League of Legends: LCS Summer Finals Recap | Team Liquid Vs. Cloud 9
| Tags: League of Legends
| Author Alex Mcalpine
Game One
Team Liquid (“TL”) started off the series with a crushing victory. The game began with a massive play in the river. Xmithie caught out a flash-less Svenskeren for a 3v3 fight where TL got two unanswered kills. Soon after, Doublelift and CoreJJ found a 2v2 outplay and picked up another kill. Despite Cloud9 (“C9”) keeping up their aggressive mid-jungle 2v2, TL neutralized their aggression with deep jungle ward and capitalized with a Cloud Drake. Both teams converged on the mid lane with C9 going up 3 for 2, but TL answered with the first turret in the bot lane.
TL kept their stranglehold on the map, taking the Rift Herald, the Infernal Drake, and the top tower without any kills, but C9 managed to find an opening. As TL went in for the mid tower, C9 picked off two to the side. Both sides continued to fight with TL picking up three while C9 picked up two and the Infernal Drake in return. CoreJJ engaged on Svenskeren, but Zeyzal’s Dark Passage kept him safe and allowed C9 to get a kill. As the game appeared to slow down, TL found a huge engage in the mid lane and took three and the Baron for free. It wasn’t long until they closed the game, taking all three inhibitors and finishing with a 2-1 team fight.
QUICK STATS:
- Time: 29:52
- Kills: 13-9
- Turrets: 11-0
- Gold: 59.4k-47.0k
- Dragons: 3-1
- Barons: 1-0
Game Two
C9 struck back and kept the series even. They refused to let TL make the first play and made an early gank bot for first blood. Svenskeren then found a countergank for a kill on Xmithie. They continued to crush TL and made a tower dive bot for a four for two play. TL fought back and got a two for one in a 3v3 bot lane. C9 kept the tempo however and took the Mountain Drake and two more kills. They proceeded to take the Rift Herald, the first two towers top side and another fight resulting in 2-1
Nisqy found a solo kill onto Jensen soon after. Through several more picks and skirmishes, C9 broke the base without the Baron. They found a team fight in the enemy jungle that resulted in a four for one and took the Baron. Just when all look lost, TL found a team fight that resulted in a three for three. They found a 4-3 miracle fight and continued to stall out the game. Despite the attempts by TL, C9 forced the Baron and took the game with a finishing 5-1 fight.
QUICK STATS:
- Time: 29:05
- Kills: 30-16
- Turrets: 9-1
- Gold: 63.9k-49.9k
- Dragons: 3-1
- Barons: 2-0
Game Three
C9 continued to take the game to the current champions. Jensen found a solo kill onto Nisqy for first blood, but Svenskeren showed up to keep it even. Both teams fought to keep the game even with an extended one for one occurring the bot lane. With one team finally taking an advantage, TL countered a fight started by C9 for a 3-1 fight advantage. C9 shot back with a four for two and the Mountain Drake. TL committed to the Rift Herald and took it, but C9 found an opening and engaged for three free kills.
Making the situation direr, C9 countered a TL engage for another unanswered kill and then did it again for a 2-1 trade. C9 kept a solid grasp on the game by picking Doublelift in the top lane. C9 finally took the mid tower soon after without contest. Both teams traded a tower. After a period without any action, C9 found a massive engage for three kills and the Baron. TL picked off Zeyzal, but C9 kept moving forward and took a kill with the bot lane inhibitor. C9 refused to leave the base and kept fighting until they closed the game with a final three for one team fight.
QUICK STATS:
- Time: 25:25
- Kills: 10-22
- Turrets: 3-8
- Gold: 41.6k-52.4k
- Dragons: 0-3
- Barons: 0-1
Game Four
TL kept the hope alive and took the series to a game five. The game started in explosive fashion, with Licorice diving the top turret for a solo kill outplay on Impact. C9 returned to the top with Svenskeren and got another kill. TL and C9 traded the Rift Herald for the Mountain Drake. Soon after C9 got the top tower with the Herald, but TL managed to barely get a return kill on Licorice with a three-man dive in the bot. C9 went for a dive bot lane, but the extended play resulted in an even one for one trade.
TL took a hold on the game with a following 3-1 trade. C9 kept TL from capitalizing by trading junglers. C9 picked Xmithie again and gained 3 kills after baiting the Baron. Then C9 set a trap for the dragon, but TL caught on and changed the pace of the game with four free kills and the Baron buff. TL broke through the bot lane inhibitor with two quick kills. They finally managed to close out the game with a final one for three-team fight.
QUICK STATS:
- Time: 33:01
- Kills: 10-15
- Turrets: 2-9
- Gold: 52.4k-60.3k
- Dragons: 0-4
- Barons: 0-1
Game Five
TL finished the series with the most dominating performance of the series. First blood came from a TL countergank in the bot lane. Jensen made a huge outplay in the mid lane and got a kill by taking advantage of Akali’s ultimate in a 2v1 fight. TL used these early advantages to take the pivotal early Ocean Drake. Svenskeren saw an opportunity in the bot lane, but TL collapsed first and picked up another unanswered call. TL continued their dominance of the game and took another dragon and the Rift Herald. The game began to stall out, but TL struck in the mid lane, picking up two more free kills and the first tower.
C9 found their first kill in the top lane, but Jensen wouldn’t let them take an advantage. He came in with an amazing play and made sure C9 lost out in the fight with the total coming out to four for two in TL’s favor. TL didn’t let up and picked Licorice in a bot lane dive, pushing the advantage for the bot lane inhibitor tower. C9 attempted to pick Xmithie, but TL refused to give anything up for free and picked up a return kill. TL started the Baron, but C9 contested and managed to push them off, despite taking massive losses in a 4-1 team fight. CoreJJ found a pick in the mid lane, resulting in a Baron bait that won TL 5 kills for nothing. TL finally closed out the game with another full team sweep without losing a player.
QUICK STATS:
- Time: 30:54
- Kills: 24-4
- Turrets: 11-1
- Gold: 62.1k-46.3k
- Dragons: 4-0
- Barons: 1-0
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