This article is part of our LoL Recap series.
Cloud9 vs. Team SoloMid
In a highly anticipated rematch from last year's Summer Split Finals, Team SoloMid and Cloud9 renewed their rivalry in the inaugural matchup of the 2017 North American League Championship Series Spring Split. In shocking fashion, Cloud9 took the series in a 2-0 sweep on the back of superior decision-making and great individual performances.
Rookie jungler Juan Arturo "Contractz" Garcia looked good on Kha'Zix early in Game 1, picking up first blood onto Jason "WildTurtle" Tran's Kalista at 11:50 to give Cloud9 both first blood and first tower. C9 took an early lead through their early aggression and constant split-pushing, including Contractz getting a solo kill on Soren "Bjergsen" Bjerg's Syndra, taking out the TSM ace around 19 minutes. TSM would pull even through crisp teamfighting in the mid game but would get destroyed during a Baron attempt at 35:30 by a massive Bullet Time, courtesy of Andy "Smoothie" Ta's Miss Fortune. With C9 taking Baron and Elder Dragon shortly after, it was only a matter of time before they would win Game 1 in 40 minutes.
Contractz continued to impress in his LCS debut, starting Game 2 on Lee Sin with first blood onto Bjergsen's Katarina at 6:50. Contractz would pick up kills all over the map in the early game, en route to posting a KDA (kills/deaths/assists) of 8/2/10, giving C9 a huge gold and tempo advantage. C9 would continue to find picks on a scrambling TSM, who struggled to generate any kind of momentum while behind. With a 5,000 gold advantage at the 25-minute mark, C9 was in complete control of the game, despite Dennis "Svenskeren" Johnsen stealing Baron as Rek'Sai at 28:30. While TSM gave fans false hope after winning a close teamfight in the top lane, Cloud9 would take out TSM with a clean 5-for-0 ace in the river and push through TSM's base to establish themselves as the top team in North America in just under 37 minutes.
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Phoenix1 vs. Echo Fox
Two teams that faced relegation at the end of last season, Echo Fox and Phoenix1, squared off with hopes of starting the new year with a win. In a series featuring a couple of notable North American League Championship Series debuts, Phoenix1 made a statement -- along with a couple of highlight-reel plays -- and swept the series 2-0 on Friday.
Echo Fox rookie Matthew "Akaadian" Higginbotham had a hot start to Game 1 on Rek'Sai, taking out P1's Ryu "Ryu" Sang-wook's Lissandra at three minutes for first blood, and then again 30 seconds later, when Ryu teleported back to lane. Phoenix1 would catch up, however, thanks to a massive 5-on-5 teamfight at 8:30 which P1 aced, only losing Rami "Inori" Charagh's signature Rengar.
Things would descend into chaos in the mid game, with several minutes of nonstop fighting and questionable positioning from both sides. After minutes of fruitless tussle, Henrik "Froggen" Hansen's LeBlanc put Echo Fox ahead with a triple kill to secure a 4-for-0 teamfight and Baron at around 29 minutes.
Despite these heroics, Phoenix1 clawed their way into the lead through strong teamfighting and Inori, who put P1 in the driver's seat for good with an official triple kill around 35 minutes. With a final messy fight going 5-for-1 in P1's favor, Phoenix1 held on to take Game 1, which featured a full kill per minute, in 38 minutes.
Game 2 began much like Game 1 did, with Akaadian's Rek'Sai picking up first blood at around five minutes. Echo Fox's strategy of picking their signature champions looked solid throughout the early game, with Austin "Gate" Yu hitting a three-man Flay on Thresh to give Echo Fox a 3-for-1 teamfight win around 15 minutes.
Phoenix1 would surge into the lead when Ryu's Orianna hit a game-changing Command: Shockwave on four members of Echo Fox at 21 minutes. Ryu's huge play secured a 4-for-0 teamfight win and a Baron for P1, who would flood their way down mid lane and break through Echo Fox's defenses to take a stunning win in just under 25 minutes.
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CLG vs. Team Liquid
Two North American powerhouses clashed to start off their respective 2017 North American League Championship Series Spring Splits, with one trying to remain at the top of the mountain while the other looked to overthrow a stigma of mediocrity. Counter Logic Gaming and Team Liquid put together a hard-fought series, but it was Team Liquid who came away with the 2-0 sweep.
