FlyQuest 1 - Cloud9 0
In a surprise last-minute upset, FlyQuest took down second-place Cloud9 to start off Day 2 of the final week in the North American League of Legends Championship Series Spring Split and throw playoff seeding into potential chaos.
It took a little bit of time for the game to get rolling, but it never slowed down once it did. Despite jungler Dennis "Svenskeren" Johnsen giving up first blood as Skarner, things seemed to be going the way of Cloud9 (11-7) early on. Svenskeren quickly redeemed himself with a bottom lane gank to secure his team first turret, and C9 took the first real skirmish of the game at 21 minutes.
However, FlyQuest (6-12) never had anything to fear. Cloud9's gold lead never amounted to much more than 3,000, and by then, FlyQuest AD carry Jason "WildTurtle" Tran's Kog'Maw was in fighting shape, with a Guinsoo's Rageblade backed up by a Quicksilver Sash to keep him safe. In the subsequent fights, FlyQuest's team composition shined, as the combination of Gnar, Sejuani, Sion and Braum granted the team numerous modes of initiation and control and provided WildTurtle with an immovable four-man frontline.
Predictably, the game quickly turned into the WildTurtle show, as FlyQuest's frontline was free to throw itself head-first into teamfights and allow the hyper carry to tear through the squishy lineup of Cloud9. WildTurtle proved to be the only damage his team needed and finished with an 8/1/5 KDA (kills/deaths/assists) with his only death coming in the early game.
While FlyQuest has already been eliminated from playoffs, this was an impressive way to end the split and may very well have implications for Cloud9's seed going into playoffs, depending on the outcome of matches later in the day.
-- Brendan Hickey
Clutch Gaming 1 - Golden Guardians 0
Clutch Gaming kept its hopes of a playoff bye alive and took down Golden Guardians on Sunday, the final day of the North American League of Legends Championship Series Spring Split.
Right from champion select, this game revolved around mid lane. Golden Guardians mid laner Hai "Hai" Lam chose LeBlanc in the hopes of being able to assassinate the Azir of Fabian "Febiven" Diepstraten but quickly fell behind in creep score and even died to a gank from Clutch Gaming (11-7). Hai then managed to help Golden Guardians (4-14) find a 4-for-1 dive in the bottom lane, but first turret went to Febiven in the process, which left the gold even.
The mid lane matchup was also the crux of the mid game, as Febiven's superior teamfight champion helped lead Clutch to a string of skirmish victories through the 20-minute mark, only for Febiven to be solo killed by Hai just after. Ultimately, however, it was Febiven's consistent damage that made the difference, as it allowed Clutch Gaming to rush Baron down at 28 minutes with only two members and gain the first meaningful lead of the game.
The remainder of the contest solidified Febiven's dominance in the matchup. Supported by his team's beefy frontline, his Azir gave Clutch Gaming the crucial edge in teamfights and sieges alike. Adding insult to injury, Febiven found revenge with a solo kill onto Hai at 31 minutes. Wily as ever, Hai continued to put up a fight but ultimately the few picks he could find were insufficient, and Clutch barreled down mid lane with Baron and Elder Drake buffs to end the game just before the 41-minute mark.
With plenty of possibilities still looming, Clutch Gaming will wait for a potential tiebreaker game to clinch a second-place finish and a playoff bye, while Golden Guardians finishes the Spring Split in last place.
-- Brendan Hickey
Team SoloMid 1 - Clutch Gaming 0
Team SoloMid kept itself in the running for second place in the North American League of Legends Championship Series by cleanly besting Counter Logic Gaming on the final day of the North American League of Legends Championship Series Spring Split.
TSM (11-7) brought in a version of FlyQuest's team composition from earlier in the day, with a Kog'Maw for AD carry Jesper "Zven" Svenningsen surrounded by a massive frontline in Sion, Skarner, Swain and Braum. While these compositions have always found success in the late game, TSM wasn't content to wait around and scale.
While both teams made moves in the early game, trading back and forth in turrets and kills, TSM broke the game wide open at the 14-minute mark with a 4-for-0 teamfight and the mid lane turret.
This early fight proved to be a sign of things to come, as TSM's teamfight dominance was the story of the game. To its credit, Counter Logic Gaming (7-11) continued to put up a fight, looking for favorable engagements and doing its best to make plays happen. Unfortunately, TSM's large health bars, ever-growing gold lead, and hard-to-reach hyper carry made openings almost hopelessly rare.
At the 25-minute mark, CLG's attempted engage onto TSM utterly backfired, with TSM getting two free kills and Baron buff. This left CLG with little means of resistance as TSM rolled to a 31-minute win.
