This article is part of our LoL Recap series.
Cloud9 vs. Team Liquid
Team Liquid's (3-10, 12-22 match record) first series with new AD carry Yiliang "Doublelift" Peng was spoiled by Cloud9 (11-2, 23-8) who went on to sweep the series matchup Friday in Los Angeles to kick off Week 7, Day 1 of the North American League of Legends Championship Series spring split.
Team Liquid got an early advantage in Game 1 by securing kills in every lane within the first four minutes. While Cloud9's mid laner Nicolaj "Jensen" Jensen's Ahri was solo killed in lane for first blood, he did get some gank help to even out the gold differential against Team Liquid's mid laner Chae "Piglet" Gwang-jin's Ryze in the midgame. Partially as a result of Jensen's work, both teams remained close in gold heading late into the game despite Team Liquid's early teamfight dominance. Cloud9 finally won a teamfight around the 27-minute mark that earned a Baron kill, and its subsequent Baron power play carried C9 well ahead of TL as it opened up a lead in turrets and knocked down an inhibitor. Team Liquid couldn't break through its opposition's front line in late-game teamfights and were knocked around in the base as Cloud9 went on to secure a Game 1 victory.
Cloud9 subbed in top laner Ji Won "Ray" Jeon for Game 2, opting to deploy a team composition with a lot of ability to dive in fights. Team Liquid's bottom lane fell victim to the mobility and damage as Cloud9 dictated fights early. The early dives prevented TL's newly appointed AD carry Yiliang "Doubelift" Peng from snowballing a lead on Draven. Cloud9 slowly expanded its control over the Rift, and after a 26-minute Baron kill C9 was knocking on Team Liquid's inhibitors. Doublelift's Draven finally connected with Adoration, scoring a double kill just before the 30 minute mark, but it was too little too late. Team Liquid's base was in ruins when it decided to make a last-ditch attempt at Baron, allowing Cloud9's top laner Ray plenty of time to push through to complete the sweep.
Cloud9 will square off against Counter Logic Gaming on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET while Team Liquid's revamped lineup will look to find a victory Sunday against Team EnVyUs at 6 p.m. ET.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
FlyQuest vs. Phoenix1
FlyQuest (7-6, 17-14 match record) continued their recent stretch of struggles, losing to Phoenix1 (8-5, 20-11 match record) in an easy 2-0 sweep on Friday to close out Week 7, Day 1 of the North American League of Legends Championship Series in Los Angeles, California.
FlyQuest continued its trend of drafting unique compositions with support Daerek "LemonNation" Hart using Maokai with Ignite and AD carry Johnny "Altec" Ru on Mordekaiser. The unique comp immediately got off to a slow start when P1 opened up the scoring with kills on both Altec and LemonNation eight minutes in. Once the game crept past 20 minutes, however. FlyQuest bounced back with kills of its own to even things up. Soon, though, P1 slowly started to pull away when mid laner Ryu "Ryu" Sang-wook used his Ahri to split-push and pick up a couple tower kills. P1 then broke the game wide open with a series of teamfights that crushed any hope of a FlyQuest comeback. It started with a clean ace for Phoenix1 around the dragon pit at 25 minutes and ended with a 3-for-0 in the final moments to give P1 a Game 1 win.
FlyQuest once again brought out a unique team composition, going with Shaco for Galen "Moon" Holgate in the jungle and Anivia for Hai "Hai" Lam in the mid lane. And just like Game 1, Phoenix1 simply drafted the stronger team, and it paid off with a big win. The early game was slow for the second straight contest, but Phoenix1 jumped ahead out of nowhere with back-to-back 2-for-0 teamfight wins around 21 minutes in. FlyQuest tried to stymie the tide by way of a Baron secure, but it ended up decimated when P1 AD carry No "Arrow" Dong-hyeon's Ezreal earned a triple kill. That seemed to deflate FlyQuest, as the team had no answer for the relentless assault from Phoenix1. Arrow and Meteos roamed the map with heaps of kills to leave FlyQuest with no avenue for a comeback. While FlyQuest managed to delay the inevitable for a while, Phoenix1 finally overpowered FQ in its base to wrap up the 46-minute win. FlyQuest is now 2-5 since Week 4.
