Two teams looking to keep their playoff hopes alive squared off on Saturday as Counter Logic Gaming took on Immortals during Week 5, Day 2 of the North American League of Legends Championship Series in Los Angeles. In a hard-fought battle, CLG took a 2-1 series win.
Counter Logic Gaming quickly took control of Game 1 after a great teleport from top laner Darshan "Darshan" Upadhyaya's Nautilus secured three kills and first tower gold in the bottom lane for CLG. Consistently winning midgame teamfights, CLG used its signature team-based macro as they swept through IMT's defenses. Darshan in particular was big for CLG, feeding kills to his carries with his abundance of crowd control en route to a 2/1/10 KDA (kills/deaths/assists) with 71 percent kill participation. Blazing through Game 1, Counter Logic Gaming took an early 24-minute Baron and a 4-for-0 teamfight in Immortals' base to win Game 1 in 26 minutes.
CLG seemed poised to take Game 2 from the onset as mid laner Choi "Huhi" Jae-hyun's Zed picked up first blood at six minutes and secured four kills by the 15-minute mark. IMT responded by taking a 4-for-1 fight in the mid lane around 17 minutes, beginning a back-and-forth struggle for control. CLG looked to close the game with a 4-for-0 teamfight win and an Elder Dragon kill at 40 minutes, but IMT held its opponents off. In a tense late game, AD Carry Cody "Cody Sun" Sun's Sivir and top laner Lee "Flame" Ho-jong's Rumble carried Immortals through teamfights, dealing 35,800 and 35,400 damage to enemy champions as IMT shined, turning a CLG initiation into a 3-for-0 IMT teamfight win at 48 minutes to finish the 50-minute Game 2 win.
Game 3 continued to deliver back-and-forth action as Darshan's Fiora picked up first blood in a 1-for-1 trade near the three-minute mark. Capitalizing on the first blood, CLG started to grind out a lead with a 4-for-2 teamfight win on the back of a triple kill from Darshan at 18 minutes, outpacing Immortals. After a big 4-for-1 teamfight win for CLG secured a Baron kill at 27 minutes, Counter Logic Gaming was in complete control and unkillable thanks to support Zaqueri "aphromoo" Black's Soraka, who pumped out a ridiculous 29,800 damage healed en route to a 1/0/13 KDA for 78 percent kill participation. Counter Logic Gaming looked unstoppable as it took down Immortals' base and finished the game in 34 minutes, locking down the 2-1 series win.