop off at any time, but with these odds, it seems that EG is worth the risk.
The battle for LCS playoff advancement between Cloud9 and Evil Geniuses will go down on Sunday, April 17.
