Vulcan wins LCS MVP with a little help from the engagement buff

It is well documented that Cloud9 Kia didn’t have the best end of their first split of the year. They lost back-to-back series in the LCS Lock-In Finals and followed it up with a second-place finish in the Americas Cup.

Naturally a break was much needed, but for Cloud9 support Philippe “Vulcan” Laflamme, a little more time was needed.

It wasn’t that the split was that stressful. Rather, he was prepping things for his wedding.

The break did wonders for Laflamme, who earned Most Valuable Player honors. He finished ahead of Team Liquid Alienware jungler Brandon “Josedeodo” Villegas and his Cloud9 teammate Park “Thanatos” Seung-gyu on Thursday.

His bottom lane partner Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen joked that Laflamme might have gotten a little boost because of his engagement.

“They say there is a wife buff,” Svenningsen said. “Maybe, he got some of that.”

So did Laflamme receive a little extra push that resulted in an MVP season?

“Yeah, I think I got an engagement buff,” Laflamme said. “I am happier and at peace overall, and I always sleep like a baby when my fiancée is with me.”

Doing Enough

Laflamme wasn’t sure if he’d done enough late to secure the MVP award. He started the split with 12 deaths over 12 games — including a stretch of five consecutive games without a death. He also contributed 138 assists and 16 kills in that same span.

Aside from the deathless streak, Laflamme points to a critical moment when he was able to secure a kill and assist in Game 3 against LYON in Week 1 of the Spring Split.

He considers those to be his MVP moments.

Things were fine in the final six games of the split, but it wasn’t as impressive.

“Obviously I had an insane streak during the middle of the split where I didn’t die, but then I feel like even though we won out in the regular season that I didn’t play super good during the last two weeks,” he said. “Maybe I had thrown away my shot at MVP. I was super happy and relieved when I learned I won it.”

Laflamme picked up 46 points with 12 first-place votes. Villegas and Park ended with 36 and 34, respectively, while each receiving six first-place votes.

There have been 24 total MVP awards given in the LCS. Laflamme became the third support to win the LCS MVP award, joining Jo “CoreJJ” Yong-in (twice) and Zaqueri “aphromoo” Black.

“There aren’t many supports who have won the award so it feels extra special,” Laflamme said.

Two Rocks

Laflamme wasn’t the only major contributor to Cloud9’s undefeated regular season.

Park was equally valuable to the team, serving as the other pillar at the top side of the map. This doesn’t discredit the strong effort of the other three members of the team. It just made life easier for them over the course of the seven-week regular season.

“It’s just nice to play with good players. There’s no other way to put it,” Cloud9 mid-laner Eain “APA” Stearns said. “I would say 80 percent of the time, ‘Thanatos’ is always winning the top lane. Something can always happen top lane with him. The times he’s losing, it’s probably jungler diff or mid diff.

“The same thing for Phil. They’re normally always winning lane bot lane. If they’re not winning lane, it’s probably because something bad really happened.”

Park picked up three first-place votes from the league’s coaches, which was the same amount as Laflamme. The difference between the two came in the player vote: Laflamme earned five votes from his colleagues, while Park received one.

“Thanatos is a rock for us,” Laflamme said. “He’s always winning lane and putting himself in strong positions so I’m happy he also got recognition. Sorry that I took away votes from him, if I ran it down a bit more he probably wins MVP.”

Unfinished Business

While Laflamme is happy with the individual accolades that he received, it won’t mean anything unless Cloud9 wins Saturday against Team Liquid and earns a spot at the Mid-Season Invitational in Korea in July.

The trip to MSI would be the team’s first since 2023, which also happened to be the last time the team went to the World Championships.

It would also mean exorcizing the demons of the LCS playoffs.

In 2026, Cloud9 are undefeated in 10 regular-season matches, but playoffs are a different issue. They haven’t won an LCS Playoff Championship since 2023.

The issue reared its head last Saturday when they lost 3-0 to LYON, a team they defeated at the start of the year. They face Team Liquid on Saturday at Mullett Arena in Tempe, Ariz., with the second MSI slot on the line.

Cloud9 defeated Team Liquid 2-0 on May 16, but things change when the series shifts from a best-of-3 to a best-of-5.

Laflamme was direct on what it will take for the team to earn another shot at LYON.

“We need to execute teamfights better than we did vs. LYON and play confidently,” he said.

Paul Delos Santos covers esports for The Sporting Tribune. He is also the founder of Inside Esports, a newsletter covering the Fighting Game Community and Riot Games ecosystem. Subscribe at insideesports.media.