Week five concludes with the top teams fighting to keep their spots, while the middle teams attempted to not fall behind the pack.
Team SoloMid (8-2) 2-1 FlyQuest (6-4)
We got to see an interesting jungle pick coming out of FlyQuest, with Shaco being played by Galen “Moon” Holgate in game one. Dennis “Svenskeren” Johnsen made a nice early gank by wrapping around the top lane tower, picking up first blood. A few minutes later, An “BalIs” Van Le was able to flank mid lane on Maokai, taking out Søren “Bjergsen” Bjerg to tie up the kills. Svenskeren turned on the go button as his Lee Sin went from mid to bottom lane, picking up three more kills and getting TSM their second tower of the game. A fight following TSM taking the Infernal Drake almost got FlyQuest back in the game, but TSM was able to disengage well and only trade one for one. A couple more teamfights going the way of TSM got them a Baron along with a 10,000 gold lead at 28 minutes. With such a lead and a Baron buff, TSM was able to march through FlyQuest’s base and take game one.
In game two, Moon grabbed first blood on his Graves with an early top lane gank. FlyQuest had a lot more success in the early game with Moon off of Shaco and Svenskeren on Rengar instead of Lee Sin. At 13:30, FlyQuest got the first dragon, but gave up two kills to TSM in their retreat afterwards. After some more mid game kills being traded, FlyQuest started Baron at 27 minutes to draw TSM in. TSM was unable to properly engage, and FlyQuest got four kills along with the Baron. While TSM tried to preemptively prevent the Baron push by getting the mid lane cleared out, FlyQuest was able to engage, which resulted in Hai “Hai” Du Lam getting the second penta kill in NA this season. FlyQuest attempted to end off of this, but the death timers weren’t long enough and TSM was able to get three kills, saving their base with both of their nexus towers down. FlyQuest immediately returned to mid lane to go for the open nexus of TSM, but a teamfight victory for TSM got them a Baron buff and two of FlyQuest’s inhibitors. FlyQuest was able to hold off long enough for their inhibitors to respawn, and ran back down mid. TSM’s mid and top laner were held back long enough by Balls for FlyQuest to end an exciting game two and tie up the series.
Despite Hai getting an early First Blood on Svenskeren, TSM didn’t give up another kill until the 20-minute mark, when they were already up by more than 3,000 gold. FlyQuest used this second kill to take out the middle inhibitor tower of TSM, but may have reached for too much as TSM was able to chase them out and pick up a Baron buff. TSM wasn’t able to break open FlyQuest’s base with this Baron buff, but they did pick up some kills and got the mid lane inhibitor before a second baron attempt. This attempt brought FlyQuest far enough out of their base that TSM was able to trade one for three kills. With only two members of FlyQuest alive, and super minions on their nexus towers, TSM Realm Warped in and took the third game convincingly.
Immortals (5-5) 2-0 Echo Fox (4-6)
After a level one jungle invade, Echo Fox overstayed and ended up giving Joshua “Dardoch” Hartnett’s Rengar first blood to start the series. After clearing his jungle, Dardoch was able to successfully gank the top lane, earning two kills before five minutes passed in the game. Echo Fox was able to answer back with a couple of early game kills, but a Baron at the 23-minute mark was stolen away by Dardoch. Immortals were able to take down Echo Fox’s bottom inhibitor tower, setting themselves up for a good late game. A second Baron was secured by Immortals, which brought them right back to the bottom lane to get the open inhibitor. Echo Fox was a bit too far down the lane as Dardoch used his ultimate to deliver Lee “Flame” Ho-jong’s Shen behind enemy lines, allowing Immortals to get four kills and push through to the Nexus for a game one victory.