FlyQuest will look to bounce back with a matchup against Immortals on Saturday at 3:00 p.m ET, while Phoenix1 tries to continue its run to the top of the NA LCS when it faces Echo Fox also on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. ET.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
EnVyUs vs. TSM
In a matchup between teams tied for first and last place, respectively, Team SoloMid claimed a 2-1 victory over Team EnVyUs on Saturday during Week 7, Day 2 of the North American League of Legends Championship Series in Los Angeles.
Game 1 was messy from the start, as EnVyUs's attempted dive onto Kevin "Hauntzer" Yarnell's Camille was turned around to give first blood to the TSM top laner at three minutes. However, EnVyUs (3-11, 10-23 match record) managed to quickly turn several telegraphed plays from TSM (12-2, 24-13) into kills, and back and forth they went. By the 20-minute mark, there had been 24 kills between the two teams, and EnVyUs was miles ahead. TSM tried desperately to make plays but couldn't stand up to the well-fed EnVyUs squad that took the Nexus in 33 minutes.
Hauntzer's Camille grabbed first blood once again three minutes in Game 2 by winning a duel against Shin "Seraph" Woo-yeong's Rumble by the skin of his teeth. This time around, Hauntzer and company were able to push the advantage in fantastic fashion, securing him further kills and a Rift Herald buff. Hauntzer's overwhelming split-push advantage made it easy for TSM to tear down the EnVyUs structures. Hauntzer earned a 6/0/4 KDA (kills, deaths, assists) and whopping 100-percent kill participation in the 27-minute victory.
In the decisive game, Seraph's Rumble was taken out for yet another first blood, this time from a dive by Dennis "Svenskeren" Johnsen's Lee Sin. Once more, Hauntzer was able to become overpowered thanks to the early advantage, this time on Nautilus. With a Lulu backing him up, Hauntzer quickly became nigh unkillable, making TSM's hard-scaling teamfight composition impossible for EnVyUs to compete with. Indeed, TSM was able to force Baron at 36 minutes with only a minor gold lead and use the buff to end the game and series less than three minutes later.
Team SoloMid will ride its momentum into a matchup against Immortals on Sunday at 6 p.m. ET, and Team EnVy looks to overtake Team Liquid in the standings when the two face off at 3 p.m.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
CLG vs. Dignitas
Team Dignitas swept Counter Logic Gaming on Saturday during Week 7, Day 2 of the North American League of Legends Championship Series Spring Split in Los Angeles.
Team Dignitas (5-8, 14-18 match record) top laner Kim "Ssumday" Chan-ho has been the victim of ganks during the laning phase throughout the Spring Split, a trend that reared its ugly head once again against Counter Logic Gaming (6-7, 14-18) in Game 1. Ssumday's Nautilus was ganked twice early, dying each time to Counter Logic Gaming jungler Jake "Xmithie" Puchero's Graves. However, Dignitas' middle and bottom lanes were ahead enough to cover the top lane deficit. In the first major teamfight of the contest, Team Dignitas slaughtered Counter Logic Gaming and picked up an ace. That gave Dignitas the ability to control the pace the rest of Game 1, freely rotating around the map, pushing CLG off objectives and winning teamfights. CLG had poor vision control throughout the match and finished with those two kills of Ssumday as its only kills of the game.
Counter Logic Gaming focused on vision control in Game 2, which allowed it to make smart calls and successfully secure objectives early, including the first Dragon. However Team Dignitas' teamfighting dominance reemerged around the 18-minute mark when it aced Counter Logic Gaming and only gave up one death.
With Team Dignitas now sitting on a lead, CLG appeared to make a somewhat desperate Baron call near the 21-minute mark to turn the tides. That play predictably backfired as Team Dignitas contested the buff, adding a kill and a turret to its lead. Counter Logic Gaming focused on split pushing afterwards with top laner Darshan "Darshan" Upahyaha's Fiora pressuring bottom lane while the rest of the team tried to control vision around Baron. Darshan was able to knock down the bottom lane's inhibitor, but Team Dignitas cleaned up the rest of his team in a fight around Baron. After trading lane turrets, Team Dignitas overpowered Counter Logic Gaming's defense and sent Ssumday's Nautilus back to base to slow Darshan's split-push. The final base race wasn't even close as Team Dignitas closed out the series sweep.
Team Dignitas will kick off Sunday's action against Echo Fox at 3 p.m. ET while Counter Logic Gaming will start at the same time on the opposite stream in a battle against first-place Cloud9.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Phoenix1 vs. Echo Fox
The new-look Phoenix1 squad had its way with Echo Fox on Saturday, sweeping the club to earn its second consecutive win during Week 7 of the North American League of Legends Championship Series in Los Angeles.
