Playoffs scenarios: How your favorite NA team can make Playoffs
Europe isn't the only league with tiebreakers!
The NA LCS looks set to have some tiebreakers of its own with the race for Playoffs coming to a climactic conclusion this weekend. All six Playoff teams have been decided -- the fight this week is about seeding and avoiding relegation.
Find out what your favorite teams have to do to lock in their Playoff seeds and secure their NA LCS future!
NA LCS
Gravity (12-4)
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Opponents: Team Impulse (11-5) & Team Dragon Knights (1-15)
Unlike Europe's top seed Fnatic, Gravity has not locked in 1st place -- they can finish between 1st and 5th place. Even if they manage to defeat Team Impulse in their first game, they won't lock down a first round bye because of how many teams are at (11-5) -- they'd have to close the deal against TDK (but they probably will).
Assuming they lose to Team Impulse, Gravity can still get a first round bye if at least two of the following teams go 1-1: Impulse, Liquid, or Counter Logic Gaming. Assuming Gravity goes 1-1, at the worst, they will play a tiebreaker for seeding. It could be up to a five-way tie (whoa!) depending on how the weekend plays out.
The 11-5 Club
All of the 11-5 teams have a shot at 1st place in NA LCS, or could finish as low as 5th place. However to get 1st, all of them need some help from Gravity. The schedule difference between the three teams is likely what will determine which ones break through -- and maybe some epic performances.
Counter Logic Gaming (11-5)
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Opponents: Team Dignitas (9-7) & Team 8 (6-10)
Assuming Gravity loses to Team Impulse, CLG can go to 2-0 to force a tiebreaker with Gravity to earn a first-round bye. They would also tie for 1st place with any other 11-5's who go 2-0. But as CLG fans know, the team always has a few surprises in store.
Team Impulse (11-5)
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Opponents: Gravity (12-4) & Team Liquid (11-5)
Impulse's path to a first-round bye is extremely hard -- in Week 9, they play against two of the top teams in the region. Considering the suspension of Yu "XiaoWeiXiao" Xian, plus the addition of Austin "Gate" Yu, it doesn't look great for TIP's chances to earn a bye in the Playoffs.
Team Liquid (11-5)
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Opponents: Team 8 (6-10) & Team Impulse (11-5)
Oddly enough, Team Liquid looks like they could have the easiest week of any of the 11-5 teams and are in good position to claim a first-round bye. Team 8 is vulnerable and Team Impulse is without their starting mid laner. Even so, neither game is a freebee -- TiP is aware of their vulnerabilities and Team 8 are fighting to avoid Relegation. TL needs to keep their composure if they want 1st or 2nd place.
Playing catch up
Team SoloMid (10-6)
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Opponents: Enemy (4-12) & Cloud9 (5-11)
Despite TSM's struggles, they can still finish in 1st or 2nd place -- though they'll need a lot of help from teams in front of them to do so. The good news for TSM is that they have the easiest schedule of all the Playoff-bound teams. If TSM can finish 2-0 this week, they'll need either an 0-2 from Gravity, or 1-1 from ALL of the 11-5 teams to get a first-round bye -- but it is possible.
Unfortunately for TSM, even though they have an "easy" schedule, Cloud9 has looked massively improved in the past two weeks. A 1-1 from TSM would put them in danger of needing to play a tiebreaker just to avoid 6th place.
Team Dignitas (9-7)
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Opponents: Counter Logic Gaming (11-5) & Enemy (4-12)
Team Dignitas is the only team locked for the Playoffs that cannot get a first-round bye. It would require all of the 11-5 teams to go 0-2; but the problem is that Team Liquid and Team Impulse play against each other. DIG still has something to play for though, as they can improve their seeding and build back some of their mid-season momentum before the Playoffs.
The battle for 7th place
Team 8 (6-10)
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Opponents: Team Liquid (11-5) & Counter Logic Gaming (11-5)
While Team 8 cannot make the Playoffs, they do control their own destiny as far as avoiding Relegations. If they go 2-0, they are locked into 7th place. However, if they go 1-1 they open the door for Cloud9 to tie them for 7th. Losing the tiebreaker would then send them to Relegations.
Additionally, at 0-2 they'd open up the possibility of a three-way tie with Enemy to decide who goes to Relegations, and could possibly even lose 7th place outright if Cloud9 goes 2-0. This is an extremely important Week for Team 8 to secure their LCS future.
Cloud9 (5-11)
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Opponents: Team Dragon Knights (1-15) & Team SoloMid (10-6)
Cloud9 needs some help from Team 8 to get to 7th place. To force a tiebreaker, Cloud9 has to outperform Team 8 by one game. Cloud9 could win 7th place outright if they go 2-0 and Team 8 goes 0-2. Cloud9 has both more to gain and to lose in this race, not just because they avoid Relegations by beating out T8, but because they could possibly still go to Regionals and Worlds because of the high number of Championship Points they earned in the Spring Split.
Enemy (4-12)
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Opponents: Team SoloMid (10-6) & Team Dignitas (9-7)
Enemy has an outside chance at 7th place, but their schedule doesn't help them much. On top of having to go 2-0 this week, they need Team 8 to go 0-2, AND they need Cloud9 to go 1-1 or worse. It's possible, but it'll be tough.
Team Dragon Knights (1-15)
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Opponents: Cloud9 (5-11) & Gravity (10-4)
TDK's fate is sealed no matter what. They are headed for the Challenger Series.
RIP.
How do you think the final week will play out? Let us know on Twitter or in the comments below and make sure to tune into the NA LCS this Saturday at 12:00pm PT to find out!
Frank Fields is a Senior Editor for Riot Games' Esports Web Content team. Join him in the Glorious Evolution. Or follow him on Twitter.
