Yikes.
That was the only thought running through our heads as we watched today’s showdown between Team Liquid and Echo Fox. What promised to be a tight showdown between the NA LCS’ top two teams ended up being a complete, one-sided stomp in favor of Liquid.
Liquid look like they’re in a league of their own, and that’s not necessarily a good thing for the region, because the rest of the league is looking very far from impressive—including Echo Fox.
Liquid, at their best, are a methodical team that know how to punish missteps and press leads better than the league’s other teams. Echo Fox, however, are a rather rash team that’s packed full of talent, but doesn’t know how to hone it. They frequently bite off more than they can chew, and they get extra aggressive when they don’t need to be. Today was the epitome of that weakness, and Liquid capitalized, plain and simple.
There’s been a bit of a meme this split about Echo Fox top laner Heo “Huni” Seung-hoon. Specifically, he’s been playing this split in various lanes, not including his main top lane, like bot and jungle. Today, he returned to his roots as a top laner to take on Liquid’s Jeong “Impact” Eon-yeong, one of the league’s best top laners and another former SK Telecom T1 veteran.
It was… it was rough, guys.
Huni ended the game in a sad state of affairs after dropping several early-game deaths to Liquid’s ganks (and once in a one-vs-one with Eugene “Pobelter” Park’s Irelia, which may have just been because Irelia is incredibly strong). Kim “Fenix” Jae-hun, who Echo Fox placed in the bot lane, was demolished by Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng, which didn’t help anything either.
Liquid are truly on another level, even against the team that was tied for first with them, which might not be a great thing for the region as a whole. But it’s excellent for Liquid’s hopes for playoffs. Their next game is tomorrow against Clutch Gaming.
