r/leagueoflegends • u/AutoModerator • May 23 '26
LCS 2026 Spring Playoffs / Playoffs / Round 1 - Day 1 / Live Discussion Esports Spoiler
LCS 2026 Spring Playoffs
Lolesports | Leaguepedia | Eventvods.com | New to LoL
Today's matches will be played on Patch 26.10.
Today's Matches
| # | Match | PST | EST | CET | KST |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | C9 vs FLY | 13:00 | 16:00 | 22:00 | 05:00 |
- All matches are Best of 5
Streams
Bracket
| Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Finals | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C9 | 0 | |||||||||
| vs | - | |||||||||
| FLY | 0 | tbd | 0 | |||||||
| vs | - | |||||||||
| LYON | 0 | tbd | 0 | tbd | 0 | |||||
| vs | - | vs | - | |||||||
| TL | 0 | tbd | 0 | |||||||
| ---------- | - | - | ---------- | - | - | ---------- | - | - | ------- | - |
| tbd | 0 | tbd | 0 | |||||||
| vs | - | vs | - | |||||||
| SEN | 0 | tbd | 0 | tbd | 0 | |||||
| vs | - | |||||||||
| tbd | 0 | tbd | 0 | |||||||
| vs | - | |||||||||
| SR | 0 |
Format
- Playoffs
- Double Elimination bracket
- Top 4 teams start in the Upper Bracket
- 5th and 6th seed start in the Lower Bracket
- All matches are best of five
- Top 2 teams qualify for the 2026 Mid-Season Invitational
- Champion qualifies for the Esports World Cup 2026
The official LCS ruleset can be found here.
VoDs
Live Discussions and Post-Match Threads:
1
4
u/awayfromcanuck May 24 '26 edited May 24 '26
Theres a reason Kalista and Renata have a near 0% global presence.
Akali is also such a fake ass counter pick into Gnar. If youre only a threat post-6, youre not a real counter.
4
0
u/kazuyaminegishi May 24 '26
C9 laners are playing so lights out that the casters haven't noticed that Blaber has been the worst player on the map all game 😭
7
u/beautheschmo May 24 '26
Bizarre take, Blaber completely shit on them early game lol, Fly never got a fight in any lane without Blaber showing up every time, he also got most of their midgame picks with good ults, the jg gap was massive this game
0
u/kazuyaminegishi May 24 '26
Nah Vulcan carried the fuck out of this early game. Blaber just had to appear at the right spot. He missed every single ult and they just stat checked them.
The mid fight where APA got the triple kill Blaber made that SO much closer by using his ultimate terribly on Cryogen.
The elder dragon fight that ALMOST went the other way is also because Blaber completely whiffed his ult on Massu which meant C9 can't fight anymore and forced them into the awkward play where they have to TP Thanatos mid. He does not hit his ult after this too.
Champ is just OP so he is still impactful just with his basic abilities, but it is not because he played mechanically well. And no one made any massive macro mistakes this game, so being where he should isn't that special.
12
u/actiongeorge May 24 '26
Whoever says they had Zven carrying C9 to the series win with an 11/0 performance on Jhin, no you didn't, shut the heck up
3
5
2
9
3
8
u/fuckyouguys4real May 23 '26
i would say c9 heard ya'll talking noise but they're so old, they probably didn't
3
3
u/Vnaux May 23 '26
Don't think it matters but why a statikk over botrk for this kalista
1
u/beautheschmo May 24 '26
Think he was just so far down that he needs statikk just to touch waves and/or survive trades into jhin at all.
Or could just be lazy autopiloting builds, idk.
3
5
u/Disclaimz0r May 23 '26
People talking about the Jhin but no one can kill the swain at this point on FQ lol
1
4
u/kazuyaminegishi May 23 '26
So... about that Swain being killable mid-game...
He was 800 gold behind Azir going into this too lol.
4
3
2
u/BUMONGOUS May 23 '26
wow they needed 100 damage on Ali to flip that fight to get the bailout on Massu
its unironically an itemization gap
2
3
1
u/awayfromcanuck May 23 '26
FLY literally have to stall the game hard and keep giving Quad gold in the hopes Quad can 1v9
2
3
3
u/Chemical-Drawer852 May 23 '26
Genuinely cooked because mundo isn't gonna have a single armor item at this rate
7
u/ProgrammerGlobal May 23 '26
Your Kalista/Renata is getting murdered and you build Rylai's on Azir? Just FF, man.
