In lieu of visa issues for mid laner Zhu "Keaiduo" Xiong and support Wei "Shenyi" Zi-Jie that will likely bar the Chinese duo from joining their LCS teammates until February, TSM has opted to start the full TSM Academy roster in place of their LCS counterparts for the Lock In.
The finals match of the 2021 League of Legends Championship Series Lock In was the best LCS match since 2019. After a stale and relatively disappointing 2020 season for North American League of Legends esports fans, the conclusion of the LCS Lock In was a much-needed change of pace. Let’s dive into the factors of what made the LCS Lock In final between Team Liquid and Cloud9 the best series hosted in North America in over a year.
"I think the loss of Bjergsen might actually be bigger than what we've gained," Jensen explained. "In terms of mid lane talent, this year at least, I always felt like I learned more from playing against Bjergsen compared to what I've learned so far this year."
Team Liquid are now the second team to advance to the LCS Lock In Finals after beating Evil Geniuses 3-0. They will meet Cloud9 on Sunday to crown the first-ever victor of the LCS Lock In and determin
In the first best of five of the year for competitive League of Legends, Cloud9 graced the fans with a reverse sweep, taking down 100 Thieves in a full five-game series, including two pentakills by C9 AD carry, Zven. Read more on the series here:
100 Thieves will face off against Cloud9 in a best-of-five series and Evil Geniuses will take on Team Liquid on the other side of the bracket. Both semifinals will take place on Saturday, Jan 30, and the two winners will play each other in the best-of-five finals of the LCS Lock In on Sunday, January 31.
Due to visa issues, Immortals had already started 3/5 of IMT Academy in the first week of the Lock In. Jungler Andrei "Xerxe" Dragomir, AD carry Quin "Raes" Korebrits and support Mitchell "Destiny" Shaw were unavailable for the start of the tournament, so Nicholas James Joseph "Potluck" Pollock, Yuri "Keith" Jew and Joseph "Joey" Haslemann filled in alongside mid laner David "Insanity" Challe and rookie top laner Mo "Revenge" Kaddoura.
At the end of the interview, Dash asked Damonte if he, as someone who now has a few years of LCS experience under his belt, had any advice or insights to pass onto any rookies making their LCS debut in 2021. Damonte laughed before saying: "For all the new rookies: Definitely lay off of the cringe, cocky comments. It's pretty weird if you come into the LCS not proven at all and ****-talk everyone...probably prove yourself before saying stuff like that."
After dispatching of IMT, Evil Geniuses mid laner Daniele "Jiizuke" Di Mauro spoke to Inven Global's Nick Geracie about the team's new acquisitions, his sudden disappearance from the starting roster in the 2020 LCS Summer Split, and the visa issues currently affecting EG's coaching staff that the team has had to overcome early into 2021.
Roughly a week before the LCS 2021 Lock-In, Counter Logic Gaming had multiple members on its professional League team catch COVID. CLG is also experiencing visa slowdowns. They've signed two temporary subs, here is their new roster:
One week before the official start of the 2021 NA season, Riot announced the groups for the LCS Lock In, the tournament that will kick off the season on Friday, Jan 15. Check the groups and read more about the lock in here:
