LCS: Week Eight Day Two Recap

Clutch Gaming v Golden Guardians

The Golden Guardians (“GGS”) began the second day of the LCS week eight with a victory over Clutch Gaming (“CG”). Much of the strength from GGS came from their bottom lane as they certainly delivered today. First Blood came out very early, as Lira killed Contractz in a Rift Scuttler battle. After this GGS received decent buffs to their laning phase by slaying two Ocean Dragons. GGS's bottom lane asserted dominance over CG's, killing Olleh in his own jungle and taking the First Tower bonus through their pressure. On the other side of the map, CG took their Rift Herald for themselves and used it to take a middle tower.

The team fighting composition from GGS turned on in the mid game. There were two engagements that went one-for-one, but GGS always came out on top in terms of health bars. GGS killed a Mountain Dragon before starting a team fight at 24 minutes. GGS quickly killed three CG members and secured their First Baron. With it GGS destroyed six towers and two Inhibitors, giving themselves an even greater lead.

At 32 minutes GGS pressured the Baron while minions poured into CG's base. At this point GGS decided to rotate and take CG's top and middle Inhibitors instead of focus the Baron. A team fight shortly after started off with Contractz getting caught out, but GGS secured a couple kills and forced CG back to base, which gave them the room to take the Baron. GGS promptly grouped bottom and began their siege again, where they easily took the last standing Inhibitor. As they pushed on CG tried to force one last fight, but GGS slaughtered them. GGS killed four and smashed their Nexus at 37 minutes.

OpTic Gaming v Cloud9

Cloud9 (“C9”) rebounded after a disappointing loss yesterday by defeating OpTic Gaming (“OPT”). Their jungler Svenskeren dominated the game and is the primary reason for their success. He got First Blood on Dhokla in the top lane, then killed Big in the bottom lane a few minutes later. C9 took their first Infernal at 11 minutes and right after collapsed on the top lane, where OPT dropped the Rift Herald. Here they found two more kills. Nisqy and Svenskeren worked together well, winning a two-versus-two mid and killing two more OPT champions.

As C9 caught out and killed Crown in the middle lane, their minions grabbed them the First Tower bonus in the top lane. C9 furthered their lead greatly at 21 minutes. At this point they won a team fight three-for-one, slayed an Infernal Dragon and knocked down a middle tower. In the next few minutes C9 continued to get picks and secured a Mountain Dragon. OPT managed to defend the Baron and their vision around it for a while and it stalled C9's aggression temporarily.

However, it couldn't last forever, and a 35 minute team fight blew open the match for C9. They killed the two OPT solo laners, then turned to Baron. The full squad burned it down before OPT could try to steal, and immediately engaged on the remaining three opponent. They finished the Ace by killing them then ran down mid. They destroyed two towers, the middle Inhibitor and two Nexus towers before being forced away. C9 returned soon after and knocked down the top lane Inhibitor before pushing onto OPT's Nexus. They couldn't keep C9 off of their exposed Nexus, and C9 finished it off at 39 minutes.

Echo Fox v 100 Thieves

Echo Fox (“FOX”) had their first 2-0 weekend here in the LCS week eight with a win over 100 Thieves (“100T”). Rush, after sitting out for a few games, is looking back in form and propelled his team to victory. Rush and Solo caught out AnDa when he was invading, killing him for First Blood and getting a kill on Ssumday too. FOX then shifted their focus to the bottom side. Here they slayed three Dragons, got a kill in a river skirmish and knocked down the First Tower in the bottom lane.

FOX continued to push their advantage by pressuring towers. They destroyed the top lane outer tower before getting total control over Baron and 100T's red side jungle vision. This was crucial for them, as at 21 minutes FOX sneaked the Baron without 100T even checking it. Because of this sly move, FOX had complete control over the map.

They used the buff efficiently. FOX destroyed multiple towers in the middle and bottom lanes but were forced to back away after 100T found a pick onto Fenix. They couldn't crack the Inhibitor line right away but set themselves up to take them upon regrouping.

Their last push began with a pick of their own onto 100T's rookie mid laner Soligo. The man advantage gave FOX all the room they needed to take two top towers. A team fight erupted as they sieged the Inhibitor and FOX came out on top three-for-two. They easily took two Inhibitors as a result. After backing and regrouping, one last fight broke out in 100T's base. Yet again FOX was victorious, so they pushed on and killed two more of their opponents before they demolished the Nexus at 28 minutes.

Team Liquid v FlyQuest

FlyQuest (“FLY”) did what no one thought they could and defeated Team Liquid (“TL”), locking in their spot in playoffs. The team performed fantastically as a unit and individually. Its even more surprising becuase TL had a lead early on. Xmithie killed Santorin for First Blood and ganked bottom to get Doublelift a kill. TL continued to push on this bottom lane play and killed two more FLY members. After this TL took two Dragons, the First Tower bonus top and two additional towers.

However, FLY made some great moves to come back in the mid game. They out-rotated TL to take down a top lane tower and managed to go three-for-three in a team fight they realistically should have lost. The big play came at 28 minutes though, where FLY first caught out and killed CoreJJ. From here, they rushed the Baron but TL came to contest. FLY secured the buff and picked up three more kills afterwards. FLY now had the momentum as they ran down mid and bot to take three towers.Under siege, TL tried to force a fight to protect their Inhibitor. Impact pulled off a fantastic flank, but FLY still won the fight three-for-two, which allowed them to take the middle Inhibitor and even one Nexus Tower.

The match stalled for a few minutes until the Elder Dragon spawned. Both teams fought for it, and in the end TL came out with the buff and a kill on Santorin. They appeared to be back in the driver's seat as they went for the Baron. FLY contested their take, killing two members for one. FLY rushed TL's base, retook the middle Inhibitor and blasted the second Nexus Tower. TL couldn't stop the multiple members hitting their Nexus and FLY pulled off the incredible upset by finishing TL's Nexus at 40 minutes.

Team SoloMid v Counter Logic Gaming

Team SoloMid (“TSM”) wrap up the LCS week eight with a victory over Counter Logic Gaming (“CLG”). They had some trouble keeping up with CLG's early game, but their team fighting proved superior. Wiggily ganked bottom to get his team First Blood, but TSM got a return kill. CLG controlled the neutral objectives, taking multiple Dragons and the Rift Herald. TSM displayed their team fighting strengths by winning a skirmish in the mid lane at 13 minutes. They also clawed back some of the lead by winning a fight one-for-zero and taking their first Infernal.

CLG had a small gold lead but it flipped to TSM at 26 minutes. At this point TSM slaughtered CLG in a team fight, getting an Ace which led to the Baron. TSM demolished a few towers, but CLG set up a decent defense. They grew tired of the siege and decided to dive CLG under two towers, where they found four more kills, two towers and the Inhibitor.

TSM decided to slay their second Infernal at 33 minutes, but CLG saw their opportunity and snatched the Baron right under TSM's noses. TSM did collpase in time to kill three members though and destroyed the top Inhibitor with the man advantage. They tried to push their luck for the end, but settled with both Nexus Towers and the last Inhibitor mid. TSM regrouped as CLG attempted to defend their base and initiated one last team fight. TSM swiftly killed three CLG members and finished off their Nexus at 36 minutes.

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