The blue-and-gold will represent the LCS at MSI.
Cloud9 has secured its MSI slot with a 3-1 victory over Golden Guardians in the LCS Spring Split grand finals. This makes it C9's sixth LCS regional title and back-to-back split wins, which also puts them directly into the playoffs of MSI. As for GG, they will have to contend with the play-in stage for now,
With the Mid-Season Invitational now featuring two teams from the top four leagues, North America will rejoice to know they now have two worthy contenders to compete at the upcoming MSI in London, England later next month. This will be C9's second MSI appearance while GG will be making its grand debut later this month.
C9 has been the LCS' best team in the playoffs, dropping only two matches in their nine-game run to lift the spring split title. They managed to defeat dark horses like the now-defunct Counter Logic Gaming as well as FlyQuest while also taking out Golden Guardians, who had an amazing lower-bracket run.
And with that grand final victory, C9 now have six LCS regional titles, just one shy from sharing the record with TSM, which is currently on seven. This also makes it C9's fourth Spring Split title win, the most of any team in LCS history. To say it was fully deserved doesn't begin to describe C9's dominance over the LCS.
Not only did the entire C9 coaching staff get awarded with the 'Coaching Team of the Split' award, even the team's AD carry, Kim "Berserker" Min-cheol won the LCS MVP award for his performances over the last few months. He was C9's best player during their playoff run while also having the team's highest kill count of 12 using Aphelios in their third and final match of the upper bracket finals against FlyQuest.
But while all the glory will go to C9 (and deservedly so!), props will have to be given to GG and how the team went from being the sixth seed in the group stage to finishing second in the LCS playoffs. GG has never made it past the first round of the playoffs this year will be their best finish to date. The team has very much improved with its new acquisitions, finally putting the organisation on the global map.
GG's lower bracket run in the LCS playoffs almost ended in the best way possible for the team. Despite starting in the lower bracket, they managed to take out a stacked 100 Thieves lineup while also easing past Evil Geniuses as well as another five-game thriller with FlyQuest, which they won in the end. While they could not best C9 in the grand finals, it goes to show that the team has grown leaps and bounds since last season.
It will be interesting to see how both teams fare at MSI next month. With this being C9's second appearance at MSI, can they finish better than their first time at fifth? Plenty of eyes will also be on GG, who will be making its first-ever international LAN debut.
