In a battle for first place in the North American League of Legends Championship Series Summer Split, Immortals put together a convincing 2-0 series sweep of Counter Logic Gaming on Friday to kick off Week 4 in Los Angeles.
In the Game 1 picks and bans, the jungler pool was phased out as each team drafted split-pushing team compositions. So naturally it would be Immortals (6-1, 12-5 match record) jungler Jake "Xmithie" Puchero, who would get off to a good start on Gragas, ganking the bottom lane and setting up first blood and turret, creating a small gold advantage early that spiraled out of control. Counter Logic Gaming (5-2, 11-8 match record) spent the mid game trying to maintain vision control in its own jungle while protecting turrets, but struggled to find engages to break Immortals' relentless pressure. Whenever CLG tried to engage, Immortals were ready to counter and win the trade, immediately adding to its objective lead. After a successful turret dive on CLG that netted four kills, Immortals easily pushed down the enemy Nexus for the Game 1 win.
The drafting phase in Game 2 was much of the same as both teams stuck with the split-pushing team compositions. This time it was CLG jungler Joshua "Dardoch" Hartnett's Rek'Sai who ganked top lane to secure first blood, but the team's gold lead would be short- lived. Relying on objective play, Immortals would rally in gold, using a four man rotation into the top lane to secure first turret, then immediately taking the second from a terrific teleport by top laner Lee "Flame" Ho-Jong's Renekton. Counter Logic Gaming found plenty of picks, mainly on Xmithie's Elise, throughout the mid game but the only objective it earned was Rift Herald. Immortals finally began to put together winning teamfights, eventually earning a Baron kill at the 24-minute-mark. CLG tried to break the Baron empowered siege from its opposition, but it backfired as Immortals aced the teamfight. The teamfight victory was all Immortals needed to complete the series.
Counter Logic Gaming looks to salvage Week 4 against Team EnVyUs on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET, while Immortals' next challengers will be Team Dignitas, which will take place later that day at 6 p.m. ET.