LCS: Week Four Day One Recap

Team SoloMid v OpTic Gaming

In the first match of LCS week four, Team SoloMid (“TSM”) defeated OpTic Gaming (“OPT”). It was a grind, but it paid off for them in the end. The early game was uneventful, the only action before 15 minutes was OPT slaying two Dragons. The teams were content farming, at least until the 17 minute mark. At long last the two teams decided to fight. OPT did secure First Blood onto their support, but TSM came out ahead overall with three kills to two. But OPT found other ways to get ahead, taking the First Tower bonus and another tower bottom.

A little later, the teams fought again. Here, OPT got two kills and secured a Baron buff with the man advantage. Unfortunately for them, they lost a fight and TSM destroyed a couple of towers. They ended up losing gold to TSM during their buff duration.

From this point the game stalled out for a while. At 31 minutes, as both teams danced around the respawned Baron, TSM pulled off a clutch team fight. They didn't slay the Baron though, so the game went on. A few minutes later, TSM started up the Baron Nashor. OPT clawed their way back to kill three members and secure the Baron for themselves.

Like the first one, it proved ineffective because of TSM obtaining the Elder Dragon buff shortly after and getting a kill too. Neither team wanted to fight the buffed up enemy, so eventually both buffs expired. Finally, at 42 minutes, a team fight erupted. TSM got two quick kills and rushed OPT's base. In one fell swoop TSM rushed OPT's base, killed the rest of the OPT members and smashed their Inhibitor at 43 minutes.

Golden Guardians v Team Liquid

The second game of the day was much more action packed. Team Liquid (“TL”) came out on top though over Golden Guardians (“GGS”) and are keeping their undefeated hopes alive. There was a lot of action and it was fairly close the entire game. GGS carved out an early lead for themselves with a two-for-one skirmish in the bottom lane and securing First Blood. At 16 minutes, TL made a similar play. They sent four men to the bottom lane, killed the GGS bot lane and secured the First Tower bonus.

During the early-mid game, TL found kills while GGS focused on taking towers. TL built a small gold lead during this time though. This was translated into a more tangible lead at 23 minutes. TL capitalized on GGS overextending and killed four of their members in a team fight. They obtained the Baron buff because of this too.

TL was expected to do serious damage to GGS' base with the buff, but GGS defended well. They lost a couple of towers, but they managed to start a great fight. Froggen's signature Anivia walled Doublelift off from his team, while Contractz jumped into the TL squad. GGS killed two here and stalled the siege.

Their small victory wouldn't amount to much however. TL kept up the pressure and GGS looked for a way to regain some control. At 30 minutes, TL made their move. A great engage lead to a sweeping team fight victory for the NA super team where they killed four GGS players. It took them only a minute to demolish GGS' base. They finished off the Nexus at 31 minutes after padding their KDA's a bit.

Cloud9 v Echo Fox

Cloud9 (“C9”) cleanly defeated Echo Fox (“FOX”) in the third match of the LCS week four. They got a lead early and never gave FOX a chance to come back. It all began in the bottom lane, where C9's duo secured First Blood in the two-versus-two. Svenskeren snowballed them further with a successful gank a couple of minutes later. At around 14 minutes both teams put their focus on the Rift Herald. C9 ended up killing both the Rift Herald and a FOX member, which led to the First Tower bonus going their way too.

C9 kept up the pressure and secured additional towers and Dragons. The next 10 minutes were less impactful, but there was still action. C9 continually caught out members of FOX, taking objectives when they were up. By 30 minutes, C9 amassed two Infernal Dragons and multiple towers all over the map. They had full control of the match and were pushing their lead efficiently.

C9 decided to push their lead further by starting up the Baron. They did secure it at 33 minutes but had to sacrifice two members to do so. After waiting for their teammates to respawn, C9 advanced down the bottom lane. They out-rotated FOX and destroyed their bottom Inhibitor without any contest. This is where FOX chose to make their move. They engaged onto the C9 squad, but were quickly routed. Sneaky's Sivir eviscerated FOX and he picked himself up a Quadra kill. His team tried to get him the Penta, but Hakuho wouldn't give it up and three C9 members died in the Fountain. Sneaky and Nisqy instead finished FOX's Nexus at 36 minutes.

100 Thieves v FlyQuest

FlyQuest (“FLY”) pulled out a pocket pick of their own to help them take down 100 Thieves (“100T”). It was a close game, and both teams were on the edges of their seats. This match started off slow, with 100T accumulating advantages through pressure. They had complete control over the Dragon pit, and secured the First Tower bonus through pressure alone. FLY wasn't quiet though. They slayed the Rift Herald, using it to get some top lane plates and take it soon after.

First Blood came out late at 16 minutes. Ssumday was the recipient; with the help of Huhi he killed V1per's Riven. A minute later, Ssumday chased down and killed Santorin for his second kill. The teams traded middle towers, and the game slowed down a bit. That was until a team fight erupted in the middle lane, where FLY killed two 100T players. This man advantage allowed FLY to slay the Baron buff at 27 minutes.

FLY demolished a couple of towers but couldn't crack any Inhibitors. Once this buff faded away, the match stalled out for a long time. The teams danced around each other, fighting for vision and map control without shedding much blood. During this time 100T killed their fifth Elemental Dragon, setting themselves up for an Elder Dragon win condition.

Unfortunately for them they would never have a chance to fulfill it. That's because at 36 minutes, the final team fight began. V1per's signature Riven was crucial here, killing 100T's bottom lane in a one-versus-two. At that point 100T were powerless to stop FLY. FLY blew through 100T's base and killed off their remaining members to get an Ace.They ended the match at 37 minutes.

Clutch Gaming v Counter Logic Gaming

Counter Logic Gaming (“CLG”) dominated Clutch Gaming (“CG”) in the final match of the day. Though CG did manage to secure some objectives early on, they could never adequately fight CLG. LirA ganked his bottom lane right when he hit level two and got First Blood onto Stixxay. After this though, CLG came out in every fight. They killed Huni in a six minute fight and two members in a 13 minute one, both around the Dragon pit.

CG used the Rift Herald to secure the First Tower bonus in the middle lane, which helped keep the gold close. A big advantage came for CLG when PowerOfEvil's Kassadin got a Double Kill at 18 minutes.

The terrifying, late game monster would become even more fed. At 24 minutes, a team fight in CG's jungle resulted in a four-for-one in the favor of CLG, with PowerOfEvil grabbing three of the kills. This allowed them to kill Baron Nashor too.

CLG used this buff effectively, taking down two Inhibitors by utilizing their Kassadin's strong split push. They waited a bit until the next Baron spawned, which they promptly took at 31 minutes. With it, they retook the two respawned Inhbitors and smashed the final one. CG wasn't able to defend against the onslaught of Super Minions pounding their towers, and CLG dealt the final blow. They initiated one last fight, killing four members and the Nexus at 35 minutes.

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