LYON beats Team Liquid, takes the lead in the LCS Summer Split

Naerlyn Published August 31, 2026

In 2026, the LCS has been all about three teams: LYON, Team Liquid, and Cloud9. This weekend, they squared off against each other. LYON won, ended TLAW’s undefeated split, and claimed the current first place in the LCS.

The LCS trifecta

At the start of the LCS Summer Split 2026, LYON and Team Liquid were both on top of the LCS, winning every match. Cloud9 was immediately sent below them as TLAW beat them in the first week.

During all that time, LYON played with Jonathan “Armao” Armao as a substitute jungler as Kacper “Inspired” Słoma had to return to Poland for a few weeks. With a substitute player, esports betting also becomes riskier as past data becomes less relevant. The difference was notable, and the team lost to Sentinels in week 4.

In the meantime, C9 slowly but surely recovered from their week 1 loss as they gradually improved. As for Team Liquid, they came into week 6 without a single game loss.

However, Inspired returned to LYON for week 6. By the look of things, no one on their side had any rust as the team immediately gelled together again. LYON started the weekend by going 2-0 against Cloud9.

For them, nothing really changed. If discipline was out of the window while they played with Armao, their playstyle immediately went back to normal the moment Inspired returned. Slower games with calculated ganks, no fighting over any objective that they wouldn’t win the fight for, and clean teamfights.

Cloud9 gave them some trouble as Robert “Blaber” Huang found good Vi engages and Lee “Loki” Sang-min was hard to deal with. The match still went 2-0 for LYON.

Initially teamless, LYON Dhokla is now the best top laner in the LCS. Image credit: Heaven Wolf / Riot Games

LYON beats Team Liquid to take over first place in the LCS

Coming up against Team Liquid, this would be their true test. Is LYON a top one or top two team?

In the end, they passed that test with flying colors. TLAW didn’t make a dent in LYON’s armor. LYON won the series in under an hour of game time. Across two games, the formerly undefeated Team Liquid never held a lead, even a small one.

The LCS Summer regular season still has a final week to play, and the standings are mostly locked. Regardless of how the final week goes, LYON will enter the playoffs as the favorite once more.

Team	Score	Possible finishes	Explanation
LYON	5-1	1st – 3rd	With a loss to SEN, they can drop below them if LYON wins and SEN loses.
Team Liquid	5-1	1st – 2nd	If they win and LYON loses, they’re first. Otherwise, they’re second.
Cloud9	4-2	3rd – 4th	C9 can’t reach the top two due to the head-to-head. Their placement depends on their next match.
Sentinels	4-2	2nd – 4th	Same as C9, except that they can overtake LYON.
Shopify Rebellion	3-3	5th – 6th	Their placement depends on their next match.
FlyQuest	2-4	5th – 6th	Their placement depends on their next match.
Disguised	1-5	7th	Locked from the head-to-head.
Dignitas	0-6	8th	Locked from the head-to-head.

Featured image credit: Heaven Wolf / Riot Games

Related to: LY vs TL

LYON

Team Liquid LCS Summer 2026 Regular Season

About Naerlyn

Naerlyn is an all-around League of Legends nerd, who can get passionate about just anything related to the game, and loves sharing that excitement with anyone and everyone in the community. Just… don’t ask him about top lane Leona if you had plans for the next hour.

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