This article is part of our LoL Recap series.
Cloud9 vs. Team Liquid
It wasn't easy, but Cloud9 continued its seven-match undefeated streak to start the season in the North American League of Legends Championship Series with a 2-1 win over Team Liquid on Friday on Week 4, Day 1 in Los Angeles.
Liquid looked poised to take a quick 1-0 lead over the unbeaten Cloud9 with a strong start in Game 1. TL jungler Kim "Reignover" Yeu-jin's Graves got first blood around three minutes when he pulled off a gank on the bottom lane. Reignover snowballed the rest of Liquid, leading to a Baron kill that further put the team ahead. But everything changed when Cloud9 AD carry Zachary "Sneaky" Scuderi's Jhin stole the second Baron with a Deadly Flourish at 31 minutes. Cloud9 used the Baron buff to slowly chip away at Liquid's gold lead. Top laner Jeon "Ray" Ji-won's Jayce snuck into Liquid's base, while everyone else was fighting across the map, taking down the Nexus to end Game 1 in 44 minutes.
Despite coming up just short in the Game 1 loss, Liquid came back with a vengeance in Game 2. Throughout the early and mid game, the teams stayed fairly even, with Cloud9 racking up the kills and Liquid keeping even with razed towers. Rather than playing passively and letting Cloud9 farm up, Liquid went for a decisive Baron kill at the 24-minute mark. That buff gave Liquid the edge necessary to put Cloud9 on the back foot. One last 2-for-0 teamfight in favor of Team Liquid was enough to close out the 31-minute win to force a Game 3.
Liquid started off strong with support Matt "Matt" Elento's Zyra getting three kills in the first five minutes of the deciding game, including first blood onto Andy "Smoothie" Ta's Karma. Liquid used this lead in the bottom lane to hold a slight edge over Cloud9 for a long while, but Cloud9 started to fight back toward the mid game. Winning teamfights decisively with starting top laner Jung "Impact" Eon-yeong subbed back into the lineup, Cloud9 started snowballing out of control in a 2-for-0 that led to a Baron kill and eventual ace at the 32-minute mark. The teamfight win and buff gave Cloud9 the firepower needed to lock up the 40-minute win and take the series 2-1.
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Immortals vs. Team Dignitas
Immortals closed out Week 4, Day 1 of the North American League of Legends Championship Series, outlasting Team Dignitas to earn a 2-0 sweep on Friday in Los Angeles, CA.
Team Dignitas made the early plays in Game 1, securing first blood and first turret gold, but weren't able to snowball their lead. Immortals slowly tore away at Dignitas' gold lead in the mid game, catching up in objectives while winning teamfights thanks to jungler Joshua "Dardoch" Hartnett's Warwick, who finished with a 1/1/6 KDA (kills/deaths/assists) for 100 percent kill participation. In a tense late game, Immortals sneaked a Baron kill just before the 34 minute mark, putting them ahead. Team Dignitas were unable to withstand the poke of AD Carry Li "Cody Sun" Yu Sun's Varus, who had a big Game 1 of his own. With Immortals too far ahead and Dignitas playing too passively, Immortals finally took Game 1 in a 50-minute fiesta.
Team Dignitas looked to correct their mistakes from Game 1, drafting a better teamfighting composition featuring top laner Kim "Ssumday" Chan-ho on Maokai instead of a damage carry champion. Unfortunately for Dignitas, the strategy wouldn't pay off, as they still showed an unwillingness to pull the trigger and engage in teamfights. Jumping ahead early on the back of Dardoch's Kha'Zix, who picked up first blood at just five minutes, Immortals rotated around the map to build their lead in Game 2 through objectives. Immortals were in complete control in the late stages of the game, building to top laner Lee "Flame" Ho-Jong's Nautilus teleport flank that initiated what would be the final teamfight at 33 minutes. Picking up an ace, Immortals pushed through Dignitas' base to complete the series sweep.
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Echo Fox vs. CLG
Echo Fox swept Counter Logic Gaming in a quick 2-0 series in the first match of Week 4, Day 2 of the North American League of Legends Championship Series on Saturday in Los Angeles.
