LCS: Week Five Day One Recap

100 Thieves v OpTic Gaming

OpTic Gaming (“OPT”) won a much needed match against 100 Thieves (“100T”) to start off the LCS week five. 100T had a strong early game though, despite their loss. Ssumday got First Blood with the help of AnDa and AnDa killed Crown a few minutes later. 100T slayed a Rift Herald too, which allowed them to take the First Tower bonus top at 12 minutes. Two minutes later, Ssumday solo killed Meteos in his own base, and had to run through multiple towers to escape. Crown tried to kill him, but only gave over his life too.

The mid game continued well for 100T. OPT tried to rush the Baron at 21 minutes, but lost Meteos. 100T took the opportunity to take Baron themselves, and while they lost four of them in the team fight, it helped them to take a few towers and Infernal Dragon.

After this first Baron, OPT managed to grab a hold of the match. They caught out Huhi and Bang with a sneaky flank by Crown, granting them the time and manpower advantage to take the second Baron. Their Baron was much more destructive. OPT demolished multiple towers, including Inhibitor Towers, and an Inhibitor.

OPT lost some control at 38 minutes though. After Dhokla dies killing a Nexus Tower, 100T decided to rush the Baron. They successfully secured it and even killed Meteos when he tried to steal it. A couple of minutes later, 100T went to take the Elder Dragon as well. OPT saw their opportunity. Three OPT members quickly turned away from the Elder and rushed into 100T's base. 100T couldn't back in time to stop OPT from blasting their Nexus at 40 minutes.

Team Liquid v Echo Fox

To the surprise of none, Team Liquid (“TL”) defeated Echo Fox (“FOX”). Though they were the clear favorites, FOX put up a decent fight in the beginning. Fenix killed Xmithie in a two-versus-two to secure First Blood for himself. Rush ganked and grabbed a kill onto Doublelift in the bottom lane too. But TL was no slouch. Xmithie successfully bullied the top lane, getting Impact a kill and a significant lead, and helped catch out Rush to slay a Mountain Dragon.

TL had a firm grip on the game after the 20 minutes mark. They procured the First Tower bonus at a late 22 minutes. In the same minute TL managed to destroy the other two outer towers in the bottom and top lanes too. They won two team fights, which they translated into some objectives, but FOX held a decent defense.

Because FOX was able to hold off TL, the match stalled out for a bit. The main point of weakness for FOX was in the side lane with Solo. TL constantly used the Tahm Kench ultimate to gank him. They first blew his Flash, then at 32 minutes, did so again to kill him. Three minutes later, TL rushed the Baron with complete vision control and easily slayed it with no contest.

FOX had no chance to mount a comeback after TL secured the buff. TL grouped up together and pushed, until a team fight exploded at 36 minutes. TL obliterated three FOX members right away. The rest retreated, but they wouldn't be able to stop the TL onslaught. TL pushed through FOX's base, destroying multiple structures before the Nexus at 37 minutes.

Golden Guardians v Clutch Gaming

Clutch Gaming (“CG”) broke their six game loss streak in the LCS week five with a win versus Golden Guardians (“GGS”). Both teams utilized flex picks to the fullest, drafting high-impact team fighting compositions. CG found their lead in the bottom lane early on. Piglet got First Blood onto Olleh, and that lane soon became a blood bath. Piglet killed Olleh again in the two-versus-two and CG gained two more kills when LirA ganked the lane. They even tower dove the GGS duo lane and killed Olleh yet again. The First Tower bonus was naturally secured for CG in the bottom lane at 14 minutes.

A team fight at the Dragon pit was well executed by CG, and as a result they killed three GGS members while losing none. A few minutes passed as CG set up for Baron. At last CG caught out Olleh, which prompted them to take the Baron. They didn't do too much with it as GGS mounted a good defense.

At 28 minutes a team fight erupted and once again CG came out on top. This small victory translated to their second Baron buff, which proved to be much more useful. CG smashed a bunch of structures, including two Inhibitors. CG wouldn't be stopped here though. They rotated and continued their push in the bottom lane. Contractz was caught out standing too far forward and killed immediately. This man advantage led to the fall of GGS' final Inhibitor. CG seized their opportunity and pushed for more. They slaughtered more GGS members before finally taking their Nexus just before 34 minutes.

Cloud9 v FlyQuest

Cloud9 (“C9”) gained sole control of second place with their victory over FlyQuest (“FLY”). It started off a bit rough for them though. Within the first seven minutes, Santorin ganked bottom twice, getting WildTurtle First Blood and another kill. A few minutes later, FLY appeared to leap ahead greatly. A Dragon fight went their way four-for-zero, with them getting the Ocean Dragon too. But C9 showed they wouldn't go down without a fight. They won a skirmish in the top lane two-for-zero, which allowed them to take the Rift Herald.

C9 capitalized on a huge mistake by WildTurtle, which led to a two-for-zero team fight victory that resulted in them taking the Baron. They did lose three members for it though, so it's impact was limited to only a couple towers and an Ocean Dragon.

At 28 minutes C9 tried to rush the now respawned Baron after killing one FLY member. FLY contested and the fight went three-for-three and neither team killed the objective. FLY slayed an Infernal Dragon shortly after that fight, but lost their top laner for it. This gave C9 a window to go for Baron again. It was a hectic fight and somehow WildTurtle landed the last hit on the Baron to steal it away. C9 killed four FLY members for it, and V1per didn't respawn in time to get the buff, so it simply disappeared.

C9 swiftly pushed their numbers advantage. They immediately pushed down the mid lane to destroy the Inhibitor, then the top lane. Then C9 backed and regrouped bottom. FLY were forced to give their third Inhibitor, and then the final team fight broke out. C9 eviscerated four FLY members and then promptly demolished their Nexus at 33 minutes.

Counter Logic Gaming v Team SoloMid

To finish off the first day of LCS week five, Team SoloMid (“TSM”) dominated Counter Logic Gaming (“CLG”). The game was blown open in the first minutes of the game for TSM through the bottom lane. Smoothie's Thresh brutalized Stixxay and Biofrost, being the catalyst for First Blood and three additional kills by seven minutes. The pressure from this lane was immense and made it easy for TSM to slay the Ocean Dragon and the First Tower bonus.

Zven was disgustingly far ahead and it was easy to see. At 12 minutes, he dove Stixxay by himself and solo killed him. Right after this, TSM demolished the top and bottom outer towers. A few minutes later, CLG sent four players to kill the split-pushing Kai'Sa, and though they accomplished that objective, Zven got a kill in the one-versus-four.

TSM kept ramping up the pressure at every chance. CLG had no room to breathe as TSM knocked down tower after tower. Eventually they turned for Baron and burned it down with no problems. With a 10k gold lead they pushed into the base, breaking all three Inhibitors while CLG just watched in fear. CLG was powerless to stop the TSM push, even under their Nexus Towers. When they did finally try to stop them, their Nexus was already exposed and damaged. TSM didn't even need to kill anyone else to finish the Nexus off at 25 minutes.

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