Team SoloMid made a statement with this win and kept its hopes of a first-round playoff bye alive, to be decided by tiebreakers later on in the day. For Counter Logic Gaming, this was insult on top of injury, as the team came into the day already eliminated from playoffs because of TSM, its longtime rival.
-- Brendan Hickey
100 Thieves 1 - Echo Fox 0
100 Thieves extended its win streak to five games as it claimed a victory over Echo Fox on the final day of the North American League of Legends Championship Series Spring Split in Los Angeles.
The win for 100 Thieves moved it into a tie for first place with Echo Fox as well as evened up its head-to-head matchup. As a result, both teams will play against each other once more following the conclusion of Team Liquid vs. OpTic Gaming to determine who will earn the No. 1 overall spot.
Echo Fox drafted the more meta-relevant Caitlyn for AD carry Johnny "Altec" Ru, which allowed jungler Joshua "Dardoch" Hartnett's Sejunai to focus on making plays near the top half of the Rift. However, any time Dardoch made a play, 100 Thieves responded with a pick or an objective move in the bottom lane to keep the gold race relatively even.
The frenzy of back-and-forth plays quickly trimmed away outer turrets and forced both teams' attention to mid lane control and the Baron pit. After biding its time, 100 Thieves finally found an opportunity to attack the Baron buff as Echo Fox dealt with a squadron of minions advancing down the side lane.
While the Baron power play helped 100 Thieves maintain a small advantage, it took three more instances of the critical buff in order for the team to make any sort of dent, as Echo Fox's defense became surprisingly stout during the second half of the contest.
All the while, 100 Thieves AD carry Cody "Cody Sun" Sun's Jhin was scaling into form, creating an opportunity for the team to open up the Echo Fox base and whittle away at the enemy Nexus. After one more clean teamfight to lock up the fourth and final Baron buff of the game, 100 Thieves mercifully toppled Echo Fox's base, setting up a pivotal rematch later in the evening to determine who earns the No. 1 seed in the NA LCS.
-- Ben Wong
Team Liquid 1 - OpTic Gaming 0
Team Liquid held off a feisty OpTic Gaming on Sunday in Los Angeles during the North American League of Legends Championship Series to create a four-way tie for third place in the league.
With a shot at a series of tiebreakers for a higher playoff seed on the line, Team Liquid (11-7) had plenty to play for in this match. OpTic Gaming (5-13), on the other hand, was trying to play spoiler and shut down any hope of getting bonus League of Legends in the form of five tiebreakers to close out the regular season. OpTic put up a valiant effort, but Liquid AD carry Yilliang "Doublelift" Peng and his Jhin were dead-set on creating an exciting finish and playing some more League.
After Doublelift found himself a few kills early in the game, OpTic chose to let him continue getting fed instead focused on getting advantages elsewhere on the map. This almost paid off, as almost the entirety of Liquid's gold lead throughout this game came from the high-powered ADC. As such, OpTic was able to hang around for quite some time, securing picks and teamfight wins in the mid game to prevent Liquid from fully running away with the game.
This didn't last forever, however, as Liquid eventually found a key 3-for-0 teamfight win on the back of Doublelift that allowed it to pick up a Baron in the 33rd minute. That was all Liquid needed to set up for a victory push into the OpTic base. By this point, Doublelift was simply too strong as he notched three more kills and an assist in the final assault to round out his flawless 10/0/6 KDA (kills/deaths/assists) in the 35-minute win.
Team Liquid will now look toward the tiebreaker gauntlet to close out the night. It will be contending with Cloud9, Clutch Gaming and Team SoloMid in a battle for the third seed in the NA LCS Spring Split playoffs.
-- Wyatt Donigan
Seeding tiebreakers
100 Thieves defeated Echo Fox in a 26-minute stomping to secure the No. 1 seed in the Spring Split playoffs. Both teams will receive a bye for the first round.
Team Liquid defeated Cloud9 in a 41-minute match that kept Liquid in the running the for the third seed in the Spring Split playoffs. Cloud9 would go on to face the winner of Team SoloMid vs. Clutch Gaming for a shot at the fifth seed.
Team SoloMid defeated Clutch Gaming in a 38-minute contest that would pit it against Team Liquid to determine the third seed of the Spring Split Playoffs. Clutch Gaming then took on Cloud9 to determine the fifth seed.
Team SoloMid defeated Team Liquid in a 38-minute match that gave TSM the third seed in the 2018 Spring Split playoffs. It will face the loser of the final tiebreaker between Cloud9 and Clutch Gaming in the first round, while Liquid secured the fourth seed and would face the winner of the final tiebreaker first in the playoffs.
Cloud9 took down Clutch Gaming in a 34-minute match that secured Cloud9 the fifth seed and a date with Team Liquid in the first round of the playoffs. Clutch takes the sixth seed and will face off against Team SoloMid in the first round.