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Cloud9 defeated 100 Thieves in the 2022 LCS Championship finals on Sunday, sweeping their North American counterparts 3-0 to take out the title.
C9’s win was all the more impressive given they entered the playoffs as the fifth seed, while their win over 100T was the only sweep recorded in the bracket. Their LCS Summer win marks the team’s first title since winning the 2021 Mid-Season Showdown.
The result puts an end to a stormy year for Cloud9, who have undergone several issues relating to significant roster shakeups, role swaps, and controversy among the team’s coaches. A number of famous Cloud9 players also returned to feature in the team’s lineup.
100 Thieves, on the other hand, have had an impressive run this season and had, until the weekend just gone, won every tournament final they’d participated in. This includes their win in the 2022 LCS Spring Playoffs earlier this year.
100 Thieves had their rematch against Cloud9 after facing off against Evil Geniuses in the lower-bracket finals of the LCS Championship. Both teams were embroiled in a tough series until 100 Thieves took the advantage over EG and paid the team back in their own coin, having lost to them during the LCS Spring tournament.
In the match against Cloud9, 100T midlaner Felix “Abbedagge” Braun and jungler Can “Closer” Celik were unable to continue their impressive performance, which previously earned the team an impressive streak of wins in the Summer Split. Cloud9 ADC Kim “Berserker” Min-Cheol notably gave the players a hard time. The South Korean was largely responsible for forcing 100T into the lower bracket. The player’s impressive performance made him stand out among his teammates and played a huge role in earning Cloud9 the LCS trophy.
The team, in recognition of Berserker’s importance during the series, drafted several compositions with champions like Zilean, Nocturne, and Kennen around him. 100T soon started to be more cautious of Berserker and his champions after his play with Zeri in Game 1. 100T had an increasingly difficult time dealing with Berserker in the series as almost none of their target bans limited the player’s foresight during almost all the matches.
While trying to handle Berserker on the other end of the map, C9 top laner Ibrahim “Fudge” Allami and jungler Robert “Blaber” Huang were reeling in sizable leads for the team. C9 controlled the pacing of each game in the league finals after just one team fight with 100T and placed their opponent on the defensive for the rest of the game.
The last game in the series between the two teams saw C9 immediately invade 100T’s territory and secure a kill. This unpredicted move destabilized their already faltering opponent and caused the team to perform several mistimed ultimates. 100T experienced vision loss of their enemy and gave C9 the opportunity and tools they needed to maintain their lead in the series.
Berserker had free rein to ricochet attacks off 100T players, with Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen and Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen covering for him. The ADC lost out on a chance to win the final game with a pentakill, but this did not stop C9 from claiming victory over 100T.
Each Cloud9 team member earned their own share of accolades, with Berserker coming first with an impressive 23/1/24 KDA. The player is currently one of the most prominent ADCs in the region after debuting in the Spring Split along with Cloud9’s retouched lineup. Jensen also gave an outstanding performance alongside Zven, who earned his second LCS trophy in a second role.
The group draw for the LoL World Championship took take place immediately after the series. Cloud9 will start the tournament in Group A alongside T1 and EDward Gaming, while 100 Thieves were drawn in Group D with Gen.G and CTBC Gaming. This year’s Worlds will kick off on September 29, with the play-ins set to take place in Mexico City.
