Abbedagge's Twisted Fate Sets UP Game 5 Backdoor to Complete Reverse Sweep
LCS Playoff | 100 Thieves Defeat Team Liquid in Upper Bracket Semifinal
A five-game slugfest between Team Liquid and 100 Thieves in the upper bracket semifinal ended with an exciting reverse sweep for the Thieves, following a backdoor by Felix "Abbedagge" Braun on Twisted Fate.
After winning their first series against Evil Geniuses and Cloud9 respectively, Team Liquid and 100 Thieves clashed in the first LCS Semifinal on Saturday. Would the pre-season favorites of Team Liquid overpower their opponents, or would 100T pull another underdog victory on their way to defending their LCS title?
Quick 2-0 for Team Liquid
TL came in this playoff as the big favorites after a very strong regular split and they wasted no time showing us why we should take them seriously. Several early kills set them up to snowball the game and they never let 100 Thieves come close to equalizing it. Just after the 20-minute mark, they took three kills in a big teamfight and secured an early Baron. With it, they went for the enemy base, routed the defenders after a Quadra Kill for Steven "Hans Sama" Liv's Jinx and ended the game.
The second game started better for 100T, who stayed close for a while despite TL's better skirmishing. The Thieves found their moment 23 minutes in when Søren "Bjergsen" Bjerg overextended, starting what ended up being a 4-1 and a Baron for 100T. However, this advantage turned out to be only momentary as the next fight swung TL's way, leading to four kills and, soon afterwards, the ocean soul. The decisive fight came around the 30-minute mark and in it, 100T were routed with yet another Quadra for the Liquid AD Carry, this time on Zeri.
100 Thieves Bounce Back
With two games against them, 100 Thieves rallied in the third game, led by a very strong early game by Kim "Ssumday" Chan-ho on Ornn. The veteran punished his lane opponent's Graves, but he was also helped by a risky draft by Liquid. With no reliable engage, TL relied on poking their opponents out. However, multiple times Hans Sama's Zeri got caught by the Jarvan and Orianna combo on 100T's side. An early Baron and a kill and gold lead supercharged the underdogs and they easily secured their first win of the series.
Just one game would not cut it, however - but in game four, 100T showed their last win was not a fluke. Three early kills for Abbedagge unleashed his Leblanc on the map, while TL's draft was once more low on engage abilities. A good fight by Liquid 21 minutes in got them briefly back on the game, but they could not find a way to push 100T off objectives. Eventually, a cloud soul and a Baron gave 100T the advantage they needed to get the win and bring the series to Silver Scrapes.
A Game 5 to Remember
After this back and forth, it was time for the decisive game. Liquid got the gold and kill lead early on, but they could not stop 100T from securing the first two dragons. An overextension by the TL mid laner 22 minutes allowed the Thieves to take the third one as well, and they nearly ended the game after acing TL near the Baron. The respawns came just in time to save the Nexus with a clutch teamfight win, but it left the Liquid base open. They stopped Abbedagge's Twisted Fate from backdooring it once - but 33 minutes in, he ulted in the Liquid base again, backdooring the Nexus seconds before TL could arrive to snatch the win.
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The LCS playoffs continue on Sunday as in the lower bracket, Cloud9 will take on Evil Geniuses. The winner will have a showdown with Team Liquid for the second finals spot. Will Evil Geniuses get a rematch with the team that barely defeated them the last time, or will Cloud9's new team show their mettle in their first playoff?