LCS Summer 2019 Gauntlet: Round 1 – Clutch Gaming vs FlyQuest

Game One

This first series of the LCS Gauntlet was expected to be an easy win for Clutch Gaming (“CG”). Though they did win the first game, Flyquest (“FLY”) showed they're not a pushover and took Clutch to nearly an hour game. The early game was relatively low action, with the first kills coming out at 10 minutes. Here, the teams fought at Rift Herald and WildTurtle's Jinx got two kills. FLY set up some plays on the map, but CG always traded up and accumulated a small gold lead.

At 26 minutes, the first of four Baron died in the game. This was CG's, which they used to take a handful of towers but no Inhibitors. After this buff fell off and the Baron respawned, CG went back to Baron. They secured it again but lost two members in the ensuing fight. From here, both teams hesitated to fight and wanted to only trade objectives. There were some team fights, but neither team fully committed and only one or two from either side died. Finally, the teams met near the Elder Dragon at 53 minutes. It was a close fight, but because of clutch plays from Huni and Cody Sun, CG ended up smashing it. They got the Ace onto FLY and, with the long death timers, had more than enough time to run into FLY's base and claim their Nexus.

QUICK STATS:

• Time: 55:02
• Kills: 12-12
• Turrets: 8-8
• Gold: 97.7k-102.3k
• Dragons: 4-4
• Barons: 2-2

Game Two

Game Two was much quicker than the first. It was a dominant victory for FLY, as they choked out CG from making any plays. CG made a couple of good rotations to pick up a Mountain Dragon and Rift Herald early on, but FLY won a team fight at 13 minutes. At this point, Pobelter picked up two kills and was massive. From here, FLY pushed their advantage all over the map, taking the First Tower bonus and winning another big team fight three-for-one at 17 minutes.

They destroyed a few more towers before turning towards the Baron at 26 minutes. They secured the buff but did lose one member for it. This buff devastated CG and cost them both their middle and bottom Inhibitors. CG only managed to stall out FLY's siege because Damonte found a great pick onto WildTurtle. Once WildTurtle was back alive though, FLY found a pick of their own and claimed their second Baron. With it, they busted through the top lane, cut down three CG champions and then their Nexus.

QUICK STATS:

• Time: 34:32
• Kills: 11-2
• Turrets: 11-3
• Gold: 66.5k-55.1k
• Dragons: 4-1
• Barons: 2-0

Game Three

In Game Three, CG brought FLY to match point with a dominant win of their own. This time, the teams were ready from the very beginning to go all-in on early plays, and this showed at three minutes. Here, a full-blown team fight broke out in the bottom lane, with FLY getting First Blood and winning the fight four-for two. But CG forced a skirmish mid to get two kills and another kill for Lira by ganking bottom. The power of Caitlyn-Morgana was potent though, and they shoved down the First Tower at 13 minutes.

From here, CG's bottom duo roamed around the map to demolish other towers. At 17 minutes, CG picked off FLY's bottom duo in the middle lane and knocked down the middle Tier Two Tower to open up the map further. This helped them to push their lead, which helped them immensely at 26 minutes. Here, CG caught out two FLY members in their own jungle, then chased down and got two more kills.

QUICK STATS:

• Time: 31:03
• Kills: 18-5
• Turrets: 11-0
• Gold: 63.0k-47.0k
• Dragons: 4-0
• Barons: 1-0

Game Four

CG finished off the series with one final win in Game Four. The early game was quiet, with both teams focusing objectives rather than kills. CG took the Rift Herald at around 10 minutes as they usually do, while FLY slew two dragons. At 14 minutes, CG grabbed the lead by knocking down the top tower for the First Tower bonus. A minute later, Lira ganked and killed Pobelter in the side lane to grow their small lead further.

FLY did show signs of life in the mid-game though. Here, they picked off Cody Sun in the middle lane then went to Baron. When CG came to contest, FLY turned for the fight and procured two more kills. After this, the teams continued to trade towers and dragons with each other. One small fight occurred at 30 minutes, but it went one-for-one. At 31 minutes, FLY rushed the Baron and ended up securing it, but it was to be their end. CG came for the fight and slaughtered FLY five-for-one. With the Ace, it was easy for CG to smash through FLY's base, blow up their Nexus and move on to Round Two of the Gauntlet.

QUICK STATS:

• Time: 32:53
• Kills: 5-8
• Turrets: 0-7
• Gold: 52.7k-61.6k
• Dragons: 2-3
• Barons: 1-0

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