Team Liquid are your 2018 Spring Split Champions!!

Team Liquid are your 2018 NALCS Spring Split Champions!!!

After 77 days of non-stop practice, competition, struggle, and growth, our brand new roster claimed the first League of Legends trophy in Team Liquid history. It was a trying seasons that at some points almost seemed close to unraveling, but Team Liquid proved its mettle by growing throughout the season and peaking at the right time. Team Liquid is now the fourth organization to win the NA LCS trophy, and we go to MSI as North America’s representative.

The 2018 Spring Split was the most competitive the NALCS has ever seen, bringing curses to their knees and laughing in the face of history.

In the off-season, our management team moved quickly and aggressively across the fields of free agency. After the dust settled, we stood tall with a roster that on paper could only be matched by the very best teams in the NALCS. With pre-season power rankings holding us steady in either first or second place, the pressure mounted.

Come January we hit the ground running, obliterating all opposition in such quick time that we began to break our own split records with every match. We were a force to be reckoned with from the beginning but faced every week as a new challenge nonetheless, determined to resist the urges of complacency.

Our fortunes waned and strength wavered in the middle of the split but we trudged on. For the team, this was a time to learn new things, experiment with our styles, and ultimately preserve our power for the later weeks of the split and beyond. We found ourselves rising to the top then falling back to that fated fourth place spot as the standings scrambled week after week.

It would be a ten game day filled with tiebreakers and upsets that that solidified us as fourth seed for the playoffs. No bye and a middle of the pack seed demanded our composure—we would need to give 100% every game for a hope at the top. We came out swinging in playoffs, this was just what we prepared for. 3-0 over Cloud 9, 3-1 over Echo Fox: what were once juggernauts of the regular season fell before us when it really mattered. We were poised for the crown, and only one team stood in our way.

As the best team during the regular season, 100 Thieves was set to be our most difficult test yet. Instead, it was another stomp in one of the shortest finals in LCS history. In game 1, Xmithie put the team on his back with an incredible Baron steal to seal the game in under 30 minutes.

The second game was even shorter, with our trio of Azir, Tristana, and Sion dominating their opposing champions. With momentum firmly in the hands of Team Liquid, Doublelift continued his streak of immortal games with another pristine record.

Game 3 promised a little more resistance, with Ssumday initially getting the better of Impact in the top lane. 100 Thieves had their opportunity to strike one back, but our movements as a team showed a level of coordination above any other team this season. Impact and Olleh were always at the right place at the right time, and it was a slow and determined march down each lane.

For his work on Azir throughout the series, Pobelter earned MVP honors as the foundation of our success. Doublelift performed at an historic level, with the highest KDA ever recorded in the playoffs — an astonishing 35.3 KDA. It was a well rounded performance from every single player; how can you beat a team when every position is a position of strength?

2018 marks a revival of Team Liquid League of Legends, but our fans hold true despite the adversity of our past. For those who stand with us both at the top and at the bottom, we thank you. Without the support of the TLFAM, there’d be no reason to push ourselves to these limits—and victory would taste far less sweet.

Now, in just a months time, we carry your support to the international stage. Team Liquid will represent North America at the Mid-Season Invitational, intent on removing the borders of our dominance and taking the second largest tournament of the year.