Team Liquid vs. Cloud9: Mid-Season Showdown betting analysis

William Davis Published 29/03/2021

A rematch from the 2021 LCS Lock In final is about to unfold when Team Liquid and Cloud9 clash in the Mid-Season Showdown for a direct spot in the final.

The last time Team Liquid and Cloud9 faced off in a best-of-five were at the 2021 LCS Lock In final in January, where Team Liquid prevailed after five intense games. Now the teams will once again meet, and this time it’s for a spot in the Mid-Season Showdown final. The winner of this match puts a single win between them and the LCS trophy, so the two star-packed rosters will give it all they got and likely make this another nail-biter.

Team Liquid will enter the match after a solid win over TSM in the first round of the playoffs. Team Liquid had some shaky moments but ended up outlasting TSM with superior teamwork and macro play. These will be the same strengths Team Liquid will need to beat Cloud9.

On the individual level, the Team Liquid bot lane still needs to show up. So far, support Jo “CoreJJ” Yong-in hasn’t performed up to his usual high standards and bot laner Edward “Tactical” Ra is looking shakier than last year. The bot lane still has the potential to be the best in the league, but it currently seems that something is off. If CoreJJ and Tactical can fix those issues for the match against Cloud9, then this might just be a repeat of the LCS Lock In victory by TL.

Cloud9 will enter the match with a bit more confidence after beating 100 Thieves in an easy 3-0 sweep. At no point did Cloud9 look like a team that would lose that match, which isn’t easy against a strong team like 100 Thieves. Cloud9 has been ramping up ever since the LCS Lock In final and is currently looking to improve even further.

Cloud9 still has some shaky moments, but that’s mainly due to the aggressive play style that they tend to practice. Cloud9 isn’t a team to sit back and wait for the opponent to make mistakes, but will instead initiate fights for good and for worse. With the whole Cloud9 squad performing at their best, it’s hard to imagine that they won’t go all the way this year. With mid laner Luka “Perkz” Perković in his infamous playoffs form, not even Team Liquid’s Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen can keep up.

Jensen

Team Liquid vs. Cloud9 rosters

Team Liquid roster:

Top – Barney “Alphari” Morris
Jungle – Lucas “Santorin” Larsen
Mid – Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen
Bot – Edward “Tactical” Ra
Support – Jo “CoreJJ” Yong-in

Cloud9 roster:

Top – Ibrahim “Fudge” Allami
Jungle – Robert “Blaber” Huang
Mid – Luka “Perkz” Perković
Bot – Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen
Support – Philippe “Vulcan” Laflamme

Cloud9 slight favorites to advance to the final over Team Liquid

There is no doubt that the matchup between Team Liquid and Cloud9 is currently the closest in North America. Both teams have phenomenal individual talent and enough experience to perform when under pressure. Taking a direct spot in the final will be important for both teams, so expect a match where all strategies will be put into use. Predicting a winner for this one is hard, which the bookmakers’ odds also reflect. Cloud9 has a slight advantage though, likely because of its dominant 3-0 win over 100 Thieves in the first round of the upper bracket.

A win for Cloud9 gives an odds of 1.74 while a win for Team Liquid gives a slightly higher odds of 1.96.