Game 1 started off wild and never slowed down. CLG and Echo Fox battled back and forth constantly throughout the early game, with neither team able to pull ahead significantly. With the gold and tower scores even at the 22-minute mark, Echo Fox was finally able to secure a lead by grabbing three kills and Baron Nashor off a failed engagement from CLG. But that wasn't enough to take the game, as Counter Logic Gaming fought back to take the next Baron and even up the gold once again. It was only after a crazy, one-and-a-half-minute base race that Echo Fox was finally able to take the Nexus for the 39-minute win.
The second game was even more bloodthirsty early on, but this time Echo Fox came out of it much stronger than CLG. Echo Fox mid laner Henrik "Froggen" Hansen's Corki and jungler Matthew "Akaadian" Higginbotham's Kha'Zix dominated the map with their early roaming, setting their team up for success. After a number of teamfight and skirmish victories, Echo Fox grabbed a 23-and-a-half-minute Baron, allowing it to easily clean up CLG's remaining turrets over the next couple of minutes. With one final, controlled top-lane push into CLG's base, Echo Fox ended the game in just under 31 minutes to take the series. Froggen was unstoppable in the series, amassing a 10/2/25 KDA (kills/deaths/assists) across both games.
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Immortals vs. Team Liquid
Immortals continued its recent roll with a 2-0 dismantling of Team Liquid on Saturday on Week 4, Day 2 of the League of Legends Championship Series in Los Angeles.
Immortals jungler Joshua "Dardoch" Hartnett's Elise and support Kim "Olleh" Joo-Sung's Thresh jumped Team Liquid jungler Kim "Reignover" Yeu-Jin's Kha'Zix and support Matthew "Matt" Elento's Karma in the jungle to start the teamfighting in Game 1. The 2-vs-2 fight erupted into a full 5-vs-5 that Immortals cleaned up by snagging four kills and giving up just a single kill. Immortals' 5,000 gold lead at 15 minutes slowly grew as it tore down the tier one turrets. Team Liquid made a desperate Baron attempt at the 23-minute mark that Immortals punished with impunity by slaying four members of the team as they were trying to get away with the buff. In Immortals' final push, it scored an ace to push the kill count to 21-2 in the 29-minute Game 1 win.
Team Liquid cleaned up its play a bit in Game 2 and didn't have any early mistakes, which allowed it to keep even with Immortals for the first 16 minutes. Liquid took control of the midgame as it rotated around the map knocking down towers and finding picks. Immortals didn't knock down its first tower until around the 26-minute mark as TL's jungler Reignover took away jungle resources to keep Immortals bogged down. However, Liquid once again made a major blunder involving the Baron, this time allowing Immortals to grab it with a decisive 4-for-0 teamfight at the 28-minute mark that swung the gold lead in Immortals' favor for good. Liquid continued to commit to unfavorable engages late and got blown away by Immortals AD carry Li "Cody Sun" Yu Sun's Miss Fortune and his Bullet Times over and over. Once Immortals secured another Baron late, there wasn't any hope left for Team Liquid in this 42-minute Immortals win.
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TSM vs. EnVyUs
Team SoloMid earned its first 2-0 victory of the Spring Split on Saturday with a win over last-place Team EnVyUs on Week 4, Day 2 of the North American League of Legends Championship Series in Los Angeles.
TSM and EnVyUs went blow for blow early in Game 1, with the lane-oriented builds of NV matching up against the poke and teamfight prowess of TSM's team composition. This left the teams only 500 gold apart at the 21-minute mark, when a 5-vs-5 teamfight in the river saw TSM mid laner Soren "Bjergsen" Bjerg's Jayce grab a double kill, allowing TSM to take the Baron for free. Although the game had been close until that point, TSM proceeded to smash NV the rest of the way, ending the game through the bottom lane at 24 minutes before the Baron buff had even expired.
Game 2 was slower in the beginning, with first blood not coming until the 10-minute mark from a bottom lane gank for NV. Even before this kill, though, NV's lane focus had earned CS leads on every member, granting it a large advantage early on. Unfortunately, as has been the case with NV all split, it was unable to press this lead properly. With repeated picks and cross-map trades, TSM slowly clawed its way back into the game, with the 2,000 gold lead that NV had accrued stagnating and becoming insignificant before long. Although TSM didn't actually take a gold lead of its own until 37 minutes in, the second half of this game was all TSM, and it took the Nexus before 40 minutes to secure the 2-0 sweep.
