LCS Spring Split Week One recapped - all of the bans, picks and action

Week 1 of the North America League of Legends Championship Series Spring Split has come to a close after three days of intense matches.

(Credit: lolesports)

2020 brings us revivals of Evil Geniuses, Dignitas, and Immortals, while other teams enjoy rosters with a mix of new players and veterans. Here’s a recap of all the action below:

Day 1

Game 1: Cloud9 vs. Team Liquid

Bans

• Cloud9: Irelia/Ornn/Lucian/Ekko/Orianna
• Team Liquid: Akali/Qiyana/Rumble/Zoe/LeBlanc

Picks

Cloud9

Eric "Licorice" Ritchie: Aatrox
Robert "Blaber" Huang: Lee Sin
Yasin "Nisqy" Dinçer: Veigar
Jesper "Zven" Svenningsen: Aphelios
Philippe "Vulcan" Laflamme: Tahm Kench

Team Liquid

Jung "Impact" Eon-yeong: Mordekaiser
Shern "Shernfire" Cherng Tai*: Jarvan IV
Nicolaj "Jensen" Jensen: Azir
Yiliang "Doublelift" Peng: Senna
Jo "CoreJJ" Yong-in: Thresh

(* in for Mads "Broxah" Brock-Pedersen)

Notable moments

• Shernfire is subbing in for Broxah who is still unable to play due to visa issues
• CoreJJ gets first blood at 11:30
• Cloud9 get the first ace of 2020 at 24 minutes
• Nisqy deathless the entire game

End result

Cloud9 wins at 25 minutes

Game 2: Counter Logic Gaming vs. Dignitas

Bans

• Counter Logic Gaming: Irelia/Qiyana/Gangplank/Aphelios/Varus
• Dignitas: Akali/Lucian/Rumble/LeBlanc/Kennen

Picks

CLG

Kim "Ruin" Hyeong-min: Ornn
Raymond "Wiggily" Griffin: Rek'Sai
Lee "Crown" Min-ho: Cassiopeia
Trevor "Stixxay" Hayes: Senna
Andy "Smoothie" Ta: Leona

Dignitas

Heo "Huni" Seung-hoon: Renekton
Jonathan "Grig" Armao: Elise
Henrik "Froggen" Hansen: Viktor
Johnson "Johnsun" Nguyen: Ashe
Zaqueri "Aphromoo" Black: Tahm Kench

Notable moments

• Wiggly first blood at 3:35
• Wiggly steals Cloud drake from Dignitas at 35:05
• Dignitas grabs the ace at 40:05
• Grig deathless

End result

Dignitas wins at 40:10

Game 3: 100 Thieves vs. Golden Guardians

Bans

• 100 Thieves: Qiyana/Rumble/Senna/Vlad/Lee Sin
• Golden Guardians: Akali/Lucian/Aphelios/Lissandra/Elise

Picks

Kim "Ssumday" Chan-ho: Gangplank
William "Meteos" Hartman: Gragas
Tommy "Ryoma" Lee: Zoe
Cody "Cody Sun" Sun: Miss Fortune
William "Stunt" Chen: Leona

Kevin "Hauntzer" Yarnell: Ornn
Can "Closer" Çelik: Jarvan IV
Greyson "Goldenglue" Gilmer: LeBlanc
Victor "FBI" Huang: Varus
Yuri "Keith" Jew: Braum

Notable moments

• Ssumday with first blood at 11:20
• Pause at 14:16 due to a mouse issue for Meteos
• Meteos steals the Elder dragon at 34 minutes after only having 100hp during the team fight

End result

100 Thieves win the game at 38 minutes

Game 4: Immortals vs FlyQuest

Bans

• Immortals: Rumble/Elise/Braum/Camille/Tahm Kench
• FlyQuest: Akali/Ornn/Qiyana/LeBlanc/Gragas

Picks

Paul "Soaz" Boyer: Aatrox
Jake "Xmithie" Puchero: Trundle
Jérémy "Eika" Valdenaire: Lucian
Johnny "Altec" Ru: Cassiopeia
Nickolas "Hakuho" Surgent: Thresh

Omran "V1per" Shoura: Riven
Lucas "Santorin" Tao Kilmer Larsen: Lee Sin
Tristan "PowerofEvil" Schrage: Viktor
Jason "WildTurtle" Tran: Senna
Lee "IgNar" Dong-geun: Blitzcrank

Notable moments

• Eika gets first blood at 3:30
• FlyQuest get the ace at 38 minutes
• IgNar and V1per deathless

End result

FlyQuest win at 38 minutes

Day 2

Game 1: Dignitas vs. Evil Geniuses

Bans

• Dignitas: Qiyana/Irelia/Ornn/Jarvan IV/LeBlanc
• Evil Geniuses: Rumble/Akali/Lucian/Elise/Olaf

