Team Liquid crowned inaugural LCS Lock In champions: final placements & recap

Team Liquid have been crowned the first-ever LCS Lock In champions, holding off Cloud9 in an epic 2021 decider that went the distance, and pocketing the preseason tournament’s winner-take-all $150,000 prize in the process. Here’s how all the action unfolded.

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• Liquid win $150,000 as first-ever LCS Lock In champions
• Cloud9 nearly pulled off weekend’s second reverse sweep in five-game series
• New Liquid top laner Alphari named MVP in the preseason grand final

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LCS Lock In: Final placements

LCS Lock In 2021, the North American league’s first-ever preseason tournament, boasted a rich winner-takes-all $150,000 prize pool.

LCS Lock In 2021: Results & recap

Groups Day 1: Friday, January 15

Perkz’s Cloud9 debut doesn’t go as planned

The first day of LCS Lock In action didn’t go as planned for Luka ‘Perkz’ Perkovic and Cloud9, losing their first match of 2021 to Evil Geniuses. His 4/7/2 performance on Yone disappointed many, as Deftly shone on Kai’Sa.

100 Thieves’ new roster got off to a strong start against TSM, while CLG are 0-2 in 2021, losing to both TL and the rookie Golden Guardians lineup. Although they are without Broxah and Finn, the team failed to live up to their legacy.

Groups Day 2: Saturday, January 16

Evil Geniuses remain flawless at Lock In

After 100 Thieves fell down to a weakened CLG, Evil Geniuses remain the only undefeated team at Lock In. Their win against Immortals was dominant off the back of another great performance from Deftly and IgNar in bot.

Cloud9 came back strong after their disappointing loss to Evil Geniuses against FlyQuest with a near-perfect game, only losing one tower. TSM (against Golden Guardians) and Immortals (against Dignitas) also posted wins.

Groups Day 3: Sunday, January 17

Evil Geniuses overtake Liquid to claim ‘favorites’ mantle

Evil Geniuses have extended their undefeated streak to the end of the opening weekend, defeating Dignitas to secure a 3-0 record. Their lead was helped along by a 100 Thieves upset win over Liquid, with Can ‘Closer’ Çelik and Victor ‘FBI’ Huang dictating the mid-game in their team’s second win.

On the other end of the spectrum, Counter Logic Gaming has become the first team eliminated from playoff contention early on Day 2.

The roster — which is missing Finn ‘Finn’ Wiestål and Mads ‘Broxah’ Brock-Pedersen due to visa issues — were punted after losing to arch-rivals TSM in a back and forth battle. Their 1-3 record leaves them without a chance to make finals.

Groups Day 4: Friday, January 22

Evil Geniuses, 100 Thieves finish on top in groups

The LCS Lock In 2021 playoffs have been decided, with Evil Geniuses and 100 Thieves getting the best of the bunch by finishing on top. It didn’t come easy though, with EG losing their first game of the event against FlyQuest.

FlyQuest made a huge resurgence with two wins to get off the bottom of Group B and make playoffs, all thanks to the debut of jungler Josedeodo. CLG and Dignitas failed to make the cut.

Quarterfinals Day 1: Saturday, January 23

100 Thieves breeze through, Cloud9 reverse sweep TSM

The first set of Lock In quarterfinals was a breeze for 100 Thieves, who faced off against an Immortals playing their full Academy roster. Support Choi ‘huhi’ Jae-hyun (0/1/12 on Rakan and 1/4/20 on Alistar) and jungler Can ‘Closer’ Celik shone as 100T (5/2/2 on Nidalee and 12/2/13 on Graves) just outclassed IMT.

The other series wasn’t smooth sailing for Cloud9 though. They dropped the first game against TSM, before running it back in Games 2 and 3 to get the win.

Quarterfinals Day 2: Sunday, January 24

Team Liquid, Evil Geniuses in control in lopsided top 8 battles

Two of the Lock In favorites, Team Liquid and Evil Geniuses, were in control as they blew past Golden Guardians and FlyQuest respectively in two-game matches on Sunday. Impact shone again for EG (5/1/7 on Renekton, 3/1/12 on Gragas) while CoreJJ was crucial for TL, the event’s final semifinalists.

The 2-0 losses end promising tournaments for both Golden Guardians and FlyQuest, both of whom are relying on young rosters in 2021.

Semi-finals Day 1: Friday, January 29

Cloud9 pull off the reverse sweep against 100 Thieves

100 Thieves looked wrapped for a 3-0, but Cloud9 pulled together a gusty effort to get the reverse sweep and booking a spot in the LCS Lock In final. Luka ‘Perkz’ Perkovic came alive in Game 3 on Yone, and rode the momentum all the way to the end.

Jesper ‘Zven’ Svenningsen also picked up two pentakills for himself on Miss Fortune in Games 4 and 5, dominating Victor ‘FBI’ Huang in the back half of the series as 100 Thieves capitulated.

Semi-finals Day 2: Saturday, January 30

Liquid dominate EG to book grand final spot

It was a bloodbath on Saturday as Team Liquid swept Evil Geniuses aside to make the LCS Lock In grand final. Lucas ‘Santorin’ Larsen on Udyr made the new-meta pick look incredible against a flat EG.

Barney ‘Alphari’ Morris also put on his best performance yet in NA, styling on former Liquid Top Laner Jeong ‘Impact’ Eon-young on Jayce and Gnar. Now, only Cloud9 sits between Liquid and another LCS title.

Grand Finals: Sunday, January 31

Alphari stars as Liquid holds off Cloud9 in five-game epic

Liquid started the Lock In decider off strongly, and it looked for all the world like the eventual preseason winners would clinch it in three.

C9 had other plans, however, fighting back in games 3 and 4 to force a must-win final clash — and Silver Scrapes in the process — with hopes the light-blue outfit could score a second consecutive reverse sweep against Team Liquid.

It wasn’t to be though; Liquid rallied in the final contest, mainly through series powerhouses Jo ‘CoreJJ’ Yong-in and Barney ‘Alphari’ Morris, the latter of whom picked up player of the series.

TL walked away with $150,000 for their efforts in the preseason LCS event.