Game 1 started out with a strange play from Echo Fox support Austin "Gate" Yu on Karma, resulting in first blood for P1 AD carry Noh "Arrow" Dong-hyeon's Ezreal in a 1-for-1 trade. P1 (9-5, 22-11 match record) took the next few skirmishes, but after some smart turret takes by Echo Fox (5-8, 12-19), the gold was dead even at 23 minutes. Despite not having a gold lead, Phoenix1 made a bold decision to start whittling down Baron, a move that paid off. The team not only secured the buff, but it also a 4-for-1 teamfight victory that blew the game wide open and allowed Phoenix1 to take the opposition's Nexus in 27 minutes.
Echo Fox looked strong in the first 20 minutes of Game 2, with mid laner Henrik "Froggen" Hansen picking up a couple of early kills on Syndra. However, Arrow's Ezreal was able to get ahead once again, and P1 fought back to make Echo Fox's lead a minor one. The fights remained close up until 32 minutes, when a brilliant Teleport flank came through from P1 top laner Derek "zig" Shao on Nautilus, granting P1 a 3-for-0 and, eventually, a Baron buff. Phoenix1 had no trouble taking the next two fights cleanly to end the game in 41½ minutes.
Phoenix1 will look to continue its streak against Team Liquid on March 18 at 6 p.m. ET. Echo Fox, meanwhile, will have a chance to tie Counter Logic Gaming in the standings when the two play on Friday at 9 p.m. ET.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
FlyQuest vs. Immortals
FlyQuest, one of the best teams in North America at the start of the Spring Split, continues to fall in the League of Legends Championship Series standings and suffered another setback against Immortals in a clean sweep during Week 7, Day 2 action in Los Angeles.
Immortals (6-7, 16-16 match record) got an early advantage in Game 1 by securing several quick kills in lane. By just 10 minutes, Immortals top laner Lee "Flame" Ho-Jong found two kills for himself on Shen by counter-ganking for his mid laner. Once ahead, Immortals had no trouble pushing its lead against FlyQuest (7-7, 17-16), executing on ganks early and taking sole control of objectives.
Staring at a large disadvantage, FlyQuest's jungler Galen "Moon" Holgate played aggressively on Elise in an attempt to will his team back into the game. He was unable to do so thanks to Immortals mid laner Eugene "Pobelter" Park's Katarina capitalizing on a botched skirmish attempt and racking up a triple kill. FlyQuest couldn't find a way back into the game against the calculated aggression of Immortals, resulting in a 33-minute defeat in Game 1.
Game 2 was another extremely clean outing from Immortals as it once again found an early lead. AD carry Cody "Cody Sun" Sun and his support Kim "Olleh" Joo-sung quickly found two kills by dominating their lane in a 2-on-2 fight. Olleh didn't stop here, freely roaming and decimating FlyQuest in skirmishes. Boasting a 4/0/2 KDA (kills/deaths/assists) just nine minutes into the game, Olleh's roams were crucial in his team picking up a huge lead.
The early advantage allowed Immortals to take control of the map once again, preventing FlyQuest's top laner An "BalIs" Le's Nautilus from making use of his team's sole kill early on. Although FlyQuest's mid laner Hai "Hai" Lam was able to use Orianna in conjunction with Moon's Graves to set up a trap and kill the opposing top laner at 23 minutes, it was nowhere near enough to bring FlyQuest back into the game, and the team was pushed back into its base a few minutes later.
Immortals will square off against Team SoloMid on Sunday at 6 p.m. ET. FlyQuest, which was 6-1 halfway through Week 4 of the split, gets the rest of the week to regroup before a 6 p.m. March 18 matchup against TSM.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Echo Fox vs. Dignitas
Team Dignitas (6-8, 16-19 match record) kept its playoff hopes alive with a 2-1 series victory against Echo Fox (5-9, 13-21 match record) on Sunday during Week 7, Day 3 of the North American League of Legends Championship Series Spring Split in Los Angeles, California.
