Cloud9 dominates TSM and secures ticket for NA LCS final

After a rocky start this summer, Cloud9 took down TSM in a five-game series to complete their comeback and qualify for the NA LCS final.

Cloud9 started game one with Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen and Robert “Blaber” Huang on the rift. Gold was even through most of the game. Both teams were aggressive and eager to fight, exchanging kill for kill.

In the end, TSM had built up four drakes and secured a finishing elder drake that made them near to unbeatable. Søren “Bjergsen” Bjerg was the star of the game with a dominant performance on Akali.

Game two was a quick affair, as Cloud9 secured map control in the early game and by 15 minutes had a sizeable gold advantage.

A combination of assertive rotations and strong pushing lanes allowed Cloud9 to get the baron buff at just 23 minutes. This was enough to break the enemy base and win game two.

Active team fights continued through the early portion of game three, and TSM aced Cloud9 at 15 minutes. Cloud9 had better engages and the CS advantage, but TSM’s team fight victories kept things even.

Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen led a split push for TSM, with his teammates grouping together when necessary and eventually collapsing onto Cloud9 in another won team fight that would give TSM game three.

Facing match point, Cloud9 subbed in Greyson “Goldenglue” Gilmer in the middle lane and Dennis “Svenskeren” Johnsen in the jungle. The new duo showed an aggressive early game, and Svenskeren was able to respond quickly to TSM’s focus on the bottom lane.

Cloud9 grouped in the mid game and took the map’s objectives one by one, including a baron at 28 minutes. The assertive roams from Svenskeren and the pressure from Goldenglue opened up the map further, leading to a final fight inside TSM’s base that went decisively in Cloud9’s favor.

The fifth and final game started with a kill in the top lane for TSM, but the real action was in the bottom lane. Zachary “Sneaky” Scuderi and Tristan “Zeyzal” Stidam claimed the bottom lane tower and quickly pushed Zven out of the lane.

Cloud9 made use of superior engage and split pushing to take control of game five. His early game success enabled Sneaky to scale more quickly than Zven, and the TSM carry struggled to work his way back into the game. A triple kill for Sneaky allowed Cloud9 to push one last time into TSM’s base for a win in game five and a pass to the NA LCS finals in Oakland.