NA vs EU Rift Rivals 2019: Day One Recap

Cloud9 vs G2 Esports

The first match of the tournament featured G2 Esports demolishing Cloud9. In typical G2 fashion, they utilized flex picks fantastically and even stole C9's Yasuo-Gragas combo. In game, they slaughtered C9 all over the map. Mikyx killed Sneaky in lane, and though Blaber ganked bottom to even that out, Mikyx ended up killing Sneaky again. Caps even solo killed Nisqy in the middle lane. G2 kept up the pressure with a dive on the top side. It was clear early on C9 was doomed, as G2 constantly attacked them and won. They tried to make some plays, like sending multiple members to kill Perkz top, but they couldn't keep up with their opponents as the game went on.

The game ramped up ever faster in the mid-game. Here, G2 grouped up and looked for picks. Unfortunately for C9, they found them time after time. They won a team fight in the middle lane at 15 minutes, then two minutes later G2 all went top. At this point, they dove the tier two tower and killed four C9 members before taking the tower. It didn't take long until another fight erupted in the bottom lane. Again, G2 was victorious and Wunder came out of it with a Quadra Kill. After another fight, G2 decided to take both an Infernal Dragon and Baron Nashor. With these C9 crumbled under G2's weight, as did their Nexus.

QUICK STATS:

• Time: 23:08
• Kills: 28-9
• Turrets: 11-0
• Gold: 54.2k-37.0k
• Dragons: 2-1
• Barons: 1-0

Team Liquid vs Fnatic

Team Liquid (“TL”) debuted their new Captain America jerseys to signify their new partnership with Marvel, but that wasn't enough for them to defeat Fnatic (“FNC”). Their early game was worthy of the comparison, as they accumulated a decent gold lead. It started with First Blood for CoreJJ in the 2v2, but quickly grew. There was a massive bottom lane focus from both teams, but TL won two skirmishes in the top and bottom lanes to take firm control of the lead. They also secured the Rift Herald to take the First Tower bonus. But disaster struck when FNC engaged a team fight at 20 minutes to get two kills and the Baron.

This Baron cracked some towers, but TL defended their Inhibitors tooth and nail. TL lost a lot of lives for this defense though, so FNC maintained control of the map. This allowed them to take a free Infernal Dragon and set up for the next Baron. FNC killed this Baron as soon as it spawned and TL had no chance to contest it. This Baron was devastating for TL. FNC easily destroyed all three Inhibitors by 32 minutes, where they recalled for the final push. At 33 minutes, FNC returned to the base and slaughtered all of TL before demolishing their Nexus.

QUICK STATS:

• Time: 33:29
• Kills: 10-20
• Turrets: 4-11
• Gold: 58.8k-71.0k
• Dragons: 2-3
• Barons: 0-2

Team SoloMid vs Origen

For this match, the two teams chose two members to fight in a 2v2 for side selection. TSM ended up beating FNC in this, but FNC clapped back hard in the main game. It all started with Kold's early aggression on Sejuani, as he ganked the bottom lane at level two to get First Blood onto Smoothie. A minute later he ganked bottom again, this time getting a kill for Mithy on his former duo, Zven. Mithy killed him again a few minutes later in the isolated lane. OG then decided to focus top, diving the tower to kill two TSM players. They also used the Herald to take the First Tower bonus there. TSM got an Infernal Dragon and Bjergsen found a pick on Patrik, but it wasn't anywhere near enough.

This was because OG was constantly attacking different parts of the map. They kept picking off TSM members and TSM couldn't stop the bleeding. They Ace'd TSM after diving their bottom lane tower at 15, then took a couple of other towers. OG had firm control of the map at this point, and this allowed them to slay a Baron uncontested at 23 minutes. This buff was put to good use, as they pushed multiple lanes to take some towers and, thanks to the Alphari split push, the top lane Inhibitor. At 29 minutes, OG destroyed the bottom Inhibitor and engaged the last team fight. They killed three from TSM before claiming their Nexus.

QUICK STATS:

• Time: 29:35
• Kills: 3-17
• Turrets: 1-11
• Gold: 46.0k-62.0k
• Dragons: 1-3
• Barons: 0-1

Cloud9 vs Fnatic

FNC brought the LEC up to 4-0 with a dominating win over C9. C9 did win the side selection 2v2 and had a decent early game, but FNC didn't look affected by this at all. Nisqy killed Bwipo in the top lane for First Blood and C9 secured a Mountain Dragon early on too. But Broxah was ready to turn it around. He ganked top and killed Licorice at six minutes, then returned top and killed him again three minutes later. FNC furthered their lead by taking the First Tower bonus in the bottom lane and nullified C9's Herald usage. They really broke open the game when they dove top and picked up five kills in the extended play.

C9 didn't shy away from these fights, knowing they needed them to come back, but FNC was too strong. FNC Ace'd C9 at 16 minutes, and though C9 narrowly won a fight three-for-two at 18 minutes, they couldn't actually dent FNC's armor. Bwipo, who was bullied by Licorice earlier, solo killed him at 22 minutes under his own tower. This prompted FNC to push mid, take the Inhibitor, then push through bot. C9 tried to push them away, but it only made FNC go farther forward. They took the bottom Inhibitor then obliterated all five C9 members. FNC smashed their Inhibitor right after.

QUICK STATS:

• Time: 23:25
• Kills: 10-22
• Turrets: 0-9
• Gold: 35.7k-50.9k
• Dragons: 1-1
• Barons:0-0

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Featured image via LoL Esports.