Reigning LCS Champion Team Liquid Fails to Make Spring Playoffs
After winning back-to-back-to-back championships, Team Liquid has failed to make the cut for playoffs as they lost to a Cloud9 base race in Week 9 Day 2 of the Spring Split – being the first LCS reigning champion to miss playoffs.
With a final record of 7-11, the four-time champions were poised to continue their streak with the coming of European jungler Mads “Broxah” Brock-Pedersen in 2020. However, visa issues haunted Team Liquid as Broxah couldn’t show up until the middle part of the spring split. By then, Team Liquid were already struggling as they had to sub in Academy ADC Edward “Tactical” Ra due to franchise player Yilliang “Doublelift” Peng’s lack of motivation in the Spring Split.
When Broxah finally came in, Team Liquid still had to resolve internal issues around team synergy that were inherent to their team’s structure and play. In the end, despite having MVP-caliber players, Team Liquid failed to come in clutch in the last few days of the split. In Week 9, Team Liquid lost to FlyQuest and Cloud9 ending their split early.
With a heavy loss on their side, Team Liquid and its players will sure to revisit their split with a heavy heart and rebuild for Summer. Seeing that Team Liquid has championship-level players and a competent infrastructure supporting its players, we will see if the former champions can rise up in time for Worlds 2020.
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