After two back to back years of TSM missing Worlds, they make their return, making their climb through the losers bracket of the League Championship Series 2020 Summer Playoffs, defeating Cloud9 in four games. TSM fell down to the lower bracket after a crushing defeat against Golden Guardians in their first series. Cloud9 received a playoff bye based on their regular-season placement but lost their first series to FlyQuest. 

The series was relatively one-sided, with TSM having strong control over each of their wins, and Cloud9 only wresting one victory for themselves. Cloud9 missing Worlds comes as a shock for LCS fans, after they had the most dominant LCS season in history this past Spring followed by a 9-0 run in this Summer Split's first-round robin. However, a recent slump left them with a 4-5 second half of the split, and their playoff performances never truly matched their earlier level of dominance. This is the first time Cloud9 has ever missed Worlds since their organization was founded in 2013.

TSM looked shaky in their rematch against Golden Guardians, but ramped up throughout, reverse sweeping them to keep their chances alive. They finalized their lower bracket run with a strong victory over Cloud9, landing them a trip to Worlds next month. TSM will go on to fight for seeding, facing the loser of Team Liquid and FlyQuest. The winner of that match will then have a chance at securing the first seed, facing the winner between Liquid and FlyQuest to finalize the LCS Summer Split. 

This is TSM's first trip back to Worlds since 2017, missing both 2018 and 2019 seasons after replacing Yiliang "Peter" "Doublelift" Peng. With his readdition to the team this summer, the team punches their ticket to Shanghai where they will face the best of the best. The org hasn't escaped groups since 2014, but finally has another shot to do so this year.

For more LoL Esports news and content, head over to our dedicated League of Legends section!

Find full schedules, brackets, and more for your favorite esports on Juked.gg!