After 1,176 days, CLG have finally overcome their kryptonite—TSM.
CLG ended their three-year winless streak against TSM today with a crushing victory to remain tied for first place in the LCS standings.
“It is just a big relief, and I haven’t had a crowd cheer for me like this in such a long time, so it feels pretty awesome,” CLG AD carry Trevor “Stixxay” Hayes said in the post-game interview.
Stixxay, the longest-standing CLG player, last beat TSM in the 2016 LCS Spring Split finals. With Stixxay being the only player on CLG to truly experience this losing streak, it was fitting that CLG’s initial lead today emerged in the bot lane.
Drafting a difficult composition to pilot with Yasuo ADC, TSM looked to make plays early, opting for a four-man bot lane dive. Unfortunately for TSM, CLG were ready for the dive. Their solo laners roamed to the bot lane to counter the dive and found two kills.
From this point forward, almost every single play TSM tried to make was countered by CLG, pushing them further and further behind. CLG jungler Raymond “Wiggily” Griffin quickly became too much to handle for TSM, winning a fight vs. TSM’s mid laner and jungler by himself.
Quickly rising up the LCS’ jungle ranks, Wiggly has started to be compared to the region’s other top junglers. But he doesn’t think about it himself.
“I don’t try to compare myself to other players too much,” Wiggly said. “I just think that it depends on how well you mesh with your team. I think we’re meshing a lot better this year.”
CLG’s team cohesion was on full display today. They were ready to jump on a play whenever an opening presented itself. In contrast, CLG gave TSM barely any avenues to make a comeback, closing out the game right after they took Baron.
With CLG’s win today, they remain tied for first in the 2019 LCS Summer Split—a placing Stixxay isn’t satisfied with. “It definitely feels nice to be in first, but the whole time we’ve just been tied for first, so my goal is to be the undisputed first,” Stixxay said.
CLG will have a chance to further solidify themselves as the league’s best team next week when they face off against LCS champions, Team Liquid.