Game 1 was close early on, but Echo Fox earned a small advantage after lane swaps around 15 minutes in. The lead didn't last long, however, as Team Dignitas evened up the gold with a Baron kill power play after a 3-for-0 teamfight victory. In a back-and-forth mid-late game, Echo Fox's jungler Matthew "Akaadian" Higginbotham on Graves and mid laner Henrik "Froggen" Hansen on Ahri came up huge during EF's Baron power play as it knocked down two of Dignitas' inhibitors. Unfortunately, Echo Fox overstayed while exposing DIG's Nexus, allowing Dignitas to rally back with an ace at the 40-minute mark to secure the third Baron of Game 1, but Dignitas couldn't close out this tumultuous series opener. Echo Fox managed to hold on defensively, scoring a 2-for-0 teamfight victory at 55 minutes to to rush down middle lane and finish off Game 1.
Dignitas jungler Lee "Chaser" Sang-hyun took Graves in Game 2 where he made an immediate impact, securing first blood just two minutes in. Akaadian took over the rest of the early game, however, as he roamed the map on Rengar to secure leads in kills and objectives. Echo Fox struggled in teamfights around the 29-minute mark, giving Dignitas four kills and a Baron buff. Dignitas continued to win extended teamfights in the late game, keeping the series alive after securing an ace that gave top laner Kim "Ssumday" Chan-ho's Gragas and support Alex "Xpecial" Chu's Thresh enough time to destroy Echo Fox's Nexus.
Echo Fox built a small advantage for itself early in Game 3 but Dignitas started to dominate teamfights around the 24-minute mark. Dignitas punished Echo Fox for every mistake it made as DIG expanded its control over the rift. Echo Fox managed to sneak a Baron kill but Dignitas reacted quickly enough to chase everyone down and score an ace. Dignitas lost no one in a final teamfight, surging into Echo Fox's base to take a crucial 2-1 series win.
Team Dignitas opens Week 8 with a series against Team Liquid on Friday at 6:00 p.m ET. Echo Fox will follow after facing off with Counter Logic Gaming at approximately 9:00 PM ET.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
CLG vs. Cloud9
Counter Logic Gaming (7-7, 16-19 match record) upset Cloud9 (11-3, 24-10 match record) to earn a 2-1 series victory during Week 7, Day 3 of the North American League of Legends Championship Series Spring Split in Los Angeles, California.
Counter Logic Gaming started off the series by focusing the enemy top laner heavily, finding three quick kills for their own top laner Darshan "Darshan" Upadhyaya's Trundle. Although the game went back and forth throughout the mid game, Counter Logic Gaming were able to use their early lead to find advantages and push into Cloud9's base, taking decisive control in the late game. Despite Cloud9's mid laner Nicolaj "Jensen" Jensen finding favorable skirmishes on Ekko, Counter Logic Gaming was able to capitalize on its lead and close out Game 1 in 49 minutes with a successful base race.
After deciding to sub in Ji-Won "Ray" Jeon in the top lane, Cloud9 started Game 2 with an impressive two-on-two outplay in the bottom lane to pick up first blood for AD carry Zachary "Sneaky" Scuderi on Jhin. Once ahead, Cloud9 controlled the game with an iron fist, smothering CLG with its objective control. Winning a teamfight convincingly at the 22-minute mark, C9 secured the first Baron kill of the game, locking down a 5,000 gold lead. Although Counter Logic Gaming tried to defend its base, Cloud9 won back-to-back teamfights to take a 35-minute victory to tie the series.
With the series brought to a final Game 3, Cloud9 surprised Counter Logic Gaming by picking Jayce for Sneaky in the bot lane. Counter Logic Gaming wasn't deterred, picking up a quick first blood thanks to a roam from mid laner Choi "Huhi" Jae-hyun on Ahri. The game quickly became action packed with teamfights breaking out left and right. Despite constantly fighting and top laner Ray picking up a quadra-kill on Renekton to win a skirmish for Cloud9 at 15 minutes, the gold remained even between the two teams. CLG pulled ahead late, though, thanks to AD carry Trevor "Stixxay" Hayes, who dominated on Ezreal, winning a teamfight and securing Baron. With the lead, Counter Logic Gaming was able to secure Elder Dragon and sweep through Cloud9 in its base, securing a 40-minute victory to close out the series 2-1.
Cloud9 will look to shake off the defeat as it challenges Immortals on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET while Counter Logic Gaming will look to secure another victory against Echo Fox on Friday at 8:00 p.m ET.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Team Liquid vs. EnVyUs
Team Liquid (4-10, 14-23 match record) took a crucial step towards climbing out of the relegation zone on Friday, defeating Team EnVyUs (3-11, 10-23) during Week 7, Day 3 of the North American League of Legends Championship Series Spring Split in Los Angeles.
