The top two teams in the North American LCS came head-to-he this weekend and it was Immortals who emerged victorious, claiming first place in the league as their temporary prize.
They say it’s tough at the top, and the NA LCS is no different. Immortals versus Counter Logic Gaming was always going to be a hard-fought series and it didn’t disappoint. A three game series seemed inevitable and the teams did indeed split the first two games. The deciding game started with first blood for CLG after an easy top lane gank for Omar’s Olaf but the teams traded a lot of kills in the opening minutes. At 3-3 in kills, 10 minutes in, first blood gold and a bit of CS kept CLG slightly ahead. Another bottom lane gank from Omar secured the first tower of the game, but with it being traded back within a minute, the lead remained minimal.
Approaching the 20 minute mark, Immortals sprung a trap around the second Dragon, trading five kills for one and opening up the first decent gold lead of the game at 2k. Immortals secured a costly Baron buff soon afterwards but unable to make great use of it. The game really opened up when CLG were caught trying to kill a freshly respawned Baron, giving up four kills and handing the buff to Immortals on a silver platter. One more team fight in the CLG base was all it took for Immortals to claim top spot in the LCS.
Despite the defeat, CLG are 2nd thanks to Team Solo Mid’s loss at the hands of Dignitas. Altec was the main architect of the latest in a long line of Dignitas success stories this split. His 13/3/12 performance across the two games was definitely the highlight of surprisingly one-sided series. His team were in full control of both games, barring a brief five minute period in game one, during which TSM held their only gold lead of the series. Dignitas continue to blow hot and cold, however, following up a moral-boosting win with a disappointing defeat to Cloud 9. Those two teams form a three-way tie with Envy for 4th place in the LCS on 8-6 records.
TSM made up for their loss by beating a struggling Echo Fox team. Echo Fox went 0-2 for the weekend, with only Phoenix 1 beneath them in the league, leaving both teams thankful that RIOT put an end to LCS relegation. Despite their strong performance at Rift Rivals, P1 also continue to languish domestically and are currently rooted to the foot of the LCS with three wins all summer.
Image courtesy of Immortals Twitter.
