Golden Guardians completed its unlikely run through the lower bracket of the League Championship Series Spring Split playoffs by beating FlyQuest 3-2 in the lower-bracket final on Saturday.
Awaiting Golden Guardians in the grand final Sunday is Cloud9, the No. 1 seed who cruised through the upper bracket.
Golden Guardians finished sixth place in the Spring Split group stage to squeak into the playoffs. They started in the lower bracket and knocked off 100 Thieves, Evil Geniuses and now FlyQuest, which was the No. 2 seed.
After FlyQuest opened Saturday’s match by winning in 33 minutes on blue and Golden Guardians responded with a 38-minute win on blue, FlyQuest pulled ahead 2-1 with a 30-minute victory on blue.
Golden Guardians forced a fifth game by winning Game 4 in 31 minutes on blue. Then they claimed the winner-take-all Game 5 in 29 minutes on red.
Trevor “Stixxay” Hayes of the U.S. led Golden Guardians with an average kill-death-assist ratio of 7.0-2.4-5.4. He posted a 9-1-8 in the fifth and final game, getting help in the form of 20 assists apiece from Kim “River” Dong-woo and Choi “huhi” Jae-hyun, both of South Korea.
The 10 teams in the top North American League of Legends circuit played every other team twice in the group phase. The first- through fourth-place teams then headed to the upper-bracket semifinals of the double-elimination playoffs. The fifth- and sixth-place teams entered the playoffs in the lower bracket.
The winner and runner-up in the playoff final will earn berths in the Mid-Season Invitational along with other teams from LoL leagues worldwide. The LCS Spring Split carries a $200,000 prize pool, with the champion earning $100,000.
League Championship Series (LCS) Spring Split playoff prize pool
1. $100,000
2. $50,000
3. $30,000 — FlyQuest
4. $20,000 — Evil Geniuses
5-6. No prize money — 100 Thieves, Counter Logic Gaming
7. No prize money — TSM
8. No prize money — Team Liquid
9. No prize money — Immortals
10. No prize money — Dignitas
–Field Level Media