Team Liquid jungler Kim "Reignover" Yeu-Jin was active early in Game 1 on Elise to help TL secure kills and neutral objectives. Team Liquid made a few mistakes but slowly took a gold lead thanks to top laner Samson "Lourlo" Jackson split pushing on Camille, who created massive pressure. Team EnVyUs kept the gold close as it started to win trades in teamfights but got punished by Liquid for attempting a Baron kill with too little health. Liquid scored a 32-minute ace, taking Baron and pushing EnVyUs into their base. EnVyUs found no other opportunities to comeback and lost Game 1 after Liquid scored a second ace.
EnVyUs jungler Nam "LirA" Tae-yoo made back-to-back ganks in bottom lane on Lee Sin to participate in the first three kills of Game 2, launching NV ahead early. EnVyUs AD carry Apollo "Apollo" Price's Ziggs benefited from the pressure, scaling well while quickly destroying bottom lane turrets with Satchel Charge. Liquid quickly fell behind as it got picked off over and over while trying to defend against EnVyUs' pressure all around the map. Once EnVyUs secured a Baron kill, it pushed to win, destroying any member of Liquid that tried to stop them to force Game 3.
Liquid ran with another split push team composition in Game 3 that featured Lourlo on Camille again. EnVyUs put together the better early game as it had a lead in turrets, kills, and gold heading into the late game. Liquid stalled as best it could, fighting back from its 5,000 gold deficit and turning it into a 3,000 gold lead after a Baron buff 33 minutes in. The momentum quickly swung against EnVyUs as an ace cost them two inhibitors, as NV's only chance back was to take Baron and get away quickly. EnVyUs succeeded in taking Baron but traded 3-for-3 in the ensuing teamfight. Liquid regained control quickly after everyone respawned, picking up a much-needed win to stay alive in the playoffs race.
Team Liquid begins Week 8 facing off against Team Dignitas on Friday at 6:00 p.m ET. Team EnVyUs' Week 8 also begins with a series against Team Dignitas on Saturday at 3:00 p.m ET.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Immortals vs. TSM
Team SoloMid (12-2, 24-13 match record) reverse swept Immortals (6-8, 17-18) to earn a 2-1 series victory during Week 7, Day 3 of the North American League of Legends Championship Series Spring Split in Los Angeles, California.
Immortals started off the series with an extremely strong showing. Joshua "Dardoch" Hartnett found himself picking up a quick first blood as Rengar, thanks in part to mid laner Eugene "Pobelter" Park's quick roam on Orianna. With the lead, Dardoch continued to take control of the game, picking up a solo-kill and refusing to slow down. With the lead, Immortals continued to abuse Team SoloMid, turning around a tower dive for three quick kills and locking down a 7,000 gold lead by 15 minutes. Although Kevin "Hauntzer" Yarnell tried desperately to find his team successful engages with Shen, Team SoloMid could not find a way back into the game.
Team SoloMid bounced back in Game 2, despite another strong early game showing from Dardoch on Rengar. Although the IMT jungle hotshot found three kills early on, Team SoloMid held on, keeping even in gold. This was crucial to the team's eventual victory as it waited patiently for its golden opportunity. The opening came off the back of Dennis "Svenskeren" Johnson's Graves and Jason "WildTurtle" Tran's Ashe, who found a clean ace against Immortals to secure Baron for themselves. With the lead, TSM was able to find several key teamfight wins, with mid laner Soren "Bjergsen" Bjerg's Ryze carrying late with impressive Realm Warps to close out the Game 2 win.
In a series-deciding Game 3, Team SoloMid once again impressed, finding a win in a bottom lane 2-vs-2 to earn a small early lead. This didn't mean much, as the following skirmishes went back and forth, keeping the gold even. Things finally started to pick up as Bjergsen found several opportunities to roam with Ahri, accruing a large advantage for himself while Pobelter struggled to get anything done for on Orianna. With a slow and methodical approach, Team SoloMid pushed its way into the enemy jungle, finding a pick onto Immortals AD carry Cody "Cody Sun" Sun's Ashe. Team SoloMid finally secured a Baron kill and an Elder Dragon to close out the game with style, taking sole control over first place in the league standings with a 2-1 series win.
Team SoloMid looks to continue its winning streak against FlyQuest during Week 8, Day 2 of the League Championship Series at 6:00 p.m. ET while Immortals try to bounce back against Cloud 9 during Week 8, Day 2 at 3:00 p.m. ET.
