The second day of the 2022 LCS Lock In tournament kicked off today, with the first match of the day featuring the debut of one of the most talked-about teams of the professional League of Legends offseason: Team Liquid. The veteran-heavy “superteam” overwhelmed a shaky Dignitas squad to kick off both teams’ Lock In runs, with Liquid claiming a straightforward victory in just 25 minutes. 

Today’s game marked the first contest in nearly 10 years in which Liquid mid laner Bjergsen did not sport a TSM uniform. After spending every season since 2014 with TSM—as a player for seven seasons and as a coach for one—Bjergsen’s Liquid debut officially rang in a new era for one of North America’s most tenured players.

Today, the legendary mid laner used Orianna—one of the most-played champions of his career—to run circles around Dignitas, posting a final scoreline of 2/0/7 in his return to the stage. After claiming first blood in the mid lane just three minutes into the game, Bjergsen hit the gas, involving himself in nine out of Liquid’s 11 kills on the day. 

Dignitas support (and former teammate of Bjergsen) Biofrost played his first game since the 2020 season. The former All-Pro turned in a quiet 0/0/2 scoreline in his return to the stage. Alongside Biofrost, Dignitas showcased two new additions to the roster in former Cloud9 Amateur jungler eXyu and former SK Gaming mid laner Blue. 

Beyond Bjergsen, Team Liquid also debuted two new international talents on the roster today: former Fnatic top laner Bwipo and former Rogue AD carry Hans sama. For Bwipo, today’s game against Dignitas served as the first in which he played top lane professionally after temporarily role-swapping to the jungle for Fnatic last year. 

Liquid’s tenured support CoreJJ did not play the opening game of the team’s Lock In run due to complications surrounding his ability to obtain a Permanent Resident Card (green card) in the United States prior to the 2022 season.

The team fielded its Academy-level support Eyla in CoreJJ’s stead to open the tournament. In the closing moments of the game, Eyla’s Thresh mechanics helped secure the win for Liquid to put the cherry on top of the final teamfight.

Liquid will continue their LCS Lock In run against Evil Geniuses later today, while Dignitas will look to correct their course against Immortals.

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