Santorin carries Team Liquid to key LCS Spring win over Cloud9

After a shaky start to the 2021 LCS Spring Split, Team Liquid ended the third week with a dominant win over first-place team Cloud9. 

After losing a close best-of-five to Team Liquid in the LCS Lock In finals, it was time for Cloud9 to get a rematch and another win on the board. Despite losing the Lock In final, Cloud9 is currently outperforming Team Liquid in the 2021 LCS Spring Season and wanted to close out the first round robin with an important win. Before today’s match, Cloud9 was sitting comfortably at the top of the standings with a 7-1 record, with the chance to get an even bigger lead. Team Liquid, on the other hand, needed a win to stay in contention for the top three. 

For Team Liquid to get a win against Cloud9, stable play was necessary. After just a few minutes, Team Liquid mid laner Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen overstepped in the mid lane, giving Luka “Perkz” Perković an advantage. Shortly after, Team Liquid answered back with a big skirmish in the bot lane, trading four kills for one. This play alone was enough to shift the momentum and give Team Liquid the opportunity to snowball the game out of control. 

The early fight in the bot lane gave Team Liquid’s top side a huge lead, which resulted in a lane kingdom for Barney “Alphari” Morris. Playing Renekton as a big comfort pick, Alphari quickly took over the map and got to a point where no one on Cloud9 could take him on in a fight.  

Cloud9 tried to get back into the game by finding picks through Robert “Blaber” Huang’s Skarner, but it was never enough for Cloud9 to keep up in the important team fights. Even with some picks, Team Liquid was the one setting the pace and getting objectives. After just 12 minutes, Team Liquid was ahead by a whopping 4,000 gold and didn’t crack under pressure. 

A player who also enjoyed the constant fighting was Team Liquid jungler Lucas “Santorin” Larsen, who ended up dominating on Hecarim. Through the early fighting, Santorin managed to pick up most of the kills and was suddenly sitting on a 6-0 scoreline. The many kills allowed Santorin to dive Cloud9's backline alongside Alphari with minimal resistance. The deadly duo didn’t need much help from the rest of the team in order to send Cloud9 running. That dominance resulted in an early Baron buff and enough power to close out the game after 30 minutes. 

With a dominant win over Cloud9, Team Liquid is likely back on track and ready to climb the LCS leaderboard. The team ends the third week with a 5-4 record, putting them one win behind 100 Thieves, Dignitas, and TSM who are sharing second place. 

Team Liquid will face TSM in its next game, which is an important match to break into the top two. 

Is Santorin an import? 

Santorin is no longer considered an import in the LCS, as he has gained North American residency after playing in the region for several years. This means that Santorin doesn’t count as an import when playing in the LCS.

Where is Santorin from?

Santorin is from Denmark but has played in North America since 2014 when he joined Team Coast. Since then, Santorin has almost exclusively played for North American teams and is now considered a North American resident.