Would TSM be able to make it back to the finals once again? Or would Immortals continue their dominance this split?
No one could have predicted the outcome of this match. Immortals, who went an NA LCS best 17-1 during the regular season this past split, were extremely heavy favorites coming in. Everyone could feel Team SoloMid's momentum coming into this match after their dismantling of Cloud9, another playoff favorite, in the quarterfinals. Even with that in mind, the best chance TSM were given by the few experts that believed was of maybe just overcoming the dominant Immortals. That is not what happened here. Here's how it all went down:
Game 1
Hubris is often the downfall of man, and that would prove to be true of Immortals. Running a triple-AD comp featuring a top lane Lucian for Heo "Huni" Seung-hun, IMT was hoping to bring the success they found during scrims onto the main stage, and it looked as though it was working. For over 20 minutes, Huni and crew were running TSM into the ground, touting a 7-0 kill lead, a 6k gold lead, and a Baron buff. However, it would all come crashing down thanks to a little ingenuity from TSM in the form of the classic Fnatic bush. Catching Jason "WildTurtle" Tran and Adrian "Adrian" Ma out and with Huni trading his life for a top inhibitor tower, TSM would find new belief, going on to win a decisive teamfight in the jungle after collasping on an Immortals squad looking to push down the exposed inhibitor. From this point onwards, TSM never looked back.
Winner: TSM
Game 2
TSM would continue to build on their momentum, thanks in part to Immortals allowing jungler Dennis "Svenskeren" Johnsen to take Nidalee to counter NA LCS MVP Kim "Reignover" Yeu-jin's Gragas. Svenskeren didn't hesitate to make IMT regret it, grabbing a huge lead for himself, as well as outpacing Reignover's Gragas and regularly beating him to the ganks. This advantage would ultimately bleed over into the other lanes, as Søren "Bjergsen" Bjerg found key assassinations on Huni's Gangplank with his Zed, as his squad steamrolled the competition.
Winner: TSM
Game 3
Despite things looking dire, Immortals would not go quietly. Pulling out a comfort pick in the form of Reignover's Rek'Sai and a tankier top lane pick for Huni in the form of Graves, the originally favored squad looked angry at finding themselves in this position. Furiously diving the bottom duo of TSM led to the early advantage that IMT was looking for, but a creeping worry started to build for the top-ranked NA LCS squad. That worry came in the physical form of Kevin "Haunzter" Yarnell's increasingly difficult-to-deal-with Maokai pick. The tree would get more and more unkillable as the game continued, as he would face almost no fear of getting focused by Eugene "Pobelter" Park's Lissandra. IMT faced inevitable defeat as the team continued to lose teamfight after teamfight.
Winner: TSM
Series Winners: TSM (3-0)
There were a lot of questions coming out of this series: How good is TSM actually? How much did IMT actually prepare for this match? Where the hell was Ekko in the P&B? Is NA LCS scripted? But, the key question was answered by the end: Are Immortals mortal after all? The answer was a resounding yes.
