The first series of the League of Legends Championship Series Spring Split playoffs on Saturday concluded with 100 Thieves taking the match in a clean 3-0 sweep against Cloud9. The first game with fans in the audience ended with the second seed of the regular season falling to the loser’s bracket.
1st Team All-Pros: 0️⃣
Playoff Wins: 1️⃣#LCS #100WIN pic.twitter.com/LHF7j0Duvg— LCS (@LCSOfficial) April 2, 2022
100 Thieves sweeps Cloud9 in first round of LCS playoffs
100 Thieves were dominant in their first playoff game of Spring Split 2022. According to the team’s records, 100 Thieves should have been the weaker team of the two. However, they flipped the standings on their head.
The first game of the playoffs was all about the top lane. Cloud9’s Park “Summit” Woo-tae chose to blind pick a Renekton, and Kim “Ssumday” Chan-ho responded with his signature Ornn. Despite Ornn playing the weak side, Can “Closer” Çelik made it a point to visit his friend Ssumday at the top lane. With two great ganks onto Summit’s Renekton, the top half of the map was essentially shut down for Cloud9. 100 Thieves were also winning the bot lane, with Victor “FBI” Huang and Choi “Huhi” Jae-hyun getting a 2v2 kill on Cloud9’s botlane. With a final 2-15 scoreline in favor of 100 Thieves, the first game sent a message.
The second game was a salty runback, as Cloud9 chose to pick the exact same draft to the surprise of analysts.
Cloud9 REALLY said "run it back."#LCS pic.twitter.com/OsmC3LF2Qu
— LCS (@LCSOfficial) April 2, 2022
With almost the exact same draft between both games, they played out very differently despite almost the same picks. The second game was a competitive nail-biter until the very end. This time, Summit was ahead in the Renekton Ornn matchup, and the game was nearly even in gold until the 30-minute mark. A Dragon fight marked an Ace for Cloud9, and the game seemed to turn in their favor. However, Cloud9 were not able to finish the job. With one nexus turret remaining on their side, 100 Thieves secured a Baron and push to gain match point.
#LCS pic.twitter.com/D03BruoTJc
— LCS (@LCSOfficial) April 2, 2022
100 Thieves’ general manager, Christopher “PapaSmithy” Smith commented on the repeating draft in the post-game scrum.
“If you do that after a loss, you are really sure that that’s your best draft or it’s your only draft, you know? It’s one or the other,” said PapaSmithy.
The third and final game did not live up to the game that came before it. 100 Thieves drafted themselves an aggressive Lucian and Nami lane and were able to snowball the game through their bot lane advantage. Closer’s Lee Sin was incredible the entire series. However, a fantastic play on Cloud9’s backline in this river fight made his skill on the Champion crystal clear.
The Kral doesn't miss kicks. @closerlol #LCS pic.twitter.com/oF6SazySYL
— LCS (@LCSOfficial) April 2, 2022
100 Thieves will now face the winner of Sunday’s series between Team Liquid and Evil Geniuses.
