Melany M. June 29, 2019
Team Liquid is helping to undo some of the reputational damage inflicted to the LCS at Rift Rivals 2019.
Day two of the event started with an interesting rematch of the Mid-Season Invitational grand finals, with Team Liquid looking to take revenge upon G2 Esports. The matchup would have been compelling all on its own, but it had extra stakes in the form of Liquid trying dig the LCS out of the deep hole it was left in after a rough day one.
G2, true to their style, opted for an unorthodox composition with Martin “Wunder” Hansen playing Shyvanna and Luka “Perkz” Perković on Zed in the top lane. Team Liquid returned to Sona and Taric, but surprised many by picking Sejuani for Jung “Impact” Eon-yong in the top lane.
Unlike Cloud9 in day one, Team Liquid was capable of matching G2’s high tempo. At seven minutes, a massive team fight broke out in the bottom lane. All ten players were present but it only ended up being a one for one trade.
In the early game, Team Liquid lacked any significant damage output and G2 took advantage of this by grouping and collapsing the lanes. G2 worked the map and grew a significant gold advantage but Team Liquid kept its cool and made the most out of whatever space they got. Eventually, the team began looking for a fight to close the gold difference.
The North American squad didn’t slow down and eventually got the upper hand, but had a small window to utilize it. If they failed to close the game fast, G2 would run them over.
With the clock ticking, Team Liquid put their crowd control to use in a fight around the river. The sustain from the Sona and Taric combo alongside the damage from Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen’s Akali was enough to kill four G2 players.
Marcin “Jankos” Jankowski was the last man standing but he couldn’t stop Team Liquid from taking the baron. Liquid immediately began the final siege and scored a sweet win shortly thereafter.