LYON defeated Cloud9 to win the LCS 2026 Lock-In Grand Finals. The victory came after a best-of-five series that saw LYON reverse the momentum following an early Cloud9 advantage.
Cloud9 opened strong in Game 1. Berserker’s Ezreal performance for LYON showed flashes of brilliance, but Thanatos delivered a standout game on Ambessa for C9. The opening win suggested Cloud9 had found their rhythm.
Everything changed after that. LYON tightened their control across the next three games. The series featured Fearless Draft, which bans previously played champions from later games. This forced both teams to dig deeper into their champion pools and adapt quickly.
Inspired dominated the jungle matchup against Blaber. The veteran jungler controlled vision, tracked enemy movements, and directed teamfights. His fourth LCS championship on his third different roster cemented his reputation as one of NA’s most successful junglers.
Isles pulled out Poppy support and made it look broken. The pick hard-countered Vulcan’s Bard by using Steadfast Presence to block Magical Journey portals. What looked like an off-meta experiment became a nightmare for Cloud9’s engage and disengage patterns.
Dhokla locked in when it mattered most. The top laner entered the split without a team, subbing in as a temporary solution. He ended it as a champion. His performance throughout the finals showed zero pressure despite the stakes.
Cloud9 couldn’t find answers. Blaber fell behind in the jungle and never recovered. APA struggled in mid lane across multiple games. The team’s attempts to shift strategy fell flat—Thanatos moved from his Game 1 Ambessa onto K’Sante, Renekton, and Rek’Sai in the three losses, none of which replicated his early success.
Vulcan’s Bard became a focal point in the later games. His ultimate misfires drew attention from fans, with one particularly bad Tempered Fate timing in a decisive moment. The high-risk support pick never paid off against LYON’s execution.
