Rift Rivals has come and gone and now the focus is solely on the Summer Split and obtaining those championship points to secure your spot for Worlds. The winner of the Summer Split automatically qualifies, but every team will be fighting for those championship points because at the very least, you want to participate in the Regional Qualifiers to survive the gauntlet and take the 3rd and last spot at Worlds. Currently, Team Liquid sits in 1st with 90 points, followed by 100 Thieves with 70 points, and then Echo Fox with 50 points to round out the Top 3. Everyone of these teams are currently sitting at 4-2 and atop the NA LCS standings. 100 Thieves just traded their jungler Meteos and will be going through a slight transition period, but they are on a 4 game winning streak. Echo Fox has also been playing around with their mid and support players, promoting Damonte and Fend from their Academy team from time to time. The other team at 4-2 is Team SoloMid, who only have 10 points, and they need a strong performance this summer split, but questions about their former jungler MikeYeung and current jungler Grig have made some fans worried. I think Team Liquid and Echo Fox can continue their strong play and will take the #1 and #2 seeds, which would give them an automatic bye into the semifinals. This also ensures that they will receive a minimum of 30 points in the Summer Split. Team Liquid should qualify for Worlds either by winning the Summer Split (as the 1st seed) or as the team with the most championship points (as the 2nd seed). I think Echo Fox should be in a similar situation as they should easily make it to the Summer Split Finals (avoiding Team Liquid until then).
This leaves the remaining teams to fight for spots in the Regional Qualifier. 100 Thieves will make it in based on the Spring Split finish, while I see Team SoloMid performing well enough in the Summer Split to also in the mix. I predict that Clutch Gaming will miss playoffs, but their 30 points will sneak them in. The final spot will be a battle between some old foes in Cloud9 and Counter Logic Gaming. I see both teams making playoffs, but with Cloud9's slow start they will finish 6th and be eliminated in the 1st round of playoffs while Counter Logic Gaming will advance and their Top 4 finish will give them the edge. There has been some crazy gauntlet runs in the past, but I think the stability of Team SoloMid will shine through and allow them to qualify for Worlds as the 3rd seed beating the likes of Counter Logic Gaming, Clutch Gaming, and 100 Thieves.
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