The way Team Liquid is playing, the No. 1 seed in the League Championship Series Summer Split playoffs may be decided before the final week of the regular season even begins.
Though it was a little more difficult than usual, Liquid picked up another win on Saturday, beating Shopify Rebellion 2-1 to improve to 5-0 in the standings. In Saturday’s other match, LYON swept Cloud 9.
The LCS Summer Split is an eight-team event that began July 25 and will run through the finals in October. The seven-week round-robin regular season — in which all teams play each other once in a best-of-three match — will set the field for the six-team playoffs.
The top two teams in the regular season will advance to the playoff semifinals, while the third- through sixth-place teams will advance to the quarters. The bottom two teams in the standings are eliminated.
The playoffs, which run Sept. 12 through Oct. 4, are best-of-five and double elimination. The top three teams will advance to the World Championship, played in New York, Los Angeles and Allen, Texas, from Oct. 15 through Nov. 14.
After winning their first four matches in sweeps, Liquid dropped their first map against Shopify, losing in 36 minutes. But Liquid rebounded to win the next two maps in 28 and 36 minutes.
Sean “Yeon” Sung led Liquid with a 16/6/12 kill/death/assist ratio while South Korean Jo “CoreJJ” Yong-in posted 35 assists in the win.
In the second match, LYON dominated from the get-go, winning in 47 and 35 minutes, respectively.
In the balanced effort, Park “Thanatos” Seung-gyu of South Korea, Edward “Tactical” Ra and Lee “Loki” Sang-min of South Korea each averaged at least two kills per map.
Liquid next plays LYON and a win would lock up the top spot for Liquid. A LYON win would suddenly create a tie atop the standings at 5-1.
Sunday matches
–LYON vs. Team Liquid
–Cloud9 vs. Shopify Rebellion
LCS Summer Split Standings
Place, Team (Match Record, Map Record)
1. Team Liquid (5-0, 10-1)
2. LYON (4-1, 9-2)
3. Sentinels (4-2, 9-6)
T4. Shopify Rebellion (3-2, 7-6)
T4. Cloud9 (3-2, 6-6)
6. FlyQuest (2-4, 4-8)
7. Disguised (1-5, 3-10)
8. Dignitas (0-6, 3-12)
–Field Level Media
