What to expect from every LCS team in the 2022 Spring Split

A new LCS season means a new set of expectations, and this time around, no North American team is exempt.

The LCS Lock In tournament put the ‘trial’ in trial and error, mainly due to the fact that if you were a team in the error category, you weren’t penalized thanks to the nature of the tournament. Sure, there’s $150,000 and bragging rights to begin the season, but a handful of teams weren’t even able to field their full rosters.

Liquid taking home a second Lock In tournament championship in a row was still cause for celebration, even if they weren’t able to run their starting LCS five. We also got to see why second-place finishers Evil Geniuses were worthy of so many high expectations during the offseason.

Dignitas’ upset over 100 Thieves, Cloud9’s surprise performances with only two of their starters, and Immortals’ lackluster 0-4 run in the group stage were other notable moments of NA’s first tournament of 2022.

The Lock In was a learning opportunity, a chance for teams to test their synergies and set their expectations for the spring split. With that being said, here’s what to expect from every LCS roster in the 2022 spring split.

Win, win, win, Team Liquid

There’s a lot that can be expected of Team Liquid after such a dominant victory. But their main priority? Win. Simple as that.

They’re the reigning Lock In champions even without Jo ‘CoreJJ’ Yongin, and we’ve yet to see what they’ll look like at full power with their complete starting roster. With talent of this magnitude, their expectation should be nothing less than dominance. Of course, there’s the small caveat of CoreJJ still not having his green card but this is, in some ways, circumvented with how well the duo of Steven ‘Hans Sama’ Liv and Bill ‘Eyla’ Ngyuen performed.

To add to that, the tournament highlighted how strong the combination of Gabriël ‘Bwipo’ Rau’s creative playmaking with CoreJJ’s engage power can be. With practise, the two can make of the most unparalleled combos in the LCS.

Dignitas should at least make playoffs

In some ways, Dignitas flew under the radar during the offseason. And not without reason. They didn’t get flashy acquisitions like Team Liquid or Evil Geniuses, instead going for all-around solid players. As such, the bar wasn’t set as high for them as it was for the bigger spenders of the free agency period.

That proved to be true at first during the Lock In tournament… until Kim ‘River’ Dong-woo finally arrived.

Once River arrived in North America, all bets were off. Both he and Toàn “Neo” Trần were menaces on the Summoner’s Rift. With the full starting roster, not only did the team manage to upset 100 Thieves, but they gave Liquid a run for their money too.

Although this team most likely won’t be an MSI candidate, they should at least make the playoffs. And if this past tournament was any indication, they’ll make some waves there.

Golden Guardians won’t finish 10th

It’s safe to say that Golden Guardians didn’t have the prettiest 2021 season. Plagued by inexperience, they were relentlessly bullied by opponents, especially in the top lane all spring long.

But credit where it’s due, the addition of Eric ‘Licorice’ Ritchie looked to be just what this team needed. With his World Championship experience, the team went from a 3-15 record in spring to an 11-16 record in the summer to finish eighth in the overall standings, making it to the summer playoffs.

They were one of many teams unable to field their full starting roster during the Lock In, so they’re still a fairly unknown entity in this iteration of the LCS. However, if last year’s summer turnaround is anything to go by, Golden Guardians might just be able to pull off a decent showing.

TSM’s mechanics will net them wins

The 2021 LCS offseason can be divided into two categories: the big spenders and the developmental teams. TSM, who normally land themselves firmly in the ‘spender’ category, went for a surprisingly cost-effective approach.

This approach caught fans off-guard, and not just because of the departure of franchise mid laner Soren ‘Bjergsen’ Bjerg. Although they kept the likes of seasoned top laner, Heo ‘Huni’ Seung-hoon, and reigning summer split MVP, Mingyi ‘Spica’ Lu, they acquired two relatively untested rookies from the Chinese developmental league, the LDL.

But despite their wildly varying levels of experience, there’s one thing TSM’s players have in common: strong mechanics. This means that the team is likely to heavily rely on laning phase wins and an ability to snowball a lead.

If they get stuck in a grind-fest of a game or a close match, they’ll have to fall back on coordination around major objectives, and we’re expecting to see some growing pains for this roster due to the fact that their two newest acquisitions aren’t native English speakers.

Cloud9 will go all-in on Fudge, for better or worse

It’s no secret that Cloud9’s approach this past offseason was one of, if not the most surprising out of all the teams. Completely splitting up a roster that won a championship and qualified for both MSI and Worlds was definitely an unexpected twist in the saga of the LCS. And not only did they split up the roster, but they made the decision to throw a role-swapped player into the mix.

Role swaps are notoriously hit or miss, and Ibrahim ‘Fudge’ Allami’s move to the mid lane is no exception. His success or failure will make or break this roster, and there’s no way of knowing on which side of the coin he’ll land until his opening game.

