The penultimate LCS game of the season will determine which team will face Cloud9 in the 2023 LCS Summer Finals.
The Lower Bracket Finals won’t be the first NRG vs Team Liquid series of the LCS Summer Playoffs. These two teams faced each other in the first round of the playoffs and the series ended with a 3-1 victory for NRG, who were the lower-seeded team coming into the postseason. But the second time won’t be under the same conditions. As TL have some considerable momentum behind them as they won their last three series during the Lower Bracket run, while NRG is coming off a hard 0-3 defeat against Cloud9.
NRG vs Team Liquid Preview
NRG
The biggest factor in the NRG’s victory over TL last time was hands down their star mid laner Palafox. He was dominating the rookie TL mid laner, APA, both in lane and outside of it—making it really hard for Team Liquid to make any plays around the map. This game plan really needs to stick a second time around, considering the side lanes for NRG have been really up and down this postseason, and jungle is still not in a carry meta.
The bot duo will also need to step up. FBI and IgNar had some really good games, but they also had equally bad performances. Considering how effective the TL bot lane is at stabilizing 2v2 lanes, even if they aren’t winning it, they need to work extra to get advantages.
Team Liquid
Lower Bracket has been a godsend for Team Liquid in some aspects. Even though no team really wants to be in that position, they really made the best out of it. With every win on the books, TL has been getting better and better, and closing down their biggest weaknesses—namely the individual performances from APA and Pyosik.
The rookie mid laner definitely found his comfort zone lately, playing more supportive picks like Neeko and Ahri. He is helped by Pyosik remembering he is a Worlds winning jungler and deciding he can play carries and actually carry. With these two in form, and with Summit having a massive advantage over Dhokla, TL has a very good chance of getting early leads through their top side and finding angles to close out games.
NRG vs Team Liquid Predictions
Normally the fact NRG won the first round between these teams, and Team Liquid coming from the Lower Bracket, would mean the former would be the favorites to win this series as well. But considering TL is a team with better talent—arguably—and more experience, it is hard to bet against them. I expect TL to be the team to move to the LCS Finals this Sunday with a 3-1 victory over NRG.
How to watch NRG vs Team Liquid
Fans can watch the game on the official LoL Esports website for the chance to earn exclusive drops from Riot, which will be available throughout the whole event. Or you can catch the action on LCS Twitch and Youtube channels.
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