In the first semfinal series of IEM Gyeonggi, North America’s new-look Team Liquid took on Korea’s Samsung Galaxy, a group of players that were one game away from being crowned world champions just a couple of months ago.
SAMSUNG GALAXY 2-0 Team Liquid
Despite finishing first in Group A, Samsung showed exploitable cracks in their early game, and TL took full advantage of that in the first game of this series. TL continuously responded and turned around Samsung’s ganks, with the help of top laner Samson “Lourlo” Jackson’s roams. Lourlo came into the 20-minute mark 4-0, alongside a powered up TL looking to close out the game. Using their momentum, TL tried for a 29-minute Baron. Samsung, quick to counter, were too late to steal the buff, but took out four members of the NA squad. This almost-ace gave Samsung the lead, and closed out the game that originally looked to be TL’s.
The second game was not as close as the first. Samsung looked to be back in world championship form, and there was little TL could do to stop them. Kang “Ambition” Chan-yong had a great performance on Lee Sin in the second game, fearlessly diving into three members of TL to secure a kill. Grabbing an early 23-minute Baron, Samsung easily rush down TL’s base for a 24-minute victory. Despite losing both games, Lourlo had a great performance during this series, solo killing Lee “CuVee” Seong-jin in the second game. Samsung will face the winner of tomorrow’s match between Immortals and Kongdoo Monster, in the finals on Sunday.
Do you think Samsung Galaxy can win IEM Gyeonggi? Let us know by commenting below or tweeting us @GAMURScom.
Article by Malcolm Abbas. Follow him on Twitter @SmashhLoL.
Photos via LoL Esports
