North American League of Legends Week 1 Day 2
Game 1
The first game of the day pitched Team Solo Mid against FlyQuest. Team Solo Mid won their game on day one, but it wasn’t as dominate as they would of liked. FlyQuest is continuing the search for their first win. The champion select went as follows:
TSM vs FLY
Top: Dr. Mundo vs Darius
Jungle: Trundle vs Xin Zhao
Mid: Irelia vs Gangplank
Bot: Varus vs Brand
Support: Tahm Kench vs Nautilus
A skirmish in the middle lane would result in TSM picking up first blood. A successful gank from TSM jungler Grig credits him to the kill. Grig is currently splitting starting roster time, but a dominant showing over a couple games will land him the main jungler position. FLY will bounce back getting a 2 vs 2 kill in the bot lane and even the score up at 1-1. TSM would go on to win the next couple fights and take the Baron Nashor. This would be enough for them to close out the game. This is the dominant performance that TSM was looking for. The highlights can be found below:
Game 2
The second game of the day pitched the defending spring split champions Team Liquid against the hopeful Golden Guardians. This is the most mismatched game being a true David vs Goliath battle. The champion select went as follows:
TL vs GGS
Top: Ornn vs Aatrox
Jungle: Xin Zhao vs Graves
Mid: Irelia vs Lulu
Bot: Vladimir vs Ezreal
Support: Alistar vs Braum
An early gank from GGS jungler Contractz would put the Golden Guardians up 2 kills. GGS will try to keep the ball rolling as they get another kill at a dragon fight and pick up the infernal. Team Liquid potentially underestimated the Golden Guardians as they pick up 13 unanswered kills and stomping Team Liquid. Golden Guardians will look to continue this trend as the season carries on. The highlights can be found below:
Game 3
The third game pitched Counter Logic Gaming against 100 Thieves. Both teams are searching for their first one, after not having ideal showings on day one. The champion select went as follows:
CLG vs 100T
Top: Ornn vs Singed
Jungle: Olaf vs Camille
Mid: Syndra vs Lulu
Bot: Ezreal vs Lucian
Support: Braum vs Rakan
CLG would pick up first blood after countering the invade by 100 Thieves. CLG continued to pressure 100 Thieves showing a dominant performance only giving up one death throughout the entire game. The game would result in a CLG win. The highlights can be found below:
Game 4
The fourth game was very interesting . Clutch Gaming takes on Echo Fox in a battle for the top spot. Echo Fox pulled a unique strategy having their jungler play top lane and their top laner play jungle. This role switch is potentially being practised by Echo Fox, but also could be a spur of the moment strategy based off how their draft went. The champion select went as follows:
CG vs FOX
Top: Singed vs Rengar
Jungle: Graves vs Taliyah
Mid: Syndra vs Ryze
Bot: Ezreal vs Lucian
Support: Rakan vs Braum
FOX jungler Dardoch would struggle to adapt to his new role of top lane and gives up first blood to Clutch Gaming’s jungler Lira. Lira would repeat gank and kill Dardoch again for a second kill. The game was looking to be a disaster as Clutch Gaming would pick up two more kills, but Echo Fox would find a way to crawl back into the game. Although not a dominant performance, by Echo Fox they were winning the macro game, taking all the dragons and not giving up any turrets. A few kills will be traded back and forth before an unfortunate server crash would result in the game to end abruptly. This server crash came in the 32′ minute of the game and Echo Fox would be given a default win. A statement was issued by ‘Riot Games’ the makers of League of Legends. LoL officials statement is as follows:
“In CG vs FOX, the game server crashed at 32:26. We were unable to chronobreak this game. League officials are ruling the game a victory for Fox. Fox was currently up 7 turrets to 0. There was 1 inhibitor down on CG’s side, a four dragon lead for FOX, and a 10k gold lead for Fox. League officials have rules that CG did not have a reasonable chance to come back in this game and will award FOX with the game victory.
– League of Legends Officials
A chronobreak is a mechanic in League of Legends used in professional play where the game is re-winded to before the error occurs. Due to the entire server crashing the game was ended and a chronobreak was not possible. Although this is unfortunate as it takes away any chance for Clutch Gaming to come back, the right decision was made. It would be more unfair for FOX to replay a game they feel they had already won then for Clutch Gaming to replay a game they most likely wouldn’t have come back from. The highlights from the game can be found below:
Game 5
The final game of the day pitched the struggling Cloud 9 against Optic Gaming. Cloud 9 is continuing to play with their roster changes and do not want to start off 0-2. Day one, Cloud 9 showed a decent performance, but struggled with what seemed like communication as the game went on. This new roster doesn’t have a lot of stage experience which translates to the errors made in the late game. The champion select went as follows:
C9 vs OPT
Top: Shen vs Ornn
Jungle: Olaf vs Camille
Mid: Syndra vs Lulu
Bot: Ezreal vs Lucian
Support: Braum vs Rakan
A worrying trend for Cloud 9 continues as they give up two kills in the beginning of the game. First blood is credited to Optic’s jungler Akaadian. Despite being down in kills this did not detour Cloud 9 from trying to make plays and get back in the game. Their efforts were rewarded and they were successful in doing so. This was not a high scoring game, but Cloud 9 would rally back to victory gaining the much crucial win. The highlights can be found below:
Standings
T1 – Echo Fox
T1 – Team Solo Mid
T3 – Counter Logic Gaming
T3 – Cloud 9
T3 – Golden Guardians
T3 – Optic Gaming
T3 – Team Liquid
T3 – Clutch Gaming
T9 – FlyQuest
T9 – 100 Thieves
Missed Day 1? Check it out: HERE