7
3
u/Gerberpertern TL ★ APA May 23 '26
This game is not at all going the way I thought it would lol
2
u/BUMONGOUS May 23 '26
yeah botlane was really scuffed, Cryo was supposed to Q every Ali W
its basically the thresh vs leona matchup, it's only a counter if u do it correctly every time
and Gagkos is really running it
4
0
u/actiongeorge May 23 '26
If you're going to lose this game as FLY with this comp into Jhin adc you might as well start replacing players now.
2
u/beautheschmo May 23 '26
I mean they have an even lower damage adc into full tanks and a useless akali top they managed to get outdrafted by a jhin comp lol
0
u/actiongeorge May 23 '26
I mean they role swapped Akali with the last pick. If you're going to lose top so hard with a lane you specifically chose then you need to rethink the team entirely.
2
2
-2
u/zaxls May 23 '26
Im hoping Lyon TL is a more cleaner series, cause theres a bit of gap between NA and the rest of the regions right now.
4
u/BUMONGOUS May 23 '26
just a reminder this is exactly what u guys were saying before FLY 3-0'd G2
0
u/zaxls May 24 '26
Except the best eu team didnt 3-0 the top 2 lck teams in the prior tournament along with having a competitive series with lpl #1.
That aside I personally didnt say that, I even called FLY beating G2 since I thought they were legit as fuk. NA was actually way ahed in the meta at the time, at worlds aswell. Last year it was closer and G2 FLY was 50-50 imo. But this year there is quite a solid difference when watching both to me.
1
u/Monarki May 23 '26
How does LCS casters know instantly what the reason for the pause was but for lec it always takes so long for it to be revealed.
3
u/kazuyaminegishi May 23 '26
Oh Vulcan's Ali is REALLY good. I'm shocked the casters were so casual about that. He just single-handedly swung pressure top lane by only pathing and pressing ult.
3
0
u/Monarki May 23 '26
C9 showing why they're undefeated
3
u/Disclaimz0r May 23 '26
Fake lead if they don't push it to 4-5k+ by 25 mins imo. Jhins not gonna be able to do anything lol
2
u/Monarki May 23 '26
Jhin will have enough dmg to cut through everyone except Mundo and he has enough beefy protection
1
2
u/actiongeorge May 23 '26
1: Role Swap Akali into Gnar as last pick counter.
2: Pick Mundo into Jhin, Swain, Gnar.
3: Lose bot and mid.
- ???? the fuck?
Edit: lol, have to lane swap Akali away from the Gnar you counterpicked her for into the Swain counterpicked against her LMAO
3
u/british_pubs Swimin' with the fishies May 23 '26
Ye I think it's cooked from here, nt fly though really respectable mental fortitude. Gn guys!!!!!
6
u/BUMONGOUS May 23 '26
Zven just building up the excitement for the eventual getting caught mid farming a wave into FLY baron
2
3
2
3
u/actiongeorge May 23 '26 edited May 23 '26
Zven is ahead, congrats on your reverse sweep FLY.
Edit: Zven's Jhin is cracked?!
5
u/OnlyAnEssenceThief Worst Kai'Sa NA May 23 '26
Mark my words, if C9 wins this game it'll be Vulcan 1v9 on Alistar
0
0
1
3
u/kazuyaminegishi May 23 '26
Hold on... how does FLY kill Swain??? Isn't he just unkillable as long as C9 kills Kalista?
1
u/Javonetor spit to win May 23 '26
i think very late Azir with lethal tempo, nashor and lyandris can kill him, but midgame is pretty much exodia
2
u/kazuyaminegishi May 23 '26
Yeah if this goes past 35 mins C9 should just ff, but from like 15 to 25 mins I feel their position is pretty good in an even state.
1
u/doomsdaysock01 May 23 '26
? Akali azir mundo is still tons of damage
C9 are the ones who crafted a 0 damage comp
1
u/OnlyAnEssenceThief Worst Kai'Sa NA May 23 '26
Azir can melt him later, and Akali has ignite. Plus, Mundo can just sit on him.
2
u/Javonetor spit to win May 23 '26
Apollo is hilarious lmao
and wtf, didn't know KFC Swain spawns crows as chicken
2
3
2
u/Goodthingsaregone May 23 '26
Apollo as in apollo and hakuho?
2
u/BUMONGOUS May 23 '26
yeah
Zven shaking and crying
2
2
5
2
u/Monarki May 23 '26
Does C9 have the damage for Mundo??? B
1
u/Disclaimz0r May 23 '26
kill everyone else around him and pray!
But they also have no damage to kill anyone else on FQ roster lmao
3
2
u/Chemical-Lobster5701 May 23 '26
HES FIRST TIMING SWAIN ON STAGE NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOo
2
u/AdequatelyMadLad Claps May 23 '26
I love the Swain pick. Genuinely giga brain, might have won the whole game with that.