Picks

Huni: Gangplank
Grig: Lee Sin
Froggen: Orianna
Johnsun: Senna
Aphromoo: Braum

Colin "Kumo" Zhao: Aatrox
Dennis "Svenskeren" Johnsen: Gragas
Daniele "Jiizuke" di Mauro: Azir
Bae "Bang" Jun-sik: Aphelios
Tristan "Zeyzal" Stidam: Tahm Kench

Notable moments

• Johnsun gets first blood at 13:24
• Grig chases Svenskeren halfway across the map to kill him, both with very limited health. He does, in fact, get the kill
• Johnsun, Bang, and Aphromoo all deathless

End result

Dignitas win at 28 minutes

Game 2: TSM vs Immortals

Bans

• TSM: Irelia/Mordekaiser/Cassiopeia/Aphelios/Pantheon
• Immortals: Akali/Qiyana/Lucian/Olaf/Camille

Picks

Sergen "BrokenBlade" Çelik: Rumble
Joshua "Dardoch" Hartnett: Lee Sin
Søren "Bjergsen" Bjerg: LeBlanc
Kasper "Kobbe" Kobberup: Senna
Vincent "Biofrost" Wang: Tahm Kench

Soaz: Aatrox
Xmithie: Elise
Eika: Zoe
Altec: Ezreal
Hakuho: Braum

Notable moments

• Kobbe with first blood at 12:24
• Longest game of the Spring Split so far with a total of 61:15
• Kobbe and Altec deathless

End result

Immortals (finally) wins at 61:15

Game 3: Golden Guardians vs. Cloud9

Bans

• Golden Guardians: Elise/Irelia/Lucian/LeBlanc/Gangplank
• Cloud9: Akali/Rumble/Qiyana/Vlad/Orianna

Picks

Hauntzer: Aatrox
Closer: Rek'Sai
Goldenglue: Diana
FBI: Senna
Keith: Tahm Kench

Licorice: Camille
Blaber: Lee Sin
Nisqy: Zoe
Zven: Aphelios
Vulcan: Nautilus

Notable moments

• Closer first blood at 6:36
• Using rift herald, Cloud9 was able to take down 3 towers in the top lane, including one in the Golden Guardians’ base
• Cloud9 get the ace at 23:18
• Zven was deathless

End result

Cloud9 wins at 33:34

Game 4: FlyQuest vs. Counter Logic Gaming

Bans

• FlyQuest: Lucian/Elise/Qiyana/LeBlanc/Ornn
• Counter Logic Gaming: Akali/Riven/Lee/Thresh/Orianna

V1per: Aatrox
Santorin: Rek'Sai
PowerofEvil: Rumble
WildTurtle: Aphelios
IgNar: Leona

Ruin: Camille
Wiggily: Jarvan IV
Crown: Zoe
Stixxay: Senna
Smoothie: Nautilus

Notable moments

• Santorin with first blood at 3:20, which turned into an immediate double kill seconds later
• V1per and IgNar deathless
• From this game, FlyQuest plant 129 trees

End result

FlyQuest wins at 31:30

Day 3

Game 1: Evil Geniuses vs. 100 Thieves

Bans

Evil Geniuses: Gangplank/Rumble/Lucian/Elise/Gragas
100 Thieves: Akali/Aphelios/Qiyana/Jarvan IV/Zoe

Picks

Kumo: Mordekaiser
Svenskeren: Lee Sin
Jiizuke: LeBlanc
Bang: Senna
Zeyzal: Tahm Kench

Ssumday: Aatrox
Meteos: Olaf
Ryoma: Ryze
Cody Sun: Xayah
Stunt: Rakan

Notable moments

• Svenskeren with first blood at 5:15
• Bang and Zeyzal deathless

End result

Evil Geniuses win at 39:07

Game 2: Team Liquid vs. TSM

Bans

Team Liquid: Lucian/Qiyana/Aphelios/Irelia/LeBlanc
TSM: Rumble/Akali/Senna/Vlad/Aatrox

Picks

Impact: Ornn
Shernfire (in for Broxah): Jarvan IV
Jensen: Orianna
Doublelift: Xayah
CoreJJ: Rakan

BrokenBlade: Gangplank
Dardoch: Elise
Bjergsen: Zilean
Kobbe: Miss Fortune
Biofrost: Leona

Notable moments

• Dardoch gets first blood 2:46
• Doublelift dies twice in under four minutes, bot kills by Dardoch
• Impact, Jensen, BrokenBlade, and CoreJJ deathless

End result

Team Liquid wins at 39:24

MVP of the week

Henrik "Froggen" Hansen of Team Dignitas

And there you have it! Week 1 is a wrap, but be sure to catch more weekly recaps here and check out Week 2 of the LCS Spring Split beginning 1st February at 22:00 GMT (13:00 CET / 02:00 PST).

You can catch it on YouTube, the LCS Twitch channel and lolesports.com.