Team SoloMid took down Echo Fox in a 3-0 sweep on Saturday to eliminate Echo Fox from contention for the League of Legends World Championships and punch its ticket to a new chapter in a historic rivalry as it faces Cloud9 on Sunday in the North American League Championship Series regional gauntlet finals.
Last time these teams met, TSM squeaked by with a 3-2 series win in the Summer Split playoffs, but Saturday couldn't have been more different. Most expected Echo Fox to come into this series riding a wave of momentum after its 3-0 destruction of Clutch Gaming in Round 1, and right out the gate, Echo Fox played with confidence. Things went downhill for Echo Fox, though, as TSM thoroughly dissected its opponent.
Echo Fox star top laner Heo "Huni" Seung-hoon was constantly caught out of position and made simple mistakes as Ornn, feeding over kills to TSM and its own star, mid laner Soren "Bjergsen" Bjerg, on Syndra. Simply put, something seemed wrong with Echo Fox's communication and coordination, and TSM capitalized. After a lengthy pause, Echo Fox seemed like it wanted nothing more than to move on to Game 2, and TSM happily obliged. The former North American juggernaut took Game 1 with ease and set the tone for the rest of the series.
If Game 1 was bad for Echo Fox, Game 2 was nothing short of a disaster. In a 23-minute stomp that went in TSM's favor, Echo Fox just couldn't compete with TSM's clean macro play. It didn't help that Echo Fox looked visibly defeated after 10 minutes, but the extent of TSM's domination was staggering.
TSM held a 22-4 kill lead, a 9-0 tower lead, took neutral objectives at will and, most importantly, kept Echo Fox from finding its second wind by keeping the tempo high.
Echo Fox showed some life with its back to the wall in Game 3, putting up its best performance of the series in a win-or-go-home situation. Huni's Rumble dealt massive damage in teamfights, and Echo Fox showed some of the aggressive tendencies it had been known for throughout the year. Despite Echo Fox's tenacity, though, TSM still pulled ahead early on, eventually pulling away from Echo Fox after a massive 4-for-1 teamfight went in TSM's favor around 16 minutes.
With AD carry Jesper "Zven" Svenningsen's Varus carrying the load for TSM's tank-heavy composition, the discrepancy in both teams became apparent. TSM boasts a lineup of proven veterans with experience in the clutch under their belts, while Echo Fox's newcomers, namely mid laner Tanner "Damonte" Damonte and AD carry Lawrence "Lost" Hui, looked nervous in the face of the elimination match. With Bjergsen and Zven leading the way, TSM cruised into Echo Fox's base and took out the Nexus to close out Game 3.
Now, all eyes turn to TSM and Cloud9, one of the best rivalries in North American League of Legends history, as only one can earn a spot at the world championships. TSM and C9 begin their regional qualifiers clash at 5 p.m. ET on Sunday.