Liquid's highest-profile acquisition this offseason made his presence felt immediately in Game 1, as Kim "Reignover" Yeu-jin's Kha'Zix applied early pressure. Reignover then got TL in a bot lane gank for first blood. Samson "Lourlo" Jackson looked strong on Maokai, making great teleport flanks en route to a 6/1/6 KDA (kills/deaths/assists) and 71 percent kill participation. CLG showed occasional signs of life, taking advantage of Reignover's occasional mistakes later into the game, but TL would overcome those misplays through superior teamfighting. Team Liquid looked strong as they won a 5-for-1 teamfight in the river to take Game 1 in 35 minutes.
After an underwhelming Game 1 on Corki, Choi "Huhi" Jae-hyun played his signature Aurelion Sol in Game 2, picking up first blood before five minutes thanks to his superior roaming ability. Huhi was able to combo well with Trevor "Stixxay" Hayes' Ashe, who shook off a rough Game 1 by landing several Enchanted Crystal Arrows to find picks for Counter Logic Gaming, such as his arrow that secured an easy Baron for CLG and gave them a 9,000 gold lead. Team Liquid would prevail, however, taking advantage of CLG's lack of a tank with clutch flanks from Chae "Piglet" Gwang-jin's Twitch. After turning the game around with a pick onto Huhi and then killing Stixxay under his own turret , Piglet's late-game damage was too much for Counter Logic Gaming, allowing Team Liquid to pick up their first series win of the year.
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FlyQuest vs. Team EnVyUs
In its North American League Championship Series debut, FlyQuest earned its first series win, defeating Team EnVyUs 2-0 to kick off its Spring Split campaign.
Game 1 of this series should've looked familiar to fans of the old Cloud9 roster, as Hai "Hai" Lam's expert leadership was on full display for his new team. With the help of Galen "Moon" Holgate, Hai's Corki picked up two early kills, the first onto Alex "AlexIch" Ichetovin and the second onto Noh "Ninja" Geon-woo. From there on out, it was Hai's shotcalling that allowed FlyQuest to turn an early lead into a virtual shutout. FlyQuest rotated from objective to objective, taking tower after tower, and eventually nabbing an uncontested Baron despite having all five members of NV on the map. They would use the buff to open up NV's base, and end the game shortly after.
The second game looked to be an entirely different story for EnVyUs, as AlexIch grabbed his team an early lead by solo-killing Hai for first blood. NV would widen the lead by grabbing multiple early dragons and taking teamfight victories in the midgame, and it looked liked viewers would be in for a deciding Game 3. Unfortunately for NV, FlyQuest would set up a beautiful trap next to Baron, taking the ensuing teamfight and the buff. After that, it was all too easy for FlyQuest to roll over the next several engagements, break the base, and eventually take the 2-0 victory.
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Echo Fox vs. Immortals
After rebuilding its roster during the offseason, Immortals kicked off its 2017 North American League Championship Series Spring Split on a high note defeating Echo Fox 2-1.
The series certainly didn't start out on a positive note for Immortals, as Echo Fox's rookie jungler, Matthew "Akaadian" Higginbotham applied strong pressure on Graves, picking up first blood on Immortals star import Lee "Flame" Ho-Jong's Fiora. Akaadian would snowball throughout the early game, picking up two more kills as Echo Fox out-rotated Immortals well into the midgame. Finishing with a 11/1/4 KDA (kills/deaths/assists) and 88 percent kill participation. Akaadian carried Echo Fox to a slow 49 minute win.
Echo Fox got off to a hot start in Game 2, with Akaadian's Kha'Zix picking up another first blood, and would enter the midgame with a strong lead. While both sides made mistakes throughout the match, Echo Fox were on top for most of the game, going as far as to take one of Immortals' Nexus turrets after a triple kill from Yuri "Keith" Jew's Ezreal. Unfortunately for Keith and Echo Fox, he got picked off in what would be a 4-for-1 teamfight win for Immortals that gave them Baron around 29 minutes in. With Flame split-pushing, Immortals would put together a sloppy comeback starting with a 4-for-2 teamfight win at 32 minutes. Unable to recapture momentum, Echo Fox faltered as Immortals finally closed out to force a Game 3.