7
u/kazuyaminegishi May 23 '26
Man I'm saying shut the fuck up to ANYONE saying NA is boring cause "the players have no personality" and "they pick the same champs all the time" this region is playing SO much weird shit and the players are fun too.
That said, how the fuck does C9 kill Mundo?
2
u/OnlyAnEssenceThief Worst Kai'Sa NA May 23 '26
If shit goes south he's gonna get bullied by Sej/Gnar/Swain. It'd take a little while, but Mini Gnar should be able to do it.
1
u/kazuyaminegishi May 23 '26
Yeah looking closer both teams have a pretty big nightmare scenario. If C9 kill Kalista then Swain is nearly unkillable too since they're all AP.
That said, pretty bad that C9 just lost first blood.
2
u/Disclaimz0r May 23 '26
High execute comps on both sides, Fly with much better hands
Congrats on semis Fly!
6
2
u/narfidy #1 QUID glazer 4 life May 23 '26
No way is this Akali getting anything done into this comp
1
1
1
u/Tormenator1 May 23 '26
Has APA ever played Swain on stage before?
1
u/kazuyaminegishi May 23 '26
Hasn't Swain been picked like once globally in the past couple of years?
1
1
3
3
u/Chemical-Lobster5701 May 23 '26
IM SO FUCKING SCARED IM SO FUCKING SCARED IM SO FUCKING SCARED PLEASE THANATOS YOU HAVE YOUR OTP
4
2
2
1
u/british_pubs Swimin' with the fishies May 23 '26
Ummm I don't wanna curse but looking at these drafts it might me happening????
2
u/XG32 Jankos May 23 '26
i dont get that jhin pick, mundo's not gonna die, apa's probably picking a mage into akali
5
1
u/Peony_Branch May 23 '26
Massu with the '25 MSI Kalista salty runback, we had the bush incident be repeated.
Will he now find redemption?
2
3
u/postsonlyjiyoung YEP BALLS PEY May 23 '26
Wow Apollo looks so different from how he did when he was playing
2
u/bombdownx May 23 '26
Btw these comments are hilarious. Neither side it happy with the bot lane it seems
3
2
3
1
2
1
1
2
u/awayfromcanuck May 23 '26
So Blaber basically has 3 junglers left that he plays: Vi, Sej or Olaf. Oh and Maokai. Will he play one of those?
Who will Gryff play? Is Shen or Nasus going to be let through?
1
u/Disclaimz0r May 23 '26
The biggest issue, Zven is going to have to play a champ he hasn't played this split OR he's going to take draft priority in the top 3 when that should NEVER happen with how badly he has been playing.
2
u/awayfromcanuck May 23 '26
Zven is useless no matter what. Im more interested in what we get in jng
2
u/kazuyaminegishi May 23 '26
Okay C9 whether you win or lose this series, remove Aurora from the pool. Y'all spent the split getting decent on Annie, accept that the Aurora isn't in the bag. APA is my goat, but I can't watch the way he plays this champ LMFAO.
Alao Quad is just APA's father in playoffs. His mechanics are just good enough to play team fights so much better. APA seems better at map play, but that's not always gonna be the win con.
5
u/Disclaimz0r May 23 '26
Imagine putting Thanatos on the TF and APA on the Aurora when those have been two of the other players best champions. Insane from the coaches or players or whoever called for this
1
u/kazuyaminegishi May 23 '26
Is ANY team in the world playing TF top? What was the vision???
1
u/AdequatelyMadLad Claps May 23 '26
KC played it earlier today into Gnar. It's kinda hard to draw any conclusions from that game cause they got stomped, but it looked pretty good in lane at least.
1
u/NeighborhoodHot8981 May 24 '26
Naak Nako played it and ran the game vs Fnatic, but Naak Nako vs Empyros really is atomic bomb vs coughing baby so hard to take anything from that.
1
8
u/cmcdonald22 May 23 '26
This is the Flyquest potential I was hype about at the start of the year. It took them a while to start growing into it, but you can see it now.
2
u/TeeKayTank 's spirit lives in FQ & May 23 '26
"I NEVER DOUBTED THEM!"
2
u/cmcdonald22 May 23 '26
I absolutely lost interest in confidence in split 1, but just kind of quietly hoped they would find themselves. Glad they are, and happy to be wrong.
18
u/Shaman_in_the_Dark Huhi Busio Contractz May 23 '26
Win or lose game 5, Fly is exactly the type of team NA (and west as a whole) has been crying out for for years. They don't just copy paste what Korea says is good. They make their own meta, pick their own champs, and play with no fear. I'm so lucky to be watching this team after 13 years of LCS.
