Afreeca Freecs (AFS) vs. Cloud9 (C9)

Prediction: C9 3-2

Let me start by saying that I don’t think C9 could’ve asked for a better 1st seed to play against. Afreeca Freecs, the second seed from the LCK who qualified on Riot’s point system, has not been playing to their highest level this tournament. In their playoff run in Korea, they showed off their ability to execute well on late game team fights and wave manipulation. Unfortunately, they’ve continued to play for the late game in a world championship that has rewarded high pace playstyles. C9, who qualified as the LCS’s 3rd seed after they beat TeamSoloMid 3-0 in the gauntlet finals, also showed weaknesses in the play-in stage but surpassed many expectations with an extremely strong performance in the group stages going 3-0 on the second day.

This series won’t be a cake in the walk for either team which I why this series should go to five games. AFS has advantages in the bot lane and jungle, but they’ve shown an affinity to play towards top side hoping for Kramer and TusiN to win lane on their own. Likewise, they rarely put Kuro on a lane bully. Instead, they opt him into a lane that can clear the wave quickly and move towards the side lanes easier. C9’s advantages are strictly in the mid lane because the top lane match-up between Kiin and Licorice seems to be evenly matched and heavily dependent on the outcome of the draft. C9, like AFS, has often opted to give fewer resources to their bot lane and focus on getting Licorice priority so that he has better windows to move his pressure to other lanes. Since both teams want to get their top laner on a winning match-up, the drafting throughout these five games to be important to focus on, but I think C9’s momentum and their aggression in the early game to make plays will up their secure North America’s first semifinal appearance at the world championships.

AFS’s Win Conditions: Draft top priority to keep Licorice in lane, play towards your winning bot side, control vision early

Since C9 depends so heavily on Licorice moving his pressure to another part of the map, it’s in AFS’s best interest to curtail his roaming potential as much as possible. Plus, I think Kiin needs to be in a winning match-up for Afreeca to make plays whereas Licorice will play Ornn four games in a row to help his team. At the same time, I’d prefer to see Afreeca play towards their strength in bot side. If Kiin is one of the best top laners at the tournament, he should be able to mitigate top side as much as possible. Finally, if they control vision early, it should be harder for C9 to play as aggressively as they did in the group stages.

C9’s Win Conditions: Draft mid/jungle priority to have better control of vision/mobility to side waves, play for/make plays around tempo advantages, and adapt between games

C9 have always been a team that plays around their mid/jungle pressure extremely well, and it’s this duo that enables their jungler to look for invades or plays onto the side lanes. C9 has also done well to play around the pressure that Licorice always manages to create on the map. They’re constantly looking for timings to bring Licorice towards the team and force fights with a number advantage. Lastly, they’ve been the team that’s been using more quirky picks and exploiting the draft phase the most, so I hope they still have a couple cards up their sleeve to find similar advantages.

Fnatic (FNC) vs Edward Gaming (EDG)

Prediction: FNC 3-0

This year is looking like it’s going to be the “Year of Fnatic”. After losing their world championship quarterfinal match to Royal Never Give Up last year, FNC came into the 2018 season sporting the same roster with the addition of rookie top laner, Bwipo. Since they’ve added Bwipo, they’ve dominated the EU LCS, but they have yet to look better than they do right now. EDG, on the other hand, has shown weakness throughout the year with questions surrounding whether they could win the LPL’s gauntlet. However, since they’ve arrived at the world championships, they’ve shown their ability to play towards their bot lane and play at a fast pace. The question for EDG is whether they can show the same signs of brilliance that led them to beat the best team in the tournament, KT Rolster.

Even though EDG played well enough to beat KT, I still think FNC have this series in their hands. In the group stage, FNC showed their ability to play a fast pace early game against the fastest team in China, Invictus Gaming, so I doubt EDG will be as much of a threat. Additionally, FNC has better or evenly matched players at every position except support where I’d give a slight edge to Meiko. As long Broxah plays at the level he’s shown this whole tournament, FNC should make it to another semifinal appearance in a 3-0 passion.

FNC’s Win Conditions: Play Soaz first and set the pace you want to play at, draft Broxah an early game jungler and Caps a lane dominant mid, and play your own game.

Like I said, this series should be in their own hands, so I don’t think there’s much they NEED to do to ensure a win. Letting Soaz play first would be beneficial because he’s a rock for the team when he’s on the map whereas Bwipo is a bit more of a wildcard. Also, if they secure a good 2v2 match-up or just Broxah on a champion with priority in the draft, they will have an easier time controlling the map and winning. The last one is a bit obvious, but if avoid falling into a game where EDG is controlling the pace of the game, and instead, play the way they want, they should win easy peasy.

EDG’s Win Conditions: Draft Scout something he can play safe on like Azir, Galio, or Lissandra, play towards your top side instead of throwing everything at bot side, and stay away from drafting/playing standard.

EDG will have to play the best they have all year to be able to win this series, and I think that starts with getting Scout on something he doesn’t feel threatened on. Caps is FNC’s #1 carry threat no matter how hard Broxah wants that spot. Caps always looking to make something happen for his team, so mitigating his playmaking potential should be a top priority. Likewise, throughout the entire year, EDG has shown a desire to play towards their bot side, often committing all 5 members to get iBoy an advantage. Unfortunately for EDG, FNC has shown the same affinity and actually set up and execute on their bot plays even better than EDG, so I think it’s time to see if Ray is still able to play a carry-style in the top lane. Lastly, I think EDG’s greatest strength is making team fights overwhelming for their opponents, so they should draft high mobility champions and utilize their mobility to make fights more hectic for FNC.