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Echo Fox vs. TSM
Echo Fox, who were in relegations at the end of last season, kicked off Week 4, Day 3 of the North American League of Legends Championship Series with an upset sweep Sunday of 2016 NA LCS summer regular season and playoffs champions Team SoloMid in Los Angeles.
Echo Fox destroyed Team SoloMid in Game 1 off the back of rookie jungler Matthew "Akaadian" Higginbotham's 13/1/8 performance on Kha'zix. Echo Fox dominated teamfights from an early stage, cleanly acing TSM twice before 20 minutes. TSM struggled to come up with answers, succumbing to a 3-for-0 teamfight loss in the 27th minute, allowing Echo Fox to take two inhibitors and a 10,000 gold lead. The lead was insurmountable for TSM as Echo Fox would take the win, ending the game with 32 kills in 30 minutes.
Game 2 was a much closer affair as both teams struggled for control. With much back and forth through the mid game, the key moment came in the 34th minute as Echo Fox secured the second Baron of the game. Using the buff to push down the middle lane, Echo Fox opened the TSM base before forcing their opponents into a rash teamfight and wiping out TSM 5-for-1 to end the game. TSM AD carry Jason "WildTurtle" Tran was able to add a small silver lining during the loss, as he secured his 1,000th career kill in the LCS while playing Varus. For Echo Fox, they finish the week with a 2-0 record, moving into the middle of the standings in North America.
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FlyQuest vs. Cloud9
In the marquee matchup of Week 4, Day 3 of the North American League of Legends Championship Series, FlyQuest looked to hand Cloud9 their first loss of the split. In a hard-fought contest, Cloud9 left Los Angeles, CA with a 2-1 series win to close out Sunday's games.
FlyQuest held an early lead in Game 1 with Galen "Moon" Holgate's jungle Evelynn picking up first blood on C9 top laner Jung "Impact" Eon-yeong's Camille. FlyQuest grew their gold lead in the mid game with Hai "Hai" Du Lam's Jayce dealing massive damage, eventually finishing with a game-high 18,200 damage dealt to enemy champions, but FQ couldn't outpace Cloud9's late game scaling. C9 caught FlyQuest taking Baron at 31 minutes, picking up a 4-for-1 teamfight win on the back of mid laner Nicolaj "Jensen" Jensen's teamfighting on Cassiopeia en route to a 6/1/8 KDA (kills/deaths/assists). A few minutes and a 5-for-2 teamfight win later, Cloud9 knocked down FlyQuest's defenses and made the comeback happen for the 34-minute Game 1 win.
Unfazed by their Game 1 loss, FlyQuest quickly took control of Game 2 with a five-man dive in bottom lane to pick up a 3-for-1 teamfight win and first tower gold at nine minutes. Snowballing out of control, FQ grew their lead in the mid game on the back of Hai's Corki poke damage, who finished with a game-high 28,300 damage dealt to enemy champions. After a great flank from An "Balls" Le's Maokai gave FlyQuest a 3-for-0 teamfight win and a Baron kill at 24 minutes, FlyQuest were in complete control of the late game, rolling through Cloud9's base to take Game 2 in around 35 minutes.
Cloud9 got ahead early in Game 3, picking up two kills before 10 minutes. A fight in the bottom lane gave FlyQuest's duo lane a kill and gave FlyQuest much needed presence on the map. Cloud9 reestablished control with a 2-for-0 teamfight at the 21-minute mark, securing a Baron kill and two more kills to begin their snowball. Taking the bottom lane inhibitor at 23 minutes, Cloud9 were poised to decimate FlyQuest, but FQ came back with a vengeance through crisp teamfighting in the mid-late game. Taking a 5-for-2 teamfight win and a Baron kill around 33 minutes, FlyQuest looked to take over the game, but Cloud9 fired back with a 3-for-1 teamfight at 38 minutes. Taking a Baron shortly afterwards, Cloud9 stormed through FlyQuest's base with a 5-for-2 ace to secure Game 3 and the series in 44:30
