Team SoloMid advanced to the semifinals of the North American League of Legends Championship Series Summer Split with a heart-stopping 3-2 victory over Echo Fox on Saturday in Los Angeles.
Viewers of the series' first game would have thought a TSM victory a near inevitability, as Echo Fox put on one of its worst showings in recent memory thanks to a draft that relied on extreme proactivity that simply never materialized. Bot laner Jesper "Zven" Svenningsen's Kai'Sa made the risky Draven pick from Lawrence "Lost" Sze Yuy Hui look positively foolish, as the latter only managed to find a single kill over the course of the entire game, while the former found a game-ending pentakill and only failed to lead the damage chart thanks to mid laner Soren "Bjergsen" Bjerg's excellent Irelia play.
The performance that proved most crucial for the series' outcome, however, came on the other side of the map, where top laner Kevin "Hauntzer" Yarnell smashed Seung-Hoon "Huni" Heo in a way that few have ever managed. Unlike the matchups on the other side of the map, this mismatch would continue all throughout the series, as Huni's questionable decision making would prove a thorn in the side of Echo Fox until the moment Game 5 drew to a close.
Echo Fox did not take its Game 1 defeat sitting down, as the side struck back instantly with two swift, dominant victories in Games 2 and 3. At the center of each was Joshua jungler "Dardoch" Hartnett and his Kindred, which had free reign of the Rift thanks to an early pick of Trundle for Jonathan "Grigne" Armao in both games -- on the of the most one-sided jungle matchups possible in the current metagame. Dardoch abused the matchup to the utmost and utterly dominated the map in tandem with his mid laner, Tanner "Damonte" Damonte, especially in Game 2. Game 3 featured a reversal of fortune in the bottom lane from Game 1, as this time it was Lost's Kai'sa that endured a harsh laning phase at the hands of Zven's Swain, only to win the game nearly alone come the late game.
Team SoloMid took back the initiative in Game 4, as Bjergsen's Irelia made a reappearance, this time against a rather ill-advised Lucian pick on the side of Damonte. A relatively easy laning phase for Bjersen -- which was against all expectation -- led to the second pentakill of the series, this time from Bjergsen, which broke open what was otherwise an even game. Team Solomid closed out the game in easy fashion afterward, as the early-game composition Echo Fox assembled completely fell apart.
The momentum continued into Game 5, where Echo Fox finally fully paid for Huni's poor performance over the series. Hauntzer rode Jayce into the final game -- one of the most dangerous top laners for an NA top laner to pilot -- to counter Huni's Kennen, and a poor early game decision from Huni led to an early solo kill for Hauntzer, who used it to take over the game entirely. While Dardoch made another heroic effort to carry the game with his now-signature Kindred, it wasn't enough to keep down Hauntzer and Bjergsen, both of whom played with the fury of men possessed. When the dust cleared Team Solomid claimed a completely one-sided victory, with Hauntzer alone managing to dish out more damage than nearly all of Echo Fox.
Team SoloMid moves on to face off against Cloud9 at 7 p.m. EST on Saturday in the semifinals.