Team Liquid defeated TSM 3-1 in the opening match of the LCS 2021 Mid-Season Showdown on Saturday.
Sunday’s match will have Cloud9 facing 100 Thieves.
The inaugural Showdown, which replaces the League of Legends spring playoffs of years past, runs through April 10-11, the Finals Weekend, and is being contested at the Los Angeles Greek Theater with no fans allowed to attend.
The six-team field is made up of the top six finishers in the LCS spring standings. The top four from spring, who are in action this weekend, begin the Showdown in the upper bracket, and the other two — Evil Geniuses and Dignitas — begin in the lower bracket, with a double-elimination format.
All matches are best-of-five.
The winner gets an invitation to the 2021 Mid-Season Invitational in May in Reykjavik, Iceland.
Team Liquid won the first two rounds in 43 and 33 minutes, lost the third round in 28 minutes, and clinched the match with a 36-minute win.
Edward “Tactical” Ra of the U.S. led the winners with a kills-deaths-assists ratio of 17-9-36. Lawrence “Lost” Sze Yuy Hui of New Zealand led TSM at 19-13-14.
Team Liquid awaits the Cloud9-100 Thieves winner for a match in Round 2 on the weekend of April 3-4. TSM drops down to the lower bracket to meet Evil Geniuses on March 27.
–Field Level Media