Melany M. June 9, 2019
If anyone was wondering if the Team Liquid League of Legends squad was starting to slip, no. They are not.
Coming off a shock upset loss to Echo Fox, Liquid returned to action with an impressive win over 100 Thieves. The victory reestablishes Liquid as one of the clear-cut top contenders of the LCS and leaves 100 Thieves struggling to find its footing.
The match was an easy and methodical win for Liquid,who exposed 100 Thieves’ lack of synergy. Though 100 Thieves jungler Maurice “Amazing” Stückenschneider showed a massive improvement after an awkward performance in week one, the team still doesn’t have the look of a complete product at this point.
Things were even in the early goings of the match.
Amazing made his presence felt as he roamed trying to find picks and protect his laners from Liquid’s offensive maneuvers. Unfortunately for him, Liquid’s Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng and Jo “CoreJJ” Yong-in completely controlled their lane with Zaqueri “Aprhomoo” Black getting brutalized as a result.
As things started collapsing for 100 Thieves, Amazing kept trying to make plays but just couldn’t stop Liquid from securing objective after objective. CoreJJ scored clean, precise initiations as Rakan which set up Doublelift to take over the game as Xayah. 100 Thieves had no answer to the duo and by the 15-minute mark, the entire map belonged to Liquid.
At 22 minutes, Liquid secured the first baron and used it to break the base and destroy the inhibitors. 100 Thieves fell in to protect the few remaining structures. Liquid took baron number two and escorted the super minions into the enemy base. A team fight ensued and after four kills, Liquid destroyed the nexus.
Liquid is positioned to keep building momentum as they face a struggling Counter Logic Gaming on Sunday. Meanwhile, 100 Thieves next faces Clutch Gaming.