How the LCS Spring Split playoffs look like

The final two teams of the LCS Spring Split playoffs will be going to the Mid-Season Invitational.

The playoffs for the LCS Spring Split is about to begin from March 14 - 31 with the final six teams vying for just two spots to the upcoming Mid-Season Invitational in a couple of months' time. This was followed by a hectic six-week group stage schedule that featured two Super Weeks' worth of games, which started towards the tail-end of January.

And as the dust settled, it was FlyQuest and 100 Thieves who finished at the top of the group stage. Despite sharing the same 10-4 score, FQ pull ahead of 100T after winning both head-to-head matches against them. Cloud9 came in third with still plenty to prove after they lost five of their first nine games.

Right below C9 is Team Liquid, another org that also has a lot to prove with a 7-7 score that somehow still saw them finish fourth. But it's in the lower bracket of the playoffs that will spark interest with the likes of NRG already one more series loss away from elimination. Last season's LCS Summer Split champions have since digressed after making its full debut this year, which was compounded with three straight defeats during the last Super Week.

Joining NRG in the lower bracket will be Dignitas, who managed to finish one spot above the former despite the same score line as well as tying the head-to-head match-ups. This was because Dignitas was able to defeat NRG in the tiebreaker to further extend its misery. And despite putting up a valiant fight until the very end, we bid farewell for now to both Shopify Rebellion and Immortals.

LCS Spring Split Playoffs - Fixtures

The playoffs will be a double-elimination bracket with all games being a best-of-five. The first series will be between Cloud9 and 100 Thieves on March 14 at 1:00 p.m. PST. The next series will be FlyQuest versus Team Liquid, which will take place the following day on March 15, also at 1:00 p.m. PST. From there, the loser of the C9-100T bout will go up against Dignitas in the lower bracket while the team that loses in the FQ-TL match-up will face NRG.

For the victors of the semifinal series, they will move on to the upper bracket final to play another best-of-five with the victor being the first LCS team to qualify to MSI. And whomsoever manages to climb their way through the lower bracket and into the grand finals will earn the second and final spot to China in a month's time. And as it stands, C9 remains to be the only team from the LCS to consistently qualify to MSI with two appearances in the last three years.

Aside from C9, Liquid is the only other team to have made two appearances at MSI that occurred back-to-back in 2018 and 2019, the latter of which Liquid came exceptionally close to winning it, but fell to G2 Esports at the end. This could mean that for four orgs, this is their best chance to score a meaningful debut at MSI.

Here is how the first series of games will look like in the coming days:

Thursday, March 14 (UB Semifinal)

100 ThievesvsCloud9 - 1:00 p.m. PST