Cloud9 vs. Team Liquid 7/26/20 - 2020 LCS Summer Split

The most exciting match-up in the LCS right now: the defending North American champions against a team that has reigned supreme for two years straight. What’s not to like? Both line-ups have impressed us with each passing week, and they’ve done more than enough to warrant the hype coming into this oh-so-important clash.

That said, they haven’t been particularly clean as of late. Cloud9 has just gotten back in the win column with a dominant shellacking over Immortals, whereas Liquid had their seven-game win streak snapped by FlyQuest. Both rosters are stacked beyond reason talent-wise, but they’re still struggling from time to time. Liquid, in particular, has been kind of disjointed recently, and they’ve constantly been drafting exclusively for late game — a tendency that has been exploited on more than one occasion. They’re too passive in the early game, unwilling to go for risky plays and capitalize. Cloud9, on the other hand, is the exact opposite. They’ll go in and engage regardless of the odds. What a fascinating dichotomy: two teams of entirely different playstyles, encompassing the entire League of Legends spectrum. But as inconsistent as they might have been recently, it’s no secret that Cloud9’s playstyle is much more potent in the current meta. They’ve been exceedingly dominant, and a couple of bad showings should by no means affect their stock.

We’ll side with the defending champions on this one, but it is by no means a one-sided affair.