Like clockwork, Akaadian's Rek'Sai once again secured first blood for Echo Fox before five minutes, giving it to Henrik "Froggen" Hansen's Twisted Fate. Froggen would snowball from there, finding picks throughout the mid-game and setting up a Baron kill at 22:30. While Echo Fox, empowered by the buff, patiently pushed away at objectives, their hesitation cost them as Immortals rushed Baron. Echo Fox started the Elder Dragon only to get wiped out by Joshua "Dardoch" Hartnett's Kha'Zix, losing the fight and the Dragon. After trading momentum back-and-forth, Immortals capitalized on a Keith misplay, catching the ADC out of position, catapulting the team to a Game 3 win.
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P1 vs. Team Dignitas
In the North American League Championship Series' first three-game set of the 2017 season, Team Dignitas prevailed 2-1 over Phoenix1.
Game 1 certainly started off bleak for Dignitas as just over four minutes into the match, Yoo "Ryu" Sang-ook's Ryze solo killed Jang "Keane" Lae-young's Cassiopeia for first blood. Over the next few minutes, Phoenix1's jungler Rami "Inori" Charagh would grab four additional early kills, putting P1 in a great position. Unfortunately, two kills were given over to Kim "Ssumday" Chang-ho in the process, and he was able to scale up on Maokai, turning into an unstoppable force in mid-game teamfights. That helped Dignitas overcome the early deficit, take Baron and subsequently end the game.
Dignitas certainly seemed to have the sweep in hand judging by the first few minutes of Game 2, as Keane's Azir got revenge on Ryu's Corki, getting first blood with marginal help from his team. For the rest of the mid game, Keane would dominate teamfights and skirmishes, managing a score of 9/0/2 KDA (kills/deaths/assists) at one point. However, Keane hit his item ceiling very early on, and once he stopped growing, P1 were able to pull the game back in their favor after winning a teamfight outside their base. A terrific team-oriented group effort late helped P1 rally to win the game just minutes later.
Game 3 was the only game of the series that was fairly straightforward, as DIG got ahead by putting some early pressure on top lane, maintaining that lead throughout the rest of the game. Keane put together yet another fantastic game on Ryze, earning a 9/1/7 KDA, and ADC Benjamin "LOD" deMunck had by far his best performance of the series on Ashe. P1 made a desperate Baron attempt at nearly 30 minutes, but were easily cleaned up by DIG, who would take the game minutes later.
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Cloud9 vs. Team Dignitas
Cloud9 won a closely-contested series against Team Dignitas on Sunday in Santa Monica, California to finish Week 1 atop the North American League Championship Series standings.
Cloud9 were forced to come from behind to win Game 1. Dignitas controlled the early and mid game, skirmishing well and getting out to a 3,000 gold lead at 24 minutes. Cloud9's comeback happened in the 38th minute when Nicolaj "Jensen" Jensen's Ekko picked up a double kill in a 4-for-0 teamfight win, leading to a Baron kill and C9's first gold lead of the game. Cloud9 would secure Elder Dragon minutes later, winning a teamfight 4-for-1 to close out the come-from-behind win.
DIG fought back, registering a patient Game 2 win. A teamfight win near the 31st minute opened the door for DIG to claim Baron, using the buff to push into the C9 base. Kim "ssumday" Chan-ho's overwhelming presence on Maoka helped DIG claim a 4-for-1 teamfight win that secured the victory.
Cloud9 won a close Game 3, where each team playing passively for much of the contest. The action was few and far between, but Cloud9 won the first teamfight of the game in the 34th minute, taking a 4-for-1 advantage, subsequently opening the Dignitas base. Pushing in for the win, Cloud9 won the final teamfight of the game in the 39th minute, cleanly acing Dignitas with Jensen picking up a triple kill on Ryze.
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Team Liquid vs. FlyQuest
After an impressive victory against EnVyUs on Saturday, FlyQuest picked up their second series victory of the 2017 North American League Championship Series Spring Split on Sunday, starting off their NA LCS debut with a perfect 2-0 week.
FlyQuest had an extremely rough start to the series, largely due to Team Liquid's Samson "Lourlo" Jackson's Fiora performance. Although FlyQuest was able to find kills in both the bottom and middle lane, the opposing top laner proved to be too much of a threat. After picking up several early kills, Lourlo was able to split push and kill anyone in his path; a strategy that FlyQuest seemed to have no response to. After making moves to mount a comeback, FlyQuest was ultimately defeated after Lourlo dove through to the enemy Nexus in a solo mission, picking up two kills and still escaping. The result was a defeat for FlyQuest after 44 minutes.
In Game 2, FlyQuest put together a completely different game on the back of Hai Lam. who got things going early on Corki and never stopped.
