North American League of Legends Week 3 Day 2
Game 1
The first game of League of Legends pitched Golden Guardians against Team Solo Mid. Both teams are right near each other in the standings. For Golden Guardians they look to make the jump into the top half of the standings while Team Solo Mid is trying to keep from falling down. The champion select went as follows:
GGS vs TSM
Top: Renekton vs Aatrox
Jungle: Trundle vs Sejuani
Mid: Irelia vs Darius
Bot: Brand vs Kai’sa
Support: Shen vs Alistar
Golden Guardians would pick up first blood against TSM in the top lane after an interesting interaction. However, this early kill wouldn’t amount too much as TSM would go on a relentless run of kills. Despite having the Dragon control GGS could not get the game to turn back in their favour going down 4-11 in total kills. The highlights can be found below:
Game 2
The second game of the day pitched Counter Logic Gaming against FlyQuest. Both teams are high off their wins yesterday looking to go 2-0 in week three. Both teams benefit from the win over each other as they are competing in the standings near each other. The champion select went as follows:
CLG vs FLY
Top: Ornn vs Aatrox
Jungle: Taliyah vs Santorin
Mid: Yasuo vs Zoe
Bot: Lucian vs Morgana
Support: Braum vs Shen
First blood would go to CLG and for the second time today it would come against an Aatrox in the top lane. The game paced fairly evenly back and forth before FLY would finally gain an edge. This would lead to a Baron fight where FLY would secure it and win a fight. This wouldn’t be enough for them to end the game as they opted into an elder Dragon fight which they would start losing the fight, but would come back with good communication. FLY would buy enough time for their minions to crack open the nexus turrets and eventually end the game. The highlights can be found below:
Game 3
The third game of the day pitched Clutch Gaming against Team Liquid. Team Liquid would like to continue their dominance in games heading into ‘Rift Rivals’, the next League of Legend tournament where they will face international competition. The champion select went as follows:
CG vs TL
Top: Dr. Mundo vs Kled
Jungle: Xin Zhao vs Trundle
Mid: Swain vs Yasuo
Bot: Lucian vs Ezreal
Support: Zyra vs Morgana
Team Liquid would pick up first blood and to no surprise it was in the top lane again. Typically we don’t usually see CG make plays in the early game, but some clever team fighting would allow them to pick up more kills in the bot lane and push ahead in the game. This would lead to a Baron fight that CG would win again despite not taking the Baron at all. After winning the fight, CG would storm into TL’s base and end the game. The highlights can be found below:
Game 4
The fourth game of the day pitched Cloud 9 against Echo Fox. Cloud 9 was unable to get a win yesterday despite substituting returning starters into their lineup. Although they are still benching ‘Sneaky’ one of their star starters from previous splits, Cloud 9 still find trouble closing out games. An 0-2 finish in week three would be detrimental to their split putting them solo possession of last place. The champion select went as follows:
C9 vs FOX
Top: Irelia vs Renekton
Jungle: Trundle vs Lucian
Mid: Lulu vs Braum
Bot: Morgana vs Karma
Support: Fiddlesticks vs Alistar
A failed invade would give C9 first blood, but FOX would answer in the top lane. ‘Huni’ would pick up a 1v2 kill after a failed gank and survive. However, C9 would repeat gank to claim the kill on ‘Huni’. This lead would be enough for C9’s top laner ‘Licorice’ as he would pick up two solo kills. Cloud 9 would be massively ahead, but an overzealous attempt at breaking open the base would result in a miss play from C9. This fight allowed Fox bot laner ‘Altec’ to get a Penta-kill. Continuing the C9 trend they would be ahead and push too far and lose fight after fight in the late game. This would be enough for FOX to come back and take the game. The highlights can be found below:
Game 5
The final game of the day pitched 100 Thieves against Optic Gaming. 100 Thieves would like to keep the momentum and stay at the top of the standings. Optic Gaming are looking for a win to keep them just ahead of Cloud 9. Optic Gaming are also substituting in their substitute support player ‘Gate’ into the jungle role. This is due to the double support compositions we see from them. The champion select went as follows:
100T vs OPT
Top: Gangplank vs Dr. Mundo
Jungle: Kai’sa vs Xayah
Mid: Alistar vs Rakan
Bot: Swain vs Varus
Support: Fiddlesticks vs Tahm Kench
The final game is the only game where we see lane swaps coming in. 100T jungle would play support, support would play mid, and mid would play bot, and bot would play jungle. This is the first four way swap we have seen in the NALCS. On the side of OPT, jungle would play mid, mid would play jungle. Essentially the composition that Optic is running is a support and marksman gold funnel strategy in the mid lane, with a standard bot and support lane bottom. First blood would come in the bot lane for 100T and they would keep the ball rolling from there. Kill after kill would come in, while maintaining Dragon control and even picking up the Baron Nashor. 100T would almost have a perfect game not giving up a single kill, Dragon, or Baron and only giving up two turrets. The highlights can be found below:
Standings
T1 – Echo Fox
– Team Solo Mid
– Team Liquid
– 100 Thieves
T5 – Counter Logic Gaming
– FlyQuest
– Clutch Gaming
T8 – Golden Guardians
– Optic Gaming
10 – Cloud 9
Missed week 3 day 1? Recap: HERE
