hmm.. I think NV is barely gonna win a game against CLG. They crushed them in regular season for a reason, and it wasn't dardoch. Lira is better then OmarGod, sure, but CLG is better at every other position (or tied, at best) and plays way better as a team. NV wins a game that Lira starts off strong and snowballs, but CLG takes the other 3 with good macro and shotcalling, plus Darshan running over Seraph a few times.
However, CLG hasn't done shit against IMT this season and then they'd play in that case. So, my predictions are
C9 beats Dig
CLG beats NV
IMT beats CLG (though this is almost 50/50, as IMT has less playoff experience overall, so more of them might choke here)
TSM beats C9
TSM vs IMT finals, TSM wins 3-1.
Wait, you're saying those EU teams were applying to be in the NALCS?? Or just for franchising in general?
Either way, I'm surprised. If only 4 EULCS teams applied for franchising, how the heck is that gonna work? I figured most of the current lcs teams would be applying at least. Maybe a team like UOL would need to rebrand and sell ownership to someone like PSG or S04, but figured that they'd be trying to stay in and raise the capital for the application at least.
I figured we'd lose a couple teams (1-2) completely, and others would have new names, but did not think losing over half of them was a possibility.