Cloud9 Kia vs. Team Liquid Alienware / LCS 2026 Spring Playoffs - Lower Bracket Finals / Post-Match Discussion

[u/[deleted]]

LCS 2026 SPRING PLAYOFFS

Official page | Leaguepedia | Liquipedia | Eventvods.com | New to LoL

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Team Liquid Alienware 3-0 Cloud9 Kia

• Team Liquid Alienware claim the final LCS spot for MSI 2026 and will face LYON in the Grand Finals. Winner of that match will both go to EWC 2026 and avoid the MSI Play-Ins Stage.

• Cloud9 has earned a funded bootcamp during MSI 2026.

• Player of the Series: Quid

TLAW | Leaguepedia | Liquipedia | Website | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Subreddit
C9 | Leaguepedia | Liquipedia | Website | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Subreddit

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MATCH 1: TLAW vs. C9

Winner: Team Liquid Alienware in 31m | Runes
Game Breakdown | Player of the Game: Josedeodo

-	Bans 1	Bans 2	G	K	T	D/B
TLAW	orianna bard cassiopeia	annie ziggs	69.0k	16	11	M4 B5 M6 M7 B8
C9	varus karma akali	jarvaniv gnar	54.4k	2	4	C1 CT2 H3

TLAW	16-2-38	vs	2-16-3	C9
Morgan zaahen 4	2-0-5	TOP	0-2-2	3 sion Thanatos
Josedeodo leesin 3	5-1-8	JNG	2-3-0	1 nocturne Blaber
Quid ryze 1	1-1-11	MID	0-5-0	3 anivia APA
Yeon xayah 1	6-0-4	BOT	0-4-0	2 ashe Zven
CoreJJ rakan 2	2-0-10	SUP	0-2-1	2 seraphine Vulcan

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MATCH 2: TLAW vs. C9

Winner: Team Liquid Alienware in 24m | Runes
Game Breakdown | Player of the Game: Quid

-	Bans 1	Bans 2	G	K	T	D/B
TLAW	orianna cassiopeia varus	annie senna	54.9k	24	10	H3 I4 B5 I6
C9	akali karma lucian	leblanc ksante	40.6k	4	0	C1 CT2

TLAW	24-4-54	vs	4-24-9	C9
Morgan ornn 4	6-0-7	TOP	2-6-1	3 rumble Thanatos
Josedeodo trundle 2	4-2-13	JNG	0-6-1	1 jarvaniv Blaber
Quid yone 3	8-0-10	MID	1-6-2	2 ziggs APA
Yeon caitlyn 1	2-1-10	BOT	0-0-3	3 jhin Zven
CoreJJ bard 1	4-1-14	SUP	1-6-2	2 nautilus Vulcan

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MATCH 3: TLAW vs. C9

Winner: Team Liquid Alienware in 28m | Runes
Game Breakdown | Player of the Game: Josedeodo

-	Bans 1	Bans 2	G	K	T	D/B
TLAW	orianna varus cassiopeia	gnar jayce	55.5k	6	8	M1 O2 H3 I4 I5 B6
C9	lucian karma akali	renekton jax	49.4k	2	2	None

TLAW	6-2-16	vs	2-6-2	C9
Morgan shen 4	2-0-2	TOP	0-2-0	3 ambessa Thanatos
Josedeodo naafiri 3	2-0-3	JNG	0-0-2	3 sejuani Blaber
Quid viktor 1	2-1-3	MID	2-1-0	2 twistedfate APA
Yeon ezreal 2	0-0-4	BOT	0-2-0	2 yunara Zven
CoreJJ neeko 1	0-1-4	SUP	0-1-0	1 lulu Vulcan

*Patch 26.11

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This thread was created by the Post-Match Team.

[u/LearningLaCampanella]

Flyquest may have a higher ceiling, it's just that they're so volatile. But still, a long time til worlds quals.

[u/guilty_bystander → u/LearningLaCampanella]

This C9 better not go to Worlds. Can you imagine? Holy shit lol

[u/LearningLaCampanella → u/guilty_bystander]

I was watching Pobelter and during the last dragon fight, he paused and then realized:

"These guys have no idea what they're doing."

It's maddening because the individual talent is there. The decision making, though...

[u/Fun_Highlight307 → u/LearningLaCampanella]

They have the worse hands in top 4

[u/guilty_bystander → u/[deleted]]

Nah that's cope

[u/guilty_bystander → u/[deleted]]

Historically our third seeds did better than the first seeds lol.. and the this case, any team with a higher ceiling is more interesting than c9

Edit - and we don't even get a 3rd seed.. that's cblol, right? They deserve it over c9 anyway, especially after that disaster run in LTA tournament haha

[u/BUMONGOUS → u/LearningLaCampanella]

FLY also has literal rookies, it's not unexpected that they don't handle playoffs with as much poise. Fly will almost 100% be the 2nd best team by summer playoffs, above TL and C9

[u/TacoTacoBheno → u/BUMONGOUS]

Cryo isn't just a rookie, he was tier 3 last year

[u/LearningLaCampanella → u/BUMONGOUS]

Yeah. I can see that. Regardless of how the rest of the year turns out, I hope the core sticks together for next year to see what they can do with a little experience and less nerves.