TSM

Team SoloMid finished the regular season in 2nd place on the leaderboard, but in the first round of the playoffs, they had to face one of the league favorites, Team Liquid, and suffered a defeat in a best-of-five series with a score of 1-3. This loss meant that TSM, having fallen to the losers' bracket, will need to pass at least two more stages to fight for a spot in the semifinals or even the finals, with each stage being decisive if the team loses another series.

TSM's regular season was like a roller coaster – a sluggish start, then gaining momentum, a downturn, and a strong finish. In the first half of the regular season, TSM seemed completely uncoordinated, with each player focusing on their own matters. However, as the season progressed, we saw much more initiative to create plays based on team actions and utilizing the strengths of their compositions. PoverOfEvil (PoE) continues to prove that he deserves to be called one of the best NA LCS Mid-lane players, while Spica showed this season that he was underestimated in the previous season.

Overall, TSM has individually strong players this season, but it is no longer the same team that played with Bjergsen. Building a new team core will likely take more than one season, and the first playoff series with Team Liquid already showed that without raising their game to a higher level, TSM's playoff journey could end very early.

Evil Geniuses

Evil Geniuses, who finished in just 6th place in the regular season, are not as weak a team as their position on the leaderboard might suggest. Although the regular season did not go as the team had hoped, the playoffs have arrived, and this team, with many experienced and top-level tournament players in their lineup, will certainly show their worth.

Evil Geniuses have a multiple LCS champion, one of the best Top lane players in both America and Europe, Impact. One of the best NA LCS jungle players, Svenskeren, also has vast experience in both the LCS and Worlds scene. Additionally, the team includes IgNar (Support) and Jiizuke (Mid-lane). All LEC fans remember these players well, as they are very talented and play with a high-risk, high-reward principle.

This season, the biggest thing Evil Geniuses lack is stability – in several matches, they proved they could play with the strongest teams in the region, but at times, they had problems playing against potentially much weaker teams. Comparing EG and TSM, it can be said that the main advantage of Evil Geniuses is a much more stable and currently higher-level Top-Jungle duo, while TSM's Bottom lane looked stronger than EG's. The key moment will be the performance of the Mid-lane players, who will gain priority and be able to create advantages for themselves and their teammates.

Prediction

An impressive series awaits, at the end of which one team will advance to the next stage, while the other, unfortunately, will have their season ended. It is almost certain that EG will try to play through the Top lane and give their most experienced player an advantage over Huni, but TSM should respond by trying to exploit their Bot lane advantage. Each player can be evaluated individually, speculating on who is potentially better, etc., but the fact remains – in this series, the teams' chances are completely equal, and any team that plays a higher-quality series will emerge victorious. With equal opportunities, it is always advised to support the higher coefficient – in this case, EG.