The 2022 LCS Lock-In Tournament kicked off with a massive upset and a team looking to send a message to the rest of the league taking care of business. And in the case of both Dignitas and Team Liquid, the final result was a 2-0 sweep.
The first best-of-three match of the day saw Dignitas QNTMPAY (1-3) pull off a major upset by sweeping the reigning LCS Champions, 100 Thieves (3-1) in 2-0 fashion. In both games, 100 Thieves drafted Caitlyn and sought to play through the bottom lane. In Game 1, Dignitas responded by taking Ezreal and Karma in the bottom lane, matching Caitlyn’s poke potential and preventing her from snowballing by taking early turret plates.
Dignitas’ new jungler Kim “River” Dong-woo played Jarvan IV well, but his decision making was what won Dignitas the series. River, formerly of the PCS’ PSG Talon, sacrificed early resources to make sure 100 Thieves’ bot lane was behind. From there, 100T struggled to gain control of momentum, allowing Dignitas to secure Infernal Soul, an Elder Dragon Soul, and a 37-minute win.
In Game 2, 100T picked Caitlyn early and again River’s Jarvan IV was there to prevent it from snowballing. 100T’s teamfighting composition struggled despite jungler Can “Closer” Celik getting slightly ahead early as Viego. Dignitas’ ability to shred through 100T’s frontline prevented 100T from engaging in 5-vs-5 fights, leading to a 30-minute win for Dignitas QNTMPAY.
In Saturday’s other series, Team Liquid (3-1) made quick work of FlyQuest (2-2) in a 2-0 sweep. Liquid fielded academy top laner Bradley “Bradley” Benneyworth in Game 1 in order to assemble their all-world bottom lane of AD Steven “Hans sama” Liv and support Jo “CoreJJ” Yong-in for the first time this season. Liquid had been subbing academy players in and out in order to ensure their ideal starting lineup all gets playing time while CoreJJ waits to get his NA residency and free up an import slot. While it might not be the best move for roster cohesion, Liquid didn’t miss a beat.
Hans sama and CoreJJ dominated the bot lane as Kalista and Thresh, respectively, building a massive lead and preventing FlyQuest from competing for early objectives. From there, Bradley’s Akali had free reign to dive FQ’s backline en route to a 7/0/2 KDA (Kills/Deaths/Assists) in his debut as Liquid took Game 1 in 30 minutes.
Game 2 saw the Liquid roster shuffle continue, but they were nonetheless effective in taking down FlyQuest in 20 minutes. TL took control early by ganking the mid lane repeatedly, putting FQ mid laner Loic “toucouille” Dubois’ volatile Yasuo behind early on. By the time FlyQuest was ready to use their team composition’s considerable team-fighting ultimates, they were already too far behind to make up the deficit. Liquid cruised to another win to sweep FlyQuest 2-0.
Liquid will play Dignitas QNTMPAY in the next round of the Lock-In Tournament.
The Lock-In Tournament had teams divided into two groups by the Summer 2021 finalists: 100 Thieves and Team Liquid. The top four teams from each group made the playoffs, which is an eight-team single-elimination bracket. Quarterfinals are best-of-three, whereas semifinals and the Grand Finals are best-of-five.
The Lock-In Tournament continues on Sunday with two best-of-three matchups:
Evil Geniuses vs. Golden Guardians
Cloud9 vs. Counter Logic Gaming
–Noah Waltzer, Field Level Media