But if there’s any team that has earned the trust of NA fans, it’s Cloud9. It’ll take more than a few surprising roster moves to break the faith earned by consistently being one of North America’s strongest performers, both domestically and internationally.

With new head coach Nick ‘LS’ De Cesare at the helm, fans can expect some unconventional and potentially meta-defining picks out of this roster. If the org plans on redefining itself as heavily as their offseason acquisitions might suggest, they’ll need to go all-in on supporting Fudge’s move, and on LS’s ability to innovate.

It’ll take more than a Lock In upset to dethrone 100 Thieves

Although 100 Thieves suffered a surprising loss to Dignitas in the quarterfinals of the Lock In tournament, the fact that this team is still intact following their 2021 LCS Summer Split Finals win will be a great advantage.

In a world where most, if not all LCS teams are still getting to know each other, the Thieves don’t have that problem. This is their chance to throw away their past consistency woes and cement themselves as the dominant force in the region.

There’s no reason to expect anything other than a replication of past performance from the Thieves this split. Their hiccup versus Dignitas was most likely nothing more than that.

Evil Geniuses should use the blueprint they’ve set to perfection

Evil Geniuses have a not-so-glowing past in the LCS. After buying out Echo Fox’s slot to join the League, the organization had to build itself from the ground up. But while at first they relied mainly on pre-established players to get themselves off the ground, we’re slowly starting to see them become one of the best developmental organizations in North America.

They shocked the world with the debut of Kyle ‘Danny’ Sakamaki, the ADC ace who catapulted his way into the hearts, and rookie of the split ballots, of NA fans. Now, they’ve brought up another talented rookie in Joseph ‘jojopyun’ Joonpyun, whose debut was just as explosive as Danny’s.

With the young trio of Danny, jojopyun and European jungler Kacper ‘Inspired’ Słoma, Evil Geniuses have that youthful energy that can take over the whole LCS.

Combine that with the fact the org has built itself on a stable foundation—a rookie talent pipeline that stems from way down in the NA amateur scene—this is a recipe for success. A strong performance this year could well cement Evil Geniuses as the single most dominant talent development powerhouse in the LCS ecosystem.

Immortals will live and die by PowerOfEvil

Out of all of the teams in the LCS last season, none lacked an identity as much as Immortals did. They tried their hand at different things, most notably playing through Mohamed ‘Revenge’ Kaddoura in the top lane, but nothing quite seemed to click. They lacked that special something, that spark of carry potential that can catapult a mediocre team to greatness.

Now that midlaner Tristan ‘PowerOfEvil’ has joined them, though, they’ve got their spark. But a spark needs fuel to turn into a blaze, and Immortals’ 0-4 finish in the Lock In is a clear indication that this team is going to burn out quickly without some kind of stabilization in the opening weeks of spring.

PowerOfEvil has gone from team to team in the LCS in the last four years. But one thing was true: his teams always had a chance. He’s a bastion in the midlane, preferring hard-carry champions that can take the game into their own hands.

You can expect Immortals to live and die by PowerOfEvil’s play but ultimately finish around the lower end of the middle of the pack. There’s only so much one player can do, and try as he might, PowerOfEvil cannot win one versus nine in competitive play.

CLG will win games through bottom lane with Luger

Counter Logic Gaming heavily disappointed in the 2021 season, which is why they changed things up, big time. After completely cleaning house—not keeping a single member from the 2021 roster—they’ve rebuilt with a rookie roster that also includes the core component of longstanding LCS jungler Juan ‘Contractz’ Garcia.

One of the most interesting elements of this roster refresh is AD Carry Fatih ‘Luger’ Güven. A breakout star in the Turkish league, Luger joined 100 Thieves academy in 2021 to continue his development, eventually helping the team to win the 2021 Proving Grounds tournament in a closely-fought series versus Team Liquid Academy.

• Read More: 3 things we learned from LCS Lock In

It’s likely that CLG will look to play through Luger in spring, and they may well be able to turn around the poor reputation they earned in 2021.

With aphromoo, Johnsun and Josedeodo, FlyQuest will soar

It’s no secret that during his stint on 100 Thieves, support Zaqueri ‘aphromoo’ Black was not at his best. He started out strongly, finishing first in the regular season in the org’s debut split. But over time, the team’s performances dwindled, and he parted ways with the Thieves in 2019.

After that he sort of became a “veteran for hire”, going from team to team giving young and new players wisdom and mentorship. It’ll be no different on FlyQuest.

Prior to joining FlyQuest, ADC Johnson ‘Johnsun’ Nguyen was on Dignitas alongside aphromoo. During their stint on Dignitas they showcased some unexpected promise that put them close to the upper tiers of bot lanes in the league.

Now that they’re reunited, expect them to replicate that success and then some.

The same can be said for jungler Brandon Joel ‘Josedeodo’ Villegas. He’s yet to replicate his 2020 Worlds level of play, but aphromoo’s veteran voice will do him a world of good.