Week 9 of the North American League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) continued with plenty of intriguing matchups. This was a perfect chance for playoff-bound teams to further solidify their place in the elite echelon, but a couple teams faltered in that regard.
Counter Logic Gaming (CLG) needed to look strong. The matchup against the 4-12 NRG eSports looked like the perfect warm-up for momentum, but the plan did not exactly fall into place. NRG eSports did not look like the team its record indicated. Although the set ended up in CLG's favor, 2-1, NRG gave its foes a run for their money.
CLG took the first game in a macro-intensive slugfest. The team suffocated the map with great vision and objective prioritizing. The fights were labored and NRG eSports looked outclassed. CLG simply dominated with snap calls, great decisions, and better rotations. However, NRG eSports would take game two and stood even in game three. In both games, CLG was punished for incorrect priorities, messy team fight execution and poor trading.
Team Liquid entered the week with plenty left to prove. This was a "show me" matchup to test whether the team was prepared for the playoffs; it was predictably rocky. Apex Gaming blew through Team Liquid, 2-1. Game one was close. Team Liquid and Apex Gaming traded fights and objectives and the gold lead never fell out of control for either side. But for Team Liquid, who wanted to demonstrate commanding strength, that was unacceptable. Apex Gaming's mid-game execution was better than Liquid's. It prioritized the correct trades and fights, and managed to snake through the late game with the advantage. Team Liquid contrived to even the set, but then was thrown out of the building by the end of game three.
If this was a preview of Team Liquid's strength, it's going to be impossible to call either way.
Phoenix1's resurrection tour continued with a very strong showing against LCS second-place team Immortals. When Immortals lost against Team SoloMid yesterday and looked no worse for wear, the matchup against Phoenix1 looked easy on paper. As it turned out, this wasn't the case. Phoenix1 was masterful in the first game. Whether it was better rotations, stronger objective control, or just great decision-making, the team outclassed Immortals. The duo of Brandon "Brandini" Chen and Rami "Inori" Charagh were the stars of the set, regardless of the results.
Immortals did manage to salvage and dominate the rest of the set, but with that kind of performance against a team in eighth place, it begs the question: "Is Immortals even the second-best team?"