Evil Geniuses Slog Through the Lower Bracket as Cloud9 Take Down 100 Thieves
LCS Playoff Recap Round 3 - What We Saw and What We Can Expect
After upsetting first seed Evil Geniuses, Cloud9 continues dominating the LCS playoffs with a 3-1 victory over Spring champions 100 Thieves to take the upper bracket seed in the final. Meanwhile, Evil Geniuses fought on through two five-game series in the lower bracket, where they defeated TSM and Team Liquid and will play 100 Thieves in the upcoming lower bracket semifinal.
After a series of upsets in the initial rounds, the LCS playoffs continued last weekend with some very hyped matches. After defeating the higher ranked Evil Geniuses in an impressive 3-1 series, Cloud9 would go on to face the Spring champions 100 Thieves in the upper bracket semifinal. As for EG, the first seed would have to fight on through the lower bracket. Their first opponent was TSM that, despite a poor seeding spot, showed flashes of brilliance against FlyQuest. The winner of this series would go on to face the star-studded roster of Team Liquid, who had won a hotly contested series against CLG and would not doubt fight tooth and nail for a place in the top 3 and a seed at Worlds.
Evil Geniuses 3-2 TSM
Despite coming in as the underdogs, TSM drew first blood against Evil Geniuses, taking a long and close game after a single fight ended up in them securing both Baron and Hextech Soul. EG struck back in the next one, however, taking an early Ocean soul and with better execution in the key teamfight 35 minutes into the game aced their opponents to tie the series. The underdogs tried to pressure the map early in game 3, but a botched tower dive resulted in four kills and a lead for EG, and they kept a step ahead throughout the game, eventually securing the win after a near ace by the Elder Dragon.
The next game also saw a poorly executed tower dive set a team behind, though this time it was EG. TSM made good use of the advantage they got and continued finding advantageous teamfights, and eventually Huang "Maple" Yi-Tang’s Azir became too much for his opponents to deal with. It was time for Silver Scrapes. Fittingly for the series, the decisive game was also close until a risky fight near the drake cost TSM four kills. With Joseph Joon "jojopyun" Pyun having a great day on Swain, EG controlled the neutral objectives and did not permit any surprises on their way to victory.
100 Thieves 1-3 Cloud9
Despite finding a good start to game 1, 100 Thieves fell behind after Cloud9 after what looked like a catch on an exposed jungle backfired when the rest of C9 collapsed. The game stayed close until a risky backdoor by by Nicolaj "Jensen" Jensen saw him take the Nexus just in the nick of time.
The Thieves had a difficult start to game 2, but some picks and good dragon control helped them stay close and scale. It all came to a big fight 35 minutes in where 100 T aced their opponents, took Ocean soul and Baron and eventually closed out the game. However, they could not repeat their success as Cloud9 came back strong, dominated the top lane and followed it up with a very clean mid-game to get to match poin. The final game of the series was once more close, but this time C9 had the early dragons leading to an Infernal soul and 42 minutes in, a catch Felix "Abbedagge" Braun gave them the advantage to chase down 100T and win the decisive game. With these two wins, Cloud9 is looking like the most solid team in the playoffs and the chance to repeat their Spring 2011 title looks ever more likely.
Evil Geniuses 3-2 Team Liquid
EG had another Bo5 series over the weekend, this time against Team Liquid. Like the slugfest against TSM, the first seed team would have to go through a long and fairly even series, The first game already showed how close the teams can be as they were virtually even until the first Baron going EG's way, and even afterwards it took a clutch pick on the TL mid laner for EG to close out the game. The two squads were neck and neck in much of the second game as well, despite an early Baron going to Team Liquid, but an ace 29 minutes in allowed them to take over the map and tie the series. TL took the third game as well, once more after a clutch teamfight allowed them to take over, but in the fourth game their aggression cost them dearly. Several attempts to kill Jeong "Impact" Eon-young's Gangplank backfired as EG arrived to clean up the fight, and to add insult to injury the GP got a Pentakill in the final fight.
Sadly, TL did not learn their lesson and again overcommitted to chase a fight, only to lose decisively. This allowed EG to control the map and secure a Mountain Soul. As the game went on, Liquid would score occasional victories, but EG needed just one fight and eventually got it, securing the Baron buff and locking the win that gave them a Worlds seed and a match with 100 Thieves for a spot in the finals. Evil Geniuses did not have an easy time getting to the Top 3, but they soldiered on and reaped the rewards. Considering their struggles with TSM and TL, we wouldn't place them as the clear favorites against 100 Thieves, but the spring champions did not show their best side against Cloud9 either.
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- LEC Playoffs: Round 2
The LCS continues next week as EG takes on 100 Thieves in the lower bracket semifinal, with the winner facing off against Cloud 9 for the LCS title on Sunday. In the meantime, you can check the EU Masters stream to check how the best European regional leagues' teams measure up!