I didn’t expect TSM to fall into the Lower Bracket right off the bat, and I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Dignitas probably didn’t expect that, either. Now we’re going to see two of the oldest orgs in North American LoL fighting for a chance to reach the next stage of the Lower Bracket.
For TSM, this is a chance to redeem themselves for an incredibly disappointing showing against the Golden Guardians. For Dignitas, it’s a chance to embrace the underdog role and win back some respect from a community that has set such low expectations for them all year long, myself included.
I had very high hopes for Evil Geniuses coming into the summer split, after they outperformed most analysts’ expectations in Spring. I even power-ranked them second, because I believed they could hold onto their form and improve enough to survive the pushes I expected from TSM and Team Liquid. Meanwhile, I thought FlyQuest had overachieved in the Spring playoffs by reaching the Finals, and that their true form was closer to the middle of the pack.
I was wrong about EG, and while I’m not convinced I’m wrong about FlyQuest yet, I think this series is going to make FlyQuest look like a Finals contender again.
With TSM’s 2-0 advantage in the season series and plenty of recent momentum, including a win over Cloud9 in week 8, Bjergsen et al. should be confident coming into this Quarterfinal. But the Golden Guardians have been consistently slept on all year and have routinely performed above expectations, earning their own win over Cloud9 earlier in the same week and ending the season with the second-best EGR and GPR in the LCS.
If the Golden Guardians can make the series all about the early game, they have a great shot to advance. But if TSM can weather the storm and find ways to scale, their superior mid/late play should see them move on.
