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A top-of-the-table scuffle between Immortals and Team Dignitas went to three games Saturday, and ultimately Dignitas overpowered its opponent 2-1 to conclude Week 8, Day 2 of the North American League of Legends Championship Series in Los Angeles.
From the outset, Immortals (12-4, 26-15 match record) looked like it wanted to play cool, collected, and safe -- in other words, it was playing not to lose. That's a difficult plan to pull off, especially against a scrappy and aggressive team like Dignitas (9-6, 24-18 match record) that can go from zero to 100 in an instant.
That full-throttle play was illustrated in Game 1 as Dignitas' AD carry, Johnny "Altec" Ru employed a stay-alive-until-you-can-thrive style with Caitlyn. After a quiet laning phase, Altec had a modest 0/0/1 KDA (kills, deaths, assists) that seemed a bit too thin for someone playing one of the most powerful champions at the position. However, when he had an opportunity, he made the most of the champion's damage, punishing Immortals for essentially forgetting he was in the game and posting a triple kill in the mid-game. With top laner Kim "Ssumday" Chan-ho already going off with Gnar and leading the team in damage dealt to champions, the sudden influx of gold onto the ADC snowballed the game to Dignitas's favor.
The play-not-to-lose mentality was never more evident than in Game 2 for Immortals. After dominating the early and mid-game, Immortals struggled to close out the match despite a nearly 10,000-gold lead at the 30-minute mark. Eventually, the item discrepancy took its toll, and Immortals finally broke the opposition's Nexus, but the team did not adjust its mindset before Game 3 despite all the indicators it could use a change.
This time, Dignitas made the most of a the tempo advantage. In truth, a failed pickoff attempt early in the game ultimately doomed Immortals, as it nearly got a first blood before inexplicably allowing Dignitas to walk away with a 3-to-1 trade. And unlike Immortals, Dignitas looked great when playing from ahead. Ssumday wore his carry Kled pants in the top lane, posting an 8/1/5 KDA and looking unstoppable throughout the penultimate match. You never want to have the words "slow," "tentative" and "methodical" define your play against a fed Kled. But Immortals couldn't adjust and was dispatched in Game 3 in under 27 minutes.
Dignitas will try to continue its upward trajectory with a matchup against Counter Logic Gaming at 6 p.m. ET on Friday. Immortals plays Team EnVyUs earlier that day at 3 p.m. ET with playoff seeding on the line.