Reigning champion Evil Geniuses beat Golden Guardians on Thursday as the League Championship Series (LCS) Spring Split began.
All 10 teams in the top North American League of Legends circuit were in action on the opening day of group-stage play.
Each LCS team will play every other team twice through March 17. The first- through fourth-place teams will then head to the upper-bracket semifinals of the double-elimination playoffs. The fifth- and sixth-place teams will enter the playoffs in the lower bracket.
The winner and runner-up in the playoff final will earn berths in the Mid-Season Invitational along with other teams for LoL leagues worldwide. The LCS Spring Split carries a $200,000 prize pool, with the champion earning $100,000.
Evil Geniuses, playing on blue, needed 43 minutes to beat Golden Guardians. Australia’s Ian Victor “FBI” Huang paced Evil Geniuses with a 7-0-7 kill-death-assist ratio. South Korea’s Kim “River” Dong-woo led Golden Guardians at 7-3-5.
Cloud9, competing on blue, got past 100 Thieves in 33 minutes thanks in large part to an 11-2-8 effort from the United States’ Robert “Blaber” Huang. Ukrainian-Canadian Milan “Tenacity” Oleksij wound up at 3-5-4 for 100 Thieves.
FlyQuest, playing on red, downed Team Liquid in 32 minutes. South Korea’s Lee “Prince” Chae-hwan produced a 9-1-2 K-D-A ratio for FlyQuest, while Australia’s Harry “Haeri” Kang finished at 3-2-2.
Counter Logic Gaming, on blue, defeated Dignitas in 31 minutes behind a 4-0-4 effort from the United States’ Cristian “Palafox” Palafox. Turkey’s Irfan Berk “Armut” Tukek produced a 3-3-1 K-D-A ratio for Dignitas.
TSM, battling on red, beat Immortals in 32 minutes. Vietnam’s Toan “Neo” Tran logged a 4-1-7 K-D-A ratio for TSM. The United States’ Mohamed “Revenge” Kaddoura ended at 1-0-0 for Immortals.
Week 1 concludes Friday with five matches:
–FlyQuest vs. 100 Thieves
–TSM vs. Counter Logic Gaming
–Evil Geniuses vs. Cloud9
–Dignitas vs. Team Liquid
–Immortals vs. Golden Guardians
League Championship Series (LCS) Spring Split group-stage standings
T1. Cloud9, 1-0
T1. Counter Logic Gaming, 1-0
T1. Evil Geniuses, 1-0
T1. FlyQuest, 1-0
T1. TSM, 1-0
T6. 100 Thieves, 0-1
T6. Dignitas, 0-1
T6. Golden Guardians, 0-1
T6. Immortals, 0-1
T6. Team Liquid, 0-1
–Field Level Media
