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Match of the day: Phoenix1 outfight Team Liquid

With playoffs around the corner, neither Team Liquid nor Phoenix1 could afford to lose today. P1's eyes were on a better seed for the bracket, while Liquid needed wins to try and claw their way out of relegation. In the end however, it was Phoenix1 who were able to take home the victory thanks to excellent teamfighting.

Despite having a roster stuffed full of world-class talent, Team Liquid just can't seem to get everyone on the same page. Their coordination in the middle of fights seems hectic, and their vision control in particular wasn't where it needed to be against Phoenix1. P1 meanwhile have never looked better - they demonstrated their ability to field oddball comps and take the fights they needed to in today's series.

Both of P1's carries had a field day against Liquid, but Arrow in particular was phenomenal. He proved to be just as comfortable on Ezreal as he was on Ashe, landing long-range skillshots to even out teamfights or poke down Team Liquid. In a world where Caitlyn has become the go-to champion in botlane, Arrow was able to go remarkably even with Doublelift and finish off the series with a 10/2/25 KDA.

The first game of the series solidly belonged to Phoenix1, despite Team Liquid's arguably superior draft. Multiple Shen-gar initiations from Liquid picked up kills, but Phoenix1 was always able to respond well and kite out the fight. No matter what picks Liquid came up with, P1 were always able to find more on the backside, allowing them to build up a huge gold lead. A sneaky Baron only extended P1's lead and they were able to brute force their way into TL's base, taking an inhibitor and a Nexus tower. TL held on for a little longer, but one final Baron fight went completely in Phoenix1's favor and allowed them to take game 1.

Game 2 was a much closer affair. Liquid once again had a superior draft, but this time they made it work for them by finding picks in the midgame. Teamfights however were still difficult for TL - they seemingly couldn't take a kill onto P1 without P1 immediately answering with a kill of their own. The game drew on until a crucial fight near Baron, where Ryu's Talon - a liability up until this point - finally found a flank onto TL's backline. Three of Liquid's members died in the ensuing melee, and P1 were able to pick up Baron on the backside. The buff enabled Phoenix1 to grab TL's inner towers, but it was a final pick on Piglet by Ryu that gave Phoenix1 the fight they needed to close out the game.

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