Now that the LCS playoffs have come to an end, an arguably more impactful series of matches are about to be played as the promotion stage takes place this week. Without further ado, here are the matchups to come.

Ninjas in Pyjamas vs. Millenium (24/4/2014)

Ninjas in Pyjamas were anticipated to be playing in the last split but were upset by now-ROCCAT. They stuck together, however, and are the favorites of the Challenger scene, biding their time to return to the grand stage. Despite a 1-3 loss to Cloud 9 Eclipse in the Challenger playoffs, they reestablished their rule by beating them 2-0 in the Copenhagen Games. Millenium appears to be coming in here as the underdog - time will tell if the team has been able to fix their problems now that Kottenx has replaced Araneae in the jungle. 

Spotlight: Johan "Hulberto" Johansson has been around the top of the solo queue ladder for a while now but is the only person in the current squad never to have played in the LCS before.
 

Cloud 9 HyperX Eclipse vs. SUPA HOT CREW (24/4/2014)

Cloud 9 HyperX Eclipse has long renounced their ''Apples is sour'' namesake and established themselves as a force to be reckoned with in the Challenger scene. With star jungler Tri Tin "k0u" Lam uneligible to participate in the LCS due to his age, it is up to Lucas "Santorin" Tao Kilmer Larsen, former jungler of The Fox Sound, to fill his shoes. SUPA HOT CREW came into the LCS through hard work a bit of good luck and consequently started living their eSports dream by living in Cologne and building their own brand for the duration of the last split. Despite their unexpectedly good run, they got relegated and now have to defend their spot and show that they deserve to be where they are. 

Spotlight: Erih "Voidle" Sommermann played for Gambit Gaming during Edward's North American adventure. Voidle notably participated in the Season 3 World Championship with the Russian powerhouse.

Denial eSports vs. Copenhagen Wolves (24/4/2014)

After losing to Gambit Gaming 1-2 in the LCS playoffs, the Copenhagen Wolves find themselves in danger of relegation. Although their seeding allowed them to circumvent the more dangerous Challenger threats, they will still need to be weary of any hidden potential of the Challenger newcomers, especially after what happened to Ninjas in Pyjamas in the spring promotion tournament. Denial eSports is nothing to scoff at. Most of the players have quite extensive experience in the competitive scene, and despite not placing in the top two at the playoffs they have proven themselves to be capable of pulling out some strong play.

Spotlight: Denial eSports' players have a bit of a history with the ROCCAT's current lineup. Most of its members have, one way or another, been part of the original Kiedyś Miałem Team organization.

LMQ vs. XDG Gaming (26/4/2014)

Saturday's match will feature a faltering XDG play what may be the most daunting set in the team's history. LMQ has shown itself to be strong, consistently so, and the team are the big favorites coming into this promotion. They have been accumulating a modest but passionate fanbase and their names have been getting increasingly recognizable over the months. XDG has been part of the LCS under different handles since the very beginning - it wasn't until the last split that the team started having issues. Patch 4.5 may give them the opportunity to bounce back and show the true extent of their LCS resilience. 

Spotlight: Jamie "Sheep" Gallagher's performance has been particularly good, will his team be able to provide him with another split or will his LCS experience be short-lived?

Cloud 9 HyperX Tempest vs. Evil Geniuses (27/4/2014)

The Cloud 9 organization's judgment in recruiting teams certainly proves to be sound, considering that both of their subsidiary League of Legends squads are now competing in the promotion tournaments. Eclipse has to deal with SUPA HOT CREW while their North American counterpart Tempest, once The Walking Zed, has to take on Evil Geniuses. Cloud 9 HyperX Tempest boasts some well-known names like Bischu, Altec an Yazuki and is expected to give the Geniuses a run for their money. Will we see an end to the Europeans' American dream?

Spotlight: Yazuki is the only original member of the first Quantic Gaming squad to not have played in the LCS yet. Nientonsoh is now playing for Counter Logic Gaming, LemonNation and Hai for Cloud 9 and Wildturtle for Team SoloMid.

compLexity.Black vs. Team Coast (28/4/2014)

compLexity is back with a vengeance, this time under the label compLexity.Black. The organization acquired the roster of Determined Gaming, a team that has historically included several known streamers and ladder personas. It finally settled with a roster of largely experienced players: ex-Curse Westrice, ex-Dragonborns Brokenshard and ex-Velocity PR0LLY along with streamer ROBERTxLEE and solo queue hero Bubbadub. Team Coast, similar to XDG, has a long tradition of holding their own in the LCS and have a lot of professional experience to fall back on. While they haven't managed to break out of a poor LCS run, they aren't to be counted out and can hardly be considered slumping. According to current poll standings, the fans seem to slightly favor compLexity. A match to look out for, for sure.

Spotlight: Fan-favorite PR0LLY has been noted as one of the stronger mid players during his short run with compLexity in Season 3's summer split of the LCS - will he be able to stand up against Shiphtur?

Check out the official website for scheduling information for your region.