Team Liquid repeats as NA LCS champion
Team Liquid secured back-to-back championships in the NA LCS after defeating Cloud9.
Team Liquid continue its dominant year in North America with a second title, this time against American stalwart Cloud9. The team that started the summer season at the bottom of the standings turned its luck around and fought hard to make the finals versus the favorites at Liquid.
Team Liquid proved to be unimpressed by Cloud9’s resurgence, snatching the crown with a sweeping 3-0 result.
For game one, Cloud9 jumped into the rift with the combination of Robert “Blaber” Huang in the jungle and Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen in the mid lane. The team showed a surprise pick in the top lane with Eric “Licorice” Ritchie playing Hecarim, while in the bottom lane Zachary “Sneaky” Scuderi picked Twitch.
Cloud9 secured first blood but Team Liquid was quick to respond. For every move that Cloud9 made, Team Liquid had an answer, as the squad lead by Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng had the upper hand in most team fights. A baron secured at 27 minutes would give the victory to Team Liquid.
As expected, Cloud9 subbed in Dennis “Svenskeren” Johnsen and Greyson “Goldenglue” Gilmer for game two.
Two minutes into the game, Eugene “Pobelter” Park secured a solo kill in the middle lane as Goldenglue was exposed. With help from Jake “Xmithie” Puchero, Pobelter snowballed early.
Aggression from Svenskeren helped Cloud9 to secure some kills, but it wasn’t enough to stop Pobelter. The outstanding performance from the mid laner and good team fights resulted in the second victory for Team Liquid.
At match point, Cloud9 tried a third combination, starting Svenskeren and Jensen. The Danish mid laner brought some stability to the squad as Cloud9 secured neutral objectives. Team Liquid remained calm, and assertive jungling from Xmithie stopped the bleeding quickly.
Both teams scaled and completed the necessary items to hold their ground, but in the end it was Team Liquid who would come on top. The side played better around the baron and after securing it at 34 minutes, they were able to break Cloud9’s base.
The spring champions won their second title of the year and qualified for the World Championship as the first seed from North America.
100 Thieves qualified as the second seed due to championship points obtained in the spring. Cloud9 is left to fight for the region’s third spot in the Regional Gauntlet, where Clutch Gaming, Echo Fox, and TSM are waiting for a chance to qualify for the biggest tournament of the year.
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