Team Liquid defends Lock In title against Evil Geniuses in decisive 3-0 victory, Cloud9 and Dignitas round out top four
Tournament Overview and Championship Victory
The LCS 2022 Lock In tournament marked the exciting return of professional League of Legends competition in North America, offering all ten franchised organizations their initial opportunity to claim championship silverware for the new competitive season.
Team Liquid demonstrated exceptional dominance by dethroning the rapidly ascending Evil Geniuses squad, handing breakout mid-laner Joseph “jojopyun” Pyun and his teammates a swift 3-0 defeat in the Lock In grand finals. This Sunday championship performance earned them the $150,000 prize pool and established them as early frontrunners for the 2022 competitive year.
The LCS 2022 Lock In preseason competition delivered exceptional competitive action as North America’s League of Legends season commenced in earnest, providing crucial early insights into team form and strategic developments.
Team Liquid emerged as the ultimate victors, successfully defending their 2021 preseason championship with a clean three-game sweep against Evil Geniuses. The EG lineup, spearheaded by emerging talent Jojopyun, quickly established themselves as the tournament’s most compelling narrative, though they proved unable to overcome TL’s veteran-heavy roster when championship stakes were highest.
Despite suffering a 0-3 defeat in the finals, Evil Geniuses demonstrated formidable early-year form by achieving an undefeated Group B performance and decisively eliminating Cloud9—even without their complete starting roster—through a three-game semifinal domination.
Complete Bracket Results and Team Placements
Earlier tournament action witnessed Dignitas delivering the competition’s most significant upset by eliminating defending champions 100 Thieves during quarterfinal matches, while TSM disappointed supporters with an early group stage elimination that raised concerns about their offseason preparations.
This comprehensive coverage includes complete analysis of the LCS 2022 Lock In preseason event, featuring detailed group stage performances, elimination bracket outcomes, final team standings, roster configurations, and extensive strategic observations.
The North American preseason Lock In competition organized the league’s ten franchised organizations into two five-team groups. These groups competed in single round-robin formats that eliminated the lowest-performing team from each group while establishing seeding positions for the knockout stage bracket.
Strategic Insight: Teams that prioritized early-game objective control and dragon stacking demonstrated significantly higher success rates in the group stage. The meta favored compositions with strong mid-game power spikes, particularly those featuring engage supports and mobile junglers who could create cross-map pressure.
Roster Challenges and Visa Complications
All ten participating LCS organizations competed with varying configurations of their intended starting lineups throughout the Lock In tournament. TSM and Golden Guardians deployed their academy rosters for the entire event duration, as visa complications combined with ongoing global health challenges prevented certain international players from arriving in Los Angeles before the tournament commencement.
Cloud9 head coach Nick ‘LS’ De Cesare verified during a Twitch broadcast that several members of Cloud9’s primary LCS lineup would be unavailable for tournament participation. Substitute players Darshan, Zven, and Isles consequently started the event in their positions.
100 Thieves exit competitive League of Legends amid massive LTA viewership decline
Team Liquid dominate LTA 2025 Playoffs: Schedule, recap, teams & more
LoL fans furious as T1 miss 2025’s first international due to LCK format changes
Dignitas substituted jungler Kim ‘River’ Dong-woo with academy jungler Lawrence ‘eXyu’ Xu during their initial matches. River rejoined the starting lineup for quarterfinal competitions.
Team Liquid similarly confronted visa complications, with support player CoreJJ unable to secure green card approval in time to obtain resident status for the Lock In event, according to Upcomer reporting. Without CoreJJ’s resident classification, the organization currently fields three imported players: top laner Gabriël ‘Bwipo’ Rau, AD Carry Steven ‘Hans sama’ Liv, and CoreJJ himself.
Instead of simply utilizing their academy bot lane duo, the team implemented a rotational system featuring Hans sama and CoreJJ in different configurations. Hans sama competed alongside academy support Bill ‘Eyla’ Nguyen, while CoreJJ partnered with academy AD Carry Sean ‘Yeon’ Sung.
Common Roster Management Mistake: Teams that failed to establish clear communication between main and academy rosters during preparation suffered from coordination issues during the tournament. Successful organizations like Team Liquid maintained integrated scrimmage schedules that allowed substitute players to develop synergy with core roster members.
Strategic Insights and Future Implications
The LCS Lock In tournament provided crucial early indicators of team strength and strategic direction heading into the Spring Split. Team Liquid’s victory establishes them as early favorites, but the competitive landscape appears more balanced than in previous seasons.
Optimization Tip for Advanced Analysis: When evaluating team performance in preseason tournaments, focus on objective control rates and early-game differentials rather than simply final results. Teams that demonstrated strong dragon control (65%+ first dragon rate) and herald prioritization tended to maintain competitive form into the regular season, regardless of tournament placement.
The visa complications experienced by multiple organizations highlight ongoing challenges in global esports logistics. Teams that successfully adapted to roster limitations demonstrated superior organizational depth and strategic flexibility—qualities that typically correlate with long-term competitive success.
Looking toward the Spring Split, expect Evil Geniuses to build upon their strong showing, particularly as jojopyun continues developing within the professional environment. Team Liquid’s veteran-heavy approach proved effective in high-pressure situations, suggesting experience remains a critical factor in North American competition.
No reproduction without permission：SeeYouSoon Game Club » Liquid roll over undefeated Evil Geniuses in LCS Lock In final: results, placements Team Liquid defends Lock In title against Evil Geniuses in decisive 3-0 victory, Cloud9 and Dignitas round out top four