2020 LCS playoff preview: Teams, schedule, tournament bracket
It’s time for playoffs in the 2020 LCS Spring Split. This year, the teams are competing in a new format that gives the top four seeds more than one chance to make it to the finals.
The regular season ended with three teams fighting for sixth place and a three-way tie for second. With all of the tiebreakers out of the way, the stage is nowset for the playoffs. This year, the teams are not getting Championship points in the spring, so the only prize is a ticket to the Mid-Season Invitational.
At the end of week nine, the standings looked like this:
- Cloud9 (17-1)
- Evil Geniuses (10-8)
- 100 Thieves (10-8)
- FlyQuest (10-8)
- Team SoloMid (9-9)
- Golden Guardians (8-10)
- Dignitas (8-10)
- Immortals (8-10)
- Team Liquid (7-11)
- Counter Logic Gaming (3-15)
Team Liquid missing LCS playoffs
The four-time LCS champions will not defend their title this spring. Team Liquid finished the regular season in ninth place, becoming the first defending champion to miss playoffs in the LCS.
Liquid is not interested in developing young talent through the academy team. The organization knows what it wants and pays for it. Every offseason, Liquid gets an upgrade, a new player that can take the roster to new heights. What seemed to be a smart strategy, it completely backfired in 2020. Liquid got rid of Jake “Xmithie” Puchero and replaced him with Mads “Broxah” Brock-Pedersen, who joined the team in week four of the competition.
What Liquid considered to be an upgrade turned out to be a mistake. It’s painfully obvious that there’s no synergy between Broxah and his teammates. Before the season started, bottom laner Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng said that replacing Xmithie was potentially a mistake, and he was right. Broxah’s style doesn’t match the style Liquid is accustomed to playing.
Now, Liquid has a chance to build that synergy and get the team back on track.
The LCS is using a new playoff format in 2020. The teams are playing in a double-elimination bracket with every match to the best of five. Top four teams play in the winners’ bracket, fifth and sixth start in the losers’ bracket.
April 4 – Evil Geniuses and FlyQuest play on round one of playoffs. The winner is seeded into round two, loser falls to the lower bracket and plays against TSM.
April 5 – Cloud9 faces 100 Thieves in the second series of round one. Winner advances, loser falls to the lower bracket and plays against Golden Guardians.
April 7 – Golden Guardians plays against the loser from the winner’s bracket. Winner advances to round two.
April 8 – TSM plays against the loser from the winner’s bracket. Winner advances to round two.
April 11 – April 12- Round two of playoffs.
April 18 – Round three of playoffs.
April 19 – LCS finals.
Read Also
Esports Betting
League of Legends at the EWC 2026 preview, details, predictions, and more
Hannan Mundia
The 2026 League of Legends Esports World Cup has the potential to be even grander than the last, making it all the more important to learn about its schedule and participating teams. League of Legends has no shortage of large-scale international tournaments. While First Stand and the Mid-Season Invitational have concluded, the next event that fans have to look forward to is the Esports World Cup. Gen.G may have dominated ...
League of Legends
HLE’s MSI win may have proven that Gumayusi’s the GOAT
Hannan Mundia
With HLE winning the 2026 MSI tournament grand final against BLG, there’s a real argument that Gumayusi may be the best ADC player currently. This year’s MSI has finally concluded, and Hanwha Life Esports took home the winning trophy. While it was filled to the brim with ups and downs for every player, Gumayusi may be the only player who consistently performed in every game, regardless of which team was ...
Esports Betting
Hanwha Life Esports vs BLG: Best betting odds and picks for MSI 2026 grand final
Hannan Mundia
Hanwha Life Esports and BLG will get to have a rematch in the 2026 MSI grand final, but which team will walk away as the victor? The first match between HLE and BLG didn’t really go well for the LCK team. The stakes are much higher this time, and the looming question is whether things will be any different this time around. Tournament: MSI 2026 Stage: Lower bracket final Game: ...
Esports Betting
NA has a winning head-to-head against EU at MSI for the first time since 2018
Wasif Ahmed
LYON just beat G2 Esports 3-0 at the LoL 2026 Mid-Season Invitational. Right off the high of beating the six-time World champion T1, the LEC representative quickly came back to Earth as NA cut their run short. Now, North America is ahead of Europe in the head-to-head for the first time since 2018. After G2’s victories against Top Esports and T1, the predictions were split. Part of the community rationally ...
Esports Betting
Hanwha Life Esports barely beats LYON 3-2 at LoL MSI 2026
Wasif Ahmed
In a heartbreaking moment for North America, Hanwha Life Esports beat LYON in a close 3-2 in the MSI 2026 loser’s final. For South Korea, this means a rematch for HLE against Bilibili Gaming in the grand final, and a fourth slot at Worlds 2026. For North America, it’s yet another near-win against the East as they fall short for the third time in two years. The series between HLE ...
League of Legends
Hanwha Life Esports vs LYON: Best betting odds and picks for MSI 2026
Hannan Mundia
The 2026 MSI lower bracket final will see Hanwha Life Esports take on LYON. Here’s our complete betting analysis and betting picks. After T1’s upset loss at the ongoing MSI tournament, G2 Esports was the next team to fall before reaching the lower bracket final. LYON looked extremely good against the LEC team, but does it have what it takes to take down arguably the strongest LCK team currently? Tournament: ...
League of Legends
G2 Esports proves that T1 has an over-reliance problem
Hannan Mundia
The MSI match between G2 Esports and T1 proved that the LCK powerhouse needs to take a good look at its strategy. For years now, the LCK has been a dominant force in the competitive League of Legends space. While the LCP has occasionally come close to the number one spot, that hasn’t been the case for long. In particular, T1 is easily the biggest name in the scene, especially ...
