LCO Split 2 2023: Chiefs claim third-straight LCO title, first seed to PCS

Our teams hit the Summoners Rift, fighting for a top-two seed to compete in the PCS playoffs–their chance at Worlds in South Korea. With the journey through playoffs now finished, The Chiefs and Team Bliss have booked their tickets for Taiwan.

• The Chiefs and Team Bliss have secured PCS playoffs slots
• With this win, The Chiefs have a total of seven Oceanic championships
• PCS playoffs will occur next month, in contention for Worlds Play-ins slots

The LCO champions were decided last night between two teams that have been neck and neck throughout the entire season.

Reunited in yet another finals, Team Bliss and The Chiefs met on the Rift for one last dance–winner takes all.

Although both teams had already secured their tickets to Taiwan, the prestige of the Oceanic title was still in contention.

Emerging from the fray on top, The Chiefs claimed their third LCO title in a row. 

The series itself gave them a run for their money, leemas claiming first blood in a botlane skirmish during the first match. Numerous back and forths left both the Brisbane teams on even ground during the early game. A failed Baron still on the part of Chiefs gave Bliss the upper hand they needed but a deep flank from Kisee caused Bliss to turn around, leaving their ADC at the mercy of The Chiefs.

Without their carry to give them a fighting chance, another couple of picks allowed Chiefs a straight march to the Nexus, setting the pace for the series to come.

The next match started off fairly similarly to begin with, both teams evenly matched as they were ready to battle around each objective. Every time one team started an objective, the other had their finger on the pulse, prepared to answer. These skirmishes went in either team’s favour–The Chiefs secured first Baron only to have four knocked down by Bliss. 

Once again, they found themselves neck and neck.

With Soul Point just out of reach for The Chiefs, an engage from Akia’s Rakan led Whynot to follow suit, only to be hard CC’ed and picked off, leemas not far behind him as he was zoned out. With the jungler off the map, The Chiefs secured the Infernal Point and a Baron straight after. 

BioPanther played his heart out on Jax to tear through Bliss, diving into their mid inhib turret for the victory.

Game three saw Daystar with a comfortable lead to start picking up a couple of kills from first blood, ready to be nurtured into the team’s carry for the game with the initial lead over Kisee.

However, The Chiefs midlaner was determined to match the heat. Once again at the Baron, Bliss snagged a couple of kills but the game was cracked wide open as The Chiefs acquired the buff. 

A missed Ornn ult onto Kisee after bot inhib was taken, combined with Bliss flanking into a chokepoint led to the start of a fight that The Chiefs had full control of. While seizing top later on, Raes’ Ziggs chipped away at Daystar, leaving Bliss with no choice but to react. A Kevy Maokai ult held Bliss in place while The Chiefs took down Akia and Leemas, allowing them to take the mid inhibitor as well.

Another overextension from Daystar in the midlane had Bliss picking another fight to save their midlaner, ending in disaster as Akia and Lived were the cost. With two Bliss members down and an open base for the taking, the series came to an end in a dominant sweep of a series–The Chiefs seventh title secured.

With first and second seed for our PCS teams secured, they’ll be competing in the playoffs next month, in contention for a slot in the Worlds play-ins later this year.

LCO Split 2 2023 Stream

The LCO Split 2 2023 season was streamed live on Twitch. Missed the action? Check out the LCO’s official Twitch channel for updated VODs made available to watch following the conclusion of each matchday.

LCO Split 2 2023 Main Stream – LCO (Twitch)

LCO Split 2 2023 Schedule & Results

There were some major changes to the format of the LCO ahead of Split 2 in June. The round-robin stage was played in best-of-twos as opposed to the former two separate best-of-one matches.

Points were allocated depending on the results, with three awarded for a victorious flawless series, and one point to each team for a 1-1 outcome. Side selections were submitted from both teams prior to the beginning of a series.

By the end of the round-robin, the top six teams moved into the next stage.

Rather than seeding into groups, the LCO opted in favour of a double elimination playoffs bracket to give all teams a fighting chance. All series in the playoffs were played out in a Bo3 format, with Finals done Bo5.

The top two teams in our LCO playoffs are seeded respectively for PCS playoffs, where they’ll be competing for a shot at Worlds in South Korea in October.

LCO Split 2 2023 Standings

LCO Split 2 2023 Schedule & Results

LCO Split 2 2023 Results — Grand Finals

LCO Split 2 2023 Results — Stage 1 Week 1

LCO Split 2 2023 Schedule — Stage 1 Week 2

LCO Split 2 2023 Schedule — Stage 1 Week 3

LCO Split 2 2023 Schedule — Stage 1 Week 4

LCO Split 2 2023 Schedule — Stage 1 Week 5

LCO Split 2 2023 Schedule — Stage 1 Week 6

LCO Split 2 2023 Results — Playoffs

LCO Split 2 2023 Rosters

After the Brisbane Brawl came to an exciting conclusion at DreamHack Melbourne, The Chiefs defended their winning LCO title against Team Bliss.

After Kevy made his return from NA, he joined The Chiefs who defended their trophy for the third split in a row.

An outstanding fist split debut regardless of the end result, Team Bliss and their new Korean support Akia hoped to run it back for Split 2 and found another second place finish against their rivals.

Outside of the brand new Vertex roster, Mammoth parted ways with a majority of their Split 1 roster and brought on an entirely new squad to play out the second split.