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UPDATE: The article originally mentioned that C9 had qualified for League of Legends Worlds eight years in a row, which is incorrect. C9 did not qualify last year, ending its seven-year streak in 2020.
We apologize for the factual error. We have corrected the error and will ensure it doesn't happen again. Thank you for trusting Sportskeeda!
C9 has dominated the North American league for a majority of League of Legends' history. It has made seven straight Worlds Tournaments as either one of the two top dogs or by the Play-In chance.
However, just like last year, Cloud9's odds of receiving an invite to League of Legends's most famous international tournament in 2021 melted away with its loss to Team Liquid in the first round of the LCS Playoffs.
The NA region only sends three teams to Worlds, two that make it to the finals in the winner's bracket of the LCS Playoffs while the third is entered into a pool where it must beat other teams to stamp its ticket in.
100 Thieves and Team Liquid have already strolled into the top two spots in the LCS, securing their Worlds appearance. The final NA spot is yet to be decided, and C9 will have to bulldoze its way and play lights out if it wants a chance to earn back the title.
C9's path to the 2021 League of Legends Worlds
For C9 to make it to Worlds, it has to scrape itself off the pavement and make a run in the loser's bracket of the LCS Playoffs. It recuperated from its loss to TL by smacking GG, the lowest-ranked team to finished the regular season 14-31.
Next, it will play Evil Geniuses who it lost every game to in the Summer Split. EG has made a nice comeback in the second half of the season and will look to resurge its Worlds dreams after losing to 100T.
If C9 manages to best Evil Geniuses for the first time since Spring, it will advance to play the winner of TSM and IMT. Most fans, players, and experts predict TSM to win as it is the better team in terms of talent and coordination.
For now, it appears C9 will have to face TSM in the next round. Again, C9 couldn't beat TSM one time in the Summer Split, falling 0-3 to the 1 seed in the LCS Playoffs.
C9 will advance to the League of Legends World Tournament if it can manage to come out on top in the next two series. The odds are scary, however, as both predicted opponents swept C9 in the Summer Split, meaning C9 is 0-6 against them in the last few months.
C9 needs to repeat the magic it pulled off in the Spring Playoffs if it wants a chance to represent North America in the 2021 Worlds.
