Melany M. October 7, 2019
Clutch Gaming is advancing to 2019 League of Legends World Championship main event after styling on Royal Youth en route to a clean 3-0 victory.
Clutch Gaming is improving North America’s chances of winning at LoL Worlds, with the LCS’ third seed now qualified to the main event. There were questions surrounding Clutch after their performance in the play-in group stage, with Clutch struggling against Unicorns of Love.
Their performance against the Turkish team helps reassert them as a legitimate threat to some of the favorites at the event.
Clutch Gaming keeps evolving at Worlds
One thing is undeniable, Clutch can grow and adapt like none other. Throughout the play-ins, Clutch went from an average team to a true contender with potential to upset the toughest competitors in the main event.
The series versus Royal Youth was completely one-sided. Every member of the team had a moment to shine, and they made defeating Royal Youth look easy. Clutch was methodical and patient, the team resisted its over-aggressive tendencies and instead punished the enemy’s mistakes.
Royal Youth made major gaffes by leaving Rumble available for Clutch in games one and two. This gave Heo "Huni" Seung-hoon his most potent champion, something that Royal Youth top laner İrfan "Armut" Berk Tükek came to deeply regret.
Sun "Cody Sun" Li-Yu showed once again that he’s a top-tier bottom laner. He was aggressive and collected kills across the map. Cody Sun finished the series with two quadra kills.
Jungler Nam "Lira" Tae-yoo redeemed himself for some group stage struggles with three outstanding games. He was on comfortable picks and was confident in his own game, setting up his carries for success.
Clutch made sure they shut down jungler Can "Closer" Çelik in the early game. The North American squad scouted Closer around the map and chased him away from his jungle camps. With its jungler out of the game, Royal Youth couldn’t get any lane going and fell behind early.
Clutch shoved Royal Youth under their turrets and forced them to retreat. Every piece of the jungle belonged to Clutch and Royal Youth couldn’t do anything to counter that aggressive style. This match showed the competitive side of Clutch and demonstrated that they are the type of team that can work as a strong unit and take any enemy down.
In the next stage of the competition, Clutch must stay focused. The team can be seeded into Group B with J Team, GAM Esports, and FunPlus Phoenix. Or into Group C with SK Telecom T1, Fnatic, and Royal Never Give Up. The team has a better chance to advance if they’re seeded into Group B.
Clutch Gaming will return for the LoL Worlds 2019 main event, which kicks off on October 12.