LCS Lock In 2022 Week 2 Takeaways
Here are some of our takeaways from the second week of play LCS 2022 Lock In tournament.
André González Rodríguez
24th Jan 2022 03:12
Tina Jo/Riot Games via ESPAT
The second week of matches in the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) Lock In tournament was a doozy in itself. With one last day of group matches and eight quarterfinals matches, some LCS teams impressed. From Dignitas upset over reigning LCS champions 100 Thieves to Team Liquid bringing out a substitute top laner, there was much to take in.
With that in mind, here are some of our takeaways from the second week of play LCS 2022 Lock In tournament.
Dignitas’ Upset Over 100 Thieves
Even though they weren’t similar to the likes of Team SoloMid and Golden Guardians with a full Academy roster or Cloud9 with a mixed roster of LCS starters and Academy players, Dignitas were just missing one player, their starting jungler Kim "River" Dong-woo. There were questions pertaining to River’s LCS integration and after this week, they were answered in their quarterfinals match versus 100 Thieves.
By all rights, Dignitas being the underdog versus the reigning LCS champions 100 Thieves was the correct call. Not only did 100 Thieves maintain their championship-winning roster, which is a rarity in itself, but they were facing a team that made several changes to theirs. What ensued was a major upset of Dignitas completely outplaying the Thieves from top to bottom. Strong individual play from everyone on the team, especially from ADC, Toan "Neo" Tran and River sealed the deal.
Team Liquid’s Confidence In Substitutes Continues For Second Lock In
During last year’s Lock In tournament and the season overall, Team Liquid displayed maximum willingness to play their substitutes from their Academy team. Although not on purpose, due to various factors such as Lucas "Santorin" Larsen’s early-on visa issues and later on health-related problems, Team Liquid were forced had to bust out some second-stringers. These second-stringers, such as jungler Jonathan "Armao" Armao proved to be crucial in times of need, and once again, although not particularly at the same level, it’s happened again.
Continuing the substitution trend they’ve displayed during last week, this week they committed even more to it with the usage of Bradley "Bradley" Benneyworth in the top lane. This allowed for Steven "Hans Sama" Liv and Jo "CoreJJ" Yong-in to finally set foot in the Summoner’s Rift together.
Not only did it give a chance for what is surely going to be a great duo to finally get some LCS stage playtime, but it also brought forth Team Liquid’s ability in substitutes.
Evil Geniuses Continue Dominating
The week break did absolutely nothing to the Geniuses as they continued where they left off, dominating the Golden Guardians. Dominance all across the board, firing on all cylinders, Evil Geniuses are here to play now they just have to right the wrongs of last year’s Lock In and get past the semifinals.
This all sets up an exciting final two semifinal games of Team Liquid versus Team Dignitas and Evil Geniuses versus Cloud9. Although seen as a "throwaway tournament" or just a place for teams to get their visa issues in order, the hype that it brings down the line is undeniable.
About The Author
André González Rodríguez
André is a Freelance League of Legends Journalist at GGRecon. He has written about his state’s local esports teams such as the Florida Mayhem and the Florida Mutineers on the Valencia Voice (Valencia College’s online newspaper). André has been watching esports since 2013 spanning different titles such as Call of Duty, League of Legends, Overwatch, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Super Smash Bros. Melee, and Ultimate, as well as other FGC titles.