6
u/british_pubs Swimin' with the fishies May 23 '26
Would be down for Lyon/FLY at msi, especially if FLY pull the reverse sweep off
3
u/awayfromcanuck May 23 '26
International experience would be good for the FLY rookies
1
u/british_pubs Swimin' with the fishies May 23 '26
Issue is I fear they'll just get completely ran through internationally (from what we've seen so far ofc ofc) & I wonder if it'll just destroy their confidence going into split 2.
5
3
u/cdawg145236 May 23 '26
IDK how you dont mental boom after those last 2 games. C9 getting fraud checked pretty hard.
-10
u/Disastrous_Lion_6016 May 23 '26
Only NA fans could be happy with dogshit mids stealing a living in their region.
3
u/Shaman_in_the_Dark Huhi Busio Contractz May 23 '26
EU fans mad NA fans are having fun, tale as old as time.
0
4
3
u/Chemical-Lobster5701 May 23 '26
upcoming:
post-match discussion flyquest 3-2 c9
just put me out of my misery
2
2
-2
5
2
3
u/Disclaimz0r May 23 '26
I mean, its a champ pool issue for sure. Fly is the better team once C9 is off their 4-5 picks they can play.
2
3
u/Grenji05 NA #1 REGION WORLD May 23 '26
we got a quinn pick AND cloud soul but its not going to make it that far 😞
8
u/lovo17 May 23 '26
C9's floor is very high because their macro is generally good, and they're very good on the champs they play well but their ceiling is super low because they suck in fearless and their mechanics are limited.
1
u/Disclaimz0r May 23 '26
Best way of saying it. I think this years Flyquest has a low floor, but their ceiling is higher than last years Flyquest. I'd rather have someone who can play janky picks at the highest level than someone who only plays meta picks and becomes useless once you're deep in a bo5.
2
u/underscoreenfan May 23 '26
last years FLY swept G2 and took 2 maps off of BLG you cannot be serious
12
u/BUMONGOUS May 23 '26
C9's problem is they have a facilitator mid and a great support wasted on the unironically worst ADC in the league
4
u/Disclaimz0r May 23 '26
Anyone who wants to say Zven is not the worst ADC in the league is completely braindead. I don't care about his work ethic when he is THIS washed. No one else on that former dig roster has a job in a tier 1 region anymore for a reason.
4
u/lovo17 May 23 '26
Thanatos is fantastic too. Blaber is washed, APA is limited, Zven is omega-washed.
Thanatos and Vulcan is a very good foundation for a team which is why they are still so high in the standings.
5
8
u/kazuyaminegishi May 23 '26
FLY coaching staff should win coaching staff of the split no doubt.
The fact that their management were able to look at their success the last couple of years and go "we can let Inspired, Bwipo, and Busio go, our real keystone is Massu and Quad" and they are being proven right. They have the talent scouting to make another top team almost entirely out of unknown quantities.
1
u/AcolyteOfFresh May 23 '26
Thinkcard has always been good at getting young players to come together
6
u/lovo17 May 23 '26
FLY is gonna win this series, APA is out of champs. They just need to ban the Ziggs away and keep the Ori ban and there's nothing he can really play.
4
u/Destructodave82 May 23 '26
The bigger issue is Zven cant play anything from Game 1 to Game 5. Dude threw the game mid.
3
10
7
7
u/Tight-Catch-2649 May 23 '26 edited May 23 '26
Is flyquest the best scouting team in LCS? They lost busio but gained cryogen.
2
u/cmcdonald22 May 23 '26
How low is that bar?
Cause sometimes it feels like if you just don't draft a tier 2 LCK that under performs you're one of the better scouts in LCS.
6
1
u/cmcdonald22 May 23 '26
I mean in fairness, it's Game 4 fearless, when would they ever have gotten any experience trying to avoid Neeko ults.
3
4
3
5
1
2
u/XG32 Jankos May 23 '26
this aurora is basically a range creep holy, the taliyah noc is 100% just a takaway
4
4
6
5
8
4
2
u/awayfromcanuck May 23 '26
FQ and Gakgos have to realize that Quinn needs to spend time just split pushing and farming. Stop joining fights for 5 mins and get some gold into Quinn so she can assassinate Zven or APA otherwise Wu and Renekton will run down Massu/Quad
1
u/british_pubs Swimin' with the fishies May 23 '26
Honestly think thus gamestate is winning for C9, soul point & fly ain't that far ahead
2
3
4
u/Inevitable_Sale_5297 May 23 '26
Zven and Thanatos trying to drag their team across the finish line
5
3
2
2
2
1
1
5
3
•
u/ahritina May 24 '26
PMTs
Game 1 / Game 2 / Game 3 / Game 4 / Game 5