Storied Organizations Bounce Back On Day 1 of NA LCS Week 3
By Zac Cameron ·
With day 1 finished and the dust clouds settling, the landscape of the NA LCS looks very different. Let's dive into these matches to see exactly how the west was won.
Counter Logic Gaming – Echo Fox
Match number one, and we’re off with a bang. CLG taking on Echo Fox, pitting former team members Heo “Huni” Seung-hoon and Kim “Reignover” Yeu-jin against one another for the first time this split, in a game that swung back and forth repeatedly. Echo Fox managed to keep the gold advantage relatively even for most of the game, taking whatever objectives they could while responding to CLG’s map movements. Unfortunately for Echo Fox, CLG proved to be better at team fighting, completely wiping Echo Fox in two separate decisive engagements. While this game went the way of CLG, it remains to be seen if Echo Fox can bounce back from their first loss of the season.
Cloud9 – OpTic Gaming
Game number two, and Cloud9 comes into the match with a fairly conservative early game strategy. Prioritizing objectives over kills, Cloud9 had the gold advantage over OpTic Gaming even when they seemed to lose on team fights. It was quite some time before OpTic was able to secure objectives of their own, but by that point Cloud9 had full control of the map and the pace of the game. With several good engages by Andy “Smoothie” Ta, Cloud9 was able to translate their gold advantage into more objectives and kills, ending the game in relatively quick fashion.
Clutch Gaming – 100 Thieves
We’re at the halfway mark now, and things are starting to heat up. An excitingly tense game between Clutch Gaming and 100 Thieves showcases exactly what happens when a team fight engagement goes wrong. 100 thieves were down a significant gold advantage when they interrupted CG’s Baron attempt, causing Clutch Gaming to turn and attack. Unfortunately for CG, they were unable to land key kills against the right targets, allowing 100 Thieves to turn the fight to their favour. Despite remaining at a gold disadvantage for the duration of the game, 100 Thieves were able to use the secured Baron to push into the base of Clutch Gaming and secure the victory.
Flyquest – Team Liquid
Our second last game for day 1 was an extremely one sided match, which saw Flyquest crumble before the Team Liquid juggernaut. Team Liquid managed to take the gold lead in the early game and translate that into almost uncontested objectives. Flyquest did attempt to fight back, but their execution left a lot to be desired, trading almost their entire team for a single kill onto Team Liquids Yiliang “Peter” “Doublelift” Peng. Another extremely quick game under their belts, Team Liquid looks poised to start their climb to the top.
TSM – Golden Guardians
For the last game of the day, it was almost a repeat of the previous game between Flyquest and Team Liquid. TSM held onto a lead from the early minutes of the game and finally showed the power that made them a team to fear in the NA LCS. Only losing two turrets, TSM claimed victory in what was very nearly a perfect game against the Golden Guardians. If this is the sign of things to come, TSM just put the rest of the NA LCS on notice.
Another day, another group of victors stand tall. Are we beginning to see the upswing of the teams expected to be at the top of the ladder, or can these new organisations bounce back and claim vengeance? For more LCS action, check out the recap for the European League of Legends Championship Series day 1 and day 2, or to see where the NA LCS teams stand going into day 2, check out the official standings page.