Throughout the lane phase, Hai was able to shut down Greyson "Goldenglue" Gilmer's Azir, setting himself up for a victory. He didn't stop there, moving throughout the map to exert his pressure across all members of Team Liquid. FlyQuest could not be stopped after they got things going, allowing Galen "Moon" Holgate to pick up three infernal dragons. With the buff provided by the dragon, FlyQuest forced several more team fights to close out the game in just 35 minutes.
With the series being pushed to a final Game 3, FQ's Johnny "Altec" Ru stepped up his game to secure his team's series victory, finding two kills for himself in an early skirmish thanks to the support from Daerek "LemonNation" Hart. The pair's synergy was unrivaled as they turned around a gank shortly after to find an even bigger advantage. Team Liquid could not find a way back into the game, getting shut down by FlyQuest at every stage of the game. FlyQuest put its lead to good use, forcing objectives and finally a fight in Team Liquid's base 24 minutes into the game, picking up a five-for-one ace and closing out the game to secure their 2-0 start to the 2017 NA LCS Spring Split.
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TSM vs. Immortals
After an extremely long-winded series, Team SoloMid took down Immortals 2-1 for its first win of the 2017 North American League of Legends Championship Series on Sunday in Santa Monica, California.
The series started off hot, with both junglers making plays across the map. It was Immortals' Joshua "Dardoch" Hartnett who ultimately won out on Olaf, lending his team a 2,000-gold lead. IMT pressed this lead, maintaining an advantage and eventually destroying every last one of TSM's turrets.
Unfortunately for Immortals, TSM never said die, repeatedly fending off IMT from its base. One final fight in defense of their base allowed TSM to ace Immortals, and use the massive death timers to swarm the IMT Nexus for the comeback victory on the back of Søren "Bjergsen" Bjerg's 10/1/11 KDA (kills/deaths/assists) Cassiopeia.
Immortals managed to get even in Game 2. This time, the bot lane was the source of their advantage, as they consistently found kills in two-on-two fights. This led to a 6,000-gold advantage for IMT, which would unfortunately be thrown away in the aftermath of a brilliant Baron steal by TSM's Dennis "Svenskeren" Johnsen. Now in the driver's seat, TSM took control of the game, securing two more Barons in the 50-minute game. However, just after taking its last Baron buff, a brilliant four-man stun from Eugene "Pobelter" Park's Syndra allowed IMT to clean up TSM and storm the base to take the game.
TSM finally pulled themselves together for Game 3, which was the cleanest of the series by far. Before 18 minutes, TSM had accrued a four-to-zero tower advantage and were comfortably ahead in gold as a result, despite the close kill score. While this lead would fluctuate slightly as the game went on, TSM would never lose control of it, and they would enter IMT's base to take the Nexus at 38 minutes, more than 10 minutes faster than the previous two games.
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CLG vs. Team EnVyUs
After a rough loss to Team Liquid on Saturday, Counter Logic Gaming picked up its first win of the 2017 North American League Championship Series Spring Split on Sunday in Santa Monica, California, sweeping a struggling Team EnVyUs.
CLG got off to a strong start in Game 1, thanks in part to Trevor "Stixxay" Hayes and his strong performance on Ashe. Stixxay was a monster in teamfights, landing several Enchanted Crystal Arrows to start fights en route to a 8/1/10 KDA, good for 95 percent kill participation, while farming up a storm with 441 CS. While Team EnVyUs would come back with a teamfight win and Baron kill around 30 minutes, CLG's superior teamfighting gave control back to CLG at the 42-minute mark. Pushing into EnVy's base, Stixxay won an incredibly close teamfight for Counter Logic Gaming with a triple kill as they took a tumultuous Game 1 in 44:02.
In Game 2, Jake "Xmithie" Puchero got things going for CLG early on Olaf, picking up first blood before five minutes onto EnVy's Shin "Seraph" Wu-Yeong's Jayce. CLG would get overconfident, however, giving up several kills to Apollo "Apollo" Price's Varus. EnVy would fumble its lead, allowing CLG to engage onto its poke composition throughout the mid game before reestablishing control thanks to a big triple kill from Seraph in a 5-for-2 ace around 45 minutes. CLG could not be denied, keeping even in the game until Stixxay came up huge on Ashe, engaging the fight onto EnVy's backline and picking up the quadra-kill to close out a well played 2-0 series sweep.
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