Golden Guardians Finish in 4th as LCS Playoffs Heat Up

After an unusual Summer Split, the teams from North America that will be headed to South Korea to compete in the League of Legends World Championships 2023 have been determined. However, we still do not know who the LCS champions will be.

After an extremely dramatic battle in the Lower Bracket Semifinal, it’s been determined that Golden Guardians will face off against a LEC team that has yet to be determined for a spot in the Worlds 2023 Play-In Stage, while Team Liquid, NRG, and Cloud9 have all punched their tickets for the World Championships.

The Golden Guardians’ loss to Team Liquid in the Lower Bracket Semifinal secured them 4th place in the LCS 2023 Summer Split, which keeps their season alive but is a major disappointment for a team that many had high hopes for going into playoffs. They had ended the split with a 13-5 record putting them in a tie-breaker for 1st place against Cloud9, which they lost.

They would lose their opening match in the playoffs to NRG in a wild 1-3 upset. In the lower bracket, Golden Guardians would bounce back, finding a 3-0 win over Dignitas before being eliminated from the playoffs by Team Liquid.

They will have a lot of practicing to do between now and the Qualifier match if they want to participate in Worlds.

Cloud9 currently sits in the Grand Final, waiting to see who will be the winner of the Lower Bracket Final.

Cloud9 has consistently looked like the best team in the LCS all year, ending the season with a 13-5 record and smashing Golden Guardians in the tie-breaker to secure the top seed going into playoffs.

Their playoff run has been absolutely flawless so far, finding their first win against Evil Geniuses in a 3-0 sweep before doing the same to NRG in the Upper Bracket Final.

Regardless of how the Grand Finals play out, League of Legends World Championships teams will view Cloud9 as the best team in America.

NRG’s run this Summer has been an absolute rollercoaster and one of the best storylines of the split. After ending the regular season with a 9-9 record, they entered the playoffs as the 5th seed. NRG would start strong out of the gate, taking down Team Liquid 3-1.

They then took down the top teams in the league in Golden Guardians 3-1. Though they fell to Cloud9 in the Upper Bracket Final, they have at least secured themselves a trip to Worlds and should feel confident going into this rematch with Team Liquid after their earlier encounter.

Team Liquid entered the Playoffs as the 4th seed after ending the regular season with a 10-8 record. They would enter the opening round of the tournament as favorites against NRG.

NRG was just the sharper team that day, taking the match 3-1 and sending Team Liquid to the lower bracket where there would be no room for error.

The added pressure did nothing but improve Team Liquid’s performance, as they would immediately find a 3-1 win over 100 Thieves. They then took down the 3rd seed going into the playoffs in Evil Geniuses in another solid 3-1 win.

Their next match against Golden Guardians was a back-and-forth affair that saw a major game delay in Game 5 before the teams were forced to remake the match.

Ultimately Team Liquid would find the win 3-2, putting themselves a win away from the LCS Grand Finals.