El Clásico returned tonight, as Team SoloMid faced off against longtime rivals Counter Logic Gaming. Falling short the last time they met TSM on the rift, CLG came into today’s match looking for revenge. To find out the result of this week’s El Clásico, as well as the other matches today had to offer, check out the recap below.
Cloud9 2-0 Echo Fox
Cloud9 got off to a strong start in game one of this best-of-three. Outplaying Echo Fox in the early and mid game through better macro play, C9 was able to continuously win in turret/objective trades. Through magic picks, EF survived until the late game. But once C9 got their hands on the Elder Drake buff, it was game over. Unable to defend against their Elder Drake empowered opponents, EF finally fell, giving C9 the game one win.
Finishing the series out strong, game two was another convincing win for C9. Finding picks across the map, Juan “Contractz” Arturo Garcia’s Graves created leads for his teammates in the early game. As the lane phase ended, C9 overpowered EF in teamfights through better engages with Rumble and Jhin’s ultimates. So far ahead of EF, C9 easily closed out game two, taking the series.
Team SoloMid 2-0 Counter Logic Gaming
Team SoloMid seemingly won this series’ first game in the draft phase. Picking an all AD composition, Counter Logic Gaming was inevitably going to be outscaled, and that was exactly what happened. As the mid game hit, CLG could barely damage the members of TSM. Kevin “Hauntzer” Yarnell was unkillable on Maokai, tanking all of CLG’s damage. Once they acquired both the Baron and Elder Drake, TSM easily ended the game.
Picking up where they left off, game two was another dominating win by TSM. Playing very proactively, TSM made leads for themselves through various roams and dives across the map. CLG tried to fight back, but were overpowered by TSM’s teamfighting. Once they found the Baron, TSM could finally take down CLG’s base, thus ending CLG’s winning streak.
Phoenix1 2-1 Team Dignitas
Surprisingly picking Kled for Derek “zig” Shao, Phoenix1 found an early lead in game one with picks and better macro play. Team Dignitas had a chance to come back in the mid game when P1 started to stall out, but with a couple crucial teamfight wins in the late game, P1 were able to close out the game.
Unfazed by their loss, DIG came back with a very dominant game two win. Finding one pick after another, DIG quickly accumulated a gold lead. With their lead, DIG shutdown P1, only having one member die in the whole game. DIG took game two with ease, tying up the series.
The final game in this series started off quite slowly. It wasn’t until a teamfight win in the top lane that P1 established their lead. With the lead, P1 snowballed out of control. Finding kill after kill, the members of P1 quickly grew out of control. It wasn’t long until P1 aced DIG, letting them end the three game series.
FlyQuest 2-1 Team EnVyUs
Known for playing non-meta picks, FlyQuest unveiled Mordekaiser in the first game of their series against Team EnVyUs. While it did not shine in the lane phase, as the game progressed the Mordekaiser pick started to make an impact. The spirit dragon from Mordekaiser’s ultimate played a crucial role in the the game-winning teamfight, doing enough damage to secure FQ the game one win.
Game two started with kills being traded from either side, though the game started to lean towards NV come the teamfight phase. The lack of a tank on the side of FQ caused them to get poked to death by NV’s Jayce/Jhin. NV used their poke to take the various map objectives, and eventually win the game.
Not only did Mordekaiser make its return in game three, but this time FQ paired the iron revenant with Blitzcrank. And like game one, these unconventional picks payed off. FQ had complete control of game three, almost pulling off a perfect game. NV looked lost, most likely due to the lack of experience playing against a Mordekaiser/Blitzcrank combo. Having four dragons under their belt, FQ marched through NV’s base to take down the nexus and win their first series of week six.
What was your favorite moment of the night? Let us know by tweeting us @GAMURScom.
Article by Malcolm Abbas. Follow him on Twitter @SmashhLoL.
