Over the course of the last three weeks, many League of Legends fans and analysts have been calling the 2023 LCS Spring Split one of the most competitive seasons in North America’s history.
The region has opened up to a plethora of contenders, dark horse candidates, and different superstars making a name for themselves with incredible performances to remember. As the league reaches the halfway mark of the season, however, teams must look at this week as a pivot point where they can make or break their chances at a postseason appearance.
If a team is able to maintain their momentum into the second half of the season, they could make a dramatic upswing into the upper echelons of the league’s best. But first, they must make a stand in this unique, three-day set of matches starting on Wednesday, Feb. 15.
Here are the best storylines to watch during the first LCS superweek of the year.
Was the CLG hype too soon?
When the first week flew by with CLG at the top of the standings, many people were already heralding this young, up-and-coming roster as a dark horse challenger for the playoffs. The org’s League staff made the decision to stick with its 2022 roster, and it seemed to pay off with big wins against Team Dignitas and Evil Geniuses.
Two weeks later, however, CLG have struggled to connect the dots after a horrendous four-game slide with consecutive losses to Cloud9, Immortals, Golden Guardians, and TSM. Compared to their first week, the team’s early games haven’t been nearly as close, with their second and third week average gold difference at 15 minutes near the bottom of the standings, according to League stats aggregate Oracle’s Elixir.
This coming week won’t be any easier, with matches against Team Liquid, 100 Thieves, and FlyQuest, who are all top teams in the league today. If they fail to win a single game, they’ll fall to an abysmal 2-7 record, which is a deep hole that would take plenty of effort to climb out of.
Breaking up the second-place soup
There are also two three-way ties in the league at the top and bottom of the standings. But after this coming weekend, we could see this amalgamation of squads break apart. For example, 100T and EG will finally meet for the first time while Team Liquid and C9 are colliding, which should provide some separation at the peak of the mountain.
Meanwhile, Golden Guardians, CLG, and Immortals are all awaiting their fate with 2-4 records, but the latter two are heading into some of the toughest schedules yet. With games against the top three teams in the LCS, Golden Guardians are poised to make a break for a possible top-six position this weekend, especially after gaining a good amount of momentum by winning their last two games.
Following this weekend, fans should see some teams break away from the pack and establish themselves as true contenders, while other squads are forced to claw their way back into the playoff picture as the second half of the split begins.
Is FlyQuest the best team in the West?
If watching Prince meet his childhood hero Doublelift didn’t melt your heart, then maybe this will spark a fire in your competitive soul: FlyQuest could be the best team in Western League.
After three weeks, the popular organization has yet to lose a game and is powering up toward one of the most dominant showings in the region’s history. They’ve also crushed Cloud9, 100T, and EG in their first meetings of the year, making it well-known that they are the kings of the region—and they don’t even have their starting support in the lineup yet.
They might not have overwhelmingly strong early-game play, but they do have the strongest mid-to-late game transitions in the league, along with some of the most talented individuals in most of their roles. FlyQuest’s jungler Spica even told Dot Esports this roster still has plenty of work to do to improve their team play, which should be a scary thought for most opponents who might face an even better version of this team in the future.
Whether you’re looking at their upstart mid lane prospect VicLa, their reliably strong top-jungle veteran duo of Impact and Spica, or Prince—who many consider the best ADC in NA—this team is already sitting at the top of the mountain with their eyes set on the stars.
