The dust has settled on the most exciting League of Legends North American League Championship Series Finals, and Counter Logic Gaming has emerged the victor. After a series of five crazy games, CLG managed to beat Team Solo Mid in a 3-2 victory. CLG will now represent North America at the Mid Season Invitational, alongside EU victor’s G2 Esports.
TSM looked strong coming into this. They had just wiped the floor with the first-seed team Immortals, beating them 3-0. TSM chants were heard throughout the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. They ended the season in sixth place, losing half of their games. I have had my doubts about TSM, but everyone managed to pull it together for playoffs.
CLG, on the other hand, came in looking really strong. Darshan has flourished in a meta full of tanks and split pushers, using champions like Trundle and Ekko to destroy inhibitors before his opponents could react. Aphromoo stepped up this split, filling the shot calling void Doublelift left behind. CLG’s early game invades and sneaky tactics were all his decisions, earning them second place in the regular split.
This whole series was filled with fighting and insane team battles. The first game was the closest, CLG won by delaying TSM’s recalls so super minions could destroy TSM’s nexus. Ekko, a popular meta champion, was the shining star this series. The boy who broke time was used as a flex pick by CLG, either going tank with Darshan or full damage with Huhi. Crucial late game fights were won by Huhi, using Ekko’s insane ultimate damage to completely erase the enemy damage dealers.
Game five was the real nail biter. Both teams put everything on the line and CLG went with an unorthodox Tristana, playing the yordle for the first time that series. Stixxay, a rookie on CLG, built Tristana differently than other pros, opting to go for a Guinsoo’s Rageblade instead of an Infinity Edge first. In the end it all came down to one 40 minute teamfight where Stixxay went berserk and destroyed TSM.
Doublelift tweeted this after the game:
fuck I'm so sad... didn't think it was even possible to be this sad. somehow this is worse than any other loss in my career
— Yiliang Peng (@TSMDoublelift) April 18, 2016
This was still a great series, and everyone involved should feel proud that they made it this far. I just want to say I had CLG winning the series from the start; I may be a TSM fanboy but I know who the better team is.