For game two, the level one play was a bit more calm, but we saw Dardoch with another gank top lane at five minutes as he secured first blood for Flame. This prompted Matthew “Akaadian” Higginbotham to enter the bottom jungle of Immortals, but Dardoch was able to recall and make it there in time catch Akaadian, with Eugene “Pobelter” Park securing the kill. More action ensued in the top lane, resulting in two more kills over to Immortals, as Pobelter was able to roam up and catch Akaadian between the two towers. A lot of action in the early mid game resulted in Echo Fox picking off two members of Immortals in their own red side jungle, leading to Echo Fox attempting to take out the top inhibitor. This is where Echo Fox finally grabbed a lead, but Immortals were able to chase them out, getting more kills and a Baron buff before 22 minutes had passed. Right off of the Baron, Immortals ran down the top lane and were able to take out the first inhibitor of the game. With pressure from the super minions top, and a nearly 10,000 gold lead, Immortals were able to run through bottom lane and the entire Echo Fox team, taking the series 2-0.
Phoenix1 (6-4) 2-0 Cloud9 (8-2)
Noh “Arrow” Dong-hyeon got things started in game one by roaming as a level six Jhin to the mid lane and using his using his ultimate to get first blood for P1. William “Meteos” Hartman is currently subbing in for P1, and was all over the map on Rengar in the early game, helping P1 get a solid tower advantage. A Baron at the 31-minute mark allowed P1 to take the middle inhibitor, but they were greedy and fell in C9’s base, allowing C9 to take the Elder Dragon. C9 managed to get their own Baron, and the team was getting back on track. After a lost fight in the mid lane, however, they attempted to base race with a numbers disadvantage. P1 was able to send a couple of members back to successfully defend while the rest took down C9’s Nexus for a surprising win in game one.
In game two, Meteos’ Olaf was constantly seeking out C9’s rookie jungler Juan “Contractz” Arturo Garcia. While C9 was able to keep up in kills and towers, P1 was too threatening for them to fight head on. As P1 found some picks here and there, they were able to set up full vision control on baron. With a very aggressive front line from Meteos’ Olaf and Derek “zig” Shao’s Kled, a P1 team with the Baron buff took an uncontested mid lane inhibitor. With Jeon “Ray” Ji-won attempting to threaten P1’s base on Fiora, P1 decided to stick around in the base, forcing him to teleport back to defend. By the time Ray was in the base, two members of C9 had already fallen, and P1 pulled out a 2-0 upset (with a substitute) over C9.
Team Liquid (2-8) 1-2 Counter Logic Gaming (5-5)
The first 20 minutes of game one were very back and forth, with TL getting the first tower and CLG managing to get the first dragon. At the 22-minute mark, TL pressured the mid lane, getting three unanswered kills and a two tower lead. TL was able to use Baron to continually bait CLG in, but when they finally committed to killing it, Jake “Xmithie” Puchero was able to jump in and steal it. CLG wasn’t able to get much done with their Baron buff and continued to get picked off by TL, who eventually got a Baron of their own. Leading in kills by a score of 19-8, TL went to the bottom lane, acing CLG and taking a very bloody game one.
In game two, Trevor “Stixxay” Hayes flashed forward with Jhin’s fourth shot to get himself first blood in a two-on-two. TL earned a few kills back, but attempted to make some plays mid that CLG countered, resulting in Choi “Huhi“ Jae-hyun having three kills before nine minutes had passed. CLG continually pressured the bottom side of the map, and despite TL being able to trade back some kills, CLG took the bottom inhibitor down. Without even having to get the Baron, CLG grabbed a few more picks and ran through TL’s base with super minions to take the series to a third game.
TL got out to a slight early lead in game three, but an invade to CLG’s blue buff ended up costing Kim “Reignover” Yeu-jin his life and giving CLG some momentum. CLG found several picks while setting up vision deep inside of TL’s jungle and managed to pull off an incredible defense of their bottom outer tower. This defense denied TL the first tower gold and granted CLG a couple of kills. At the 20-minute mark, it appeared that CLG was caught out in the river, but they managed to turn the fight around and get four kills and the Baron. With a massive lead, CLG set up a siege in the bottom lane, and TL was unable to respond without sacrificing members of their own team. This allowed CLG to rotate over to the mid lane and force their way through to take a dominant game three, and the series.
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