In the biggest upset during Week 1 of the 2017 North American League of Legends Championship Series Summer Split, Immortals knocked off defending champion Team SoloMid in a swift 2-0 series on Sunday in Los Angeles.
Immortals (2-0, 4-1 match record) had a clear goal in the opening game of this series, and it was to pick TSM (1-1, 2-2 match record) to death. With a team composition focused on getting clean engagements, namely from the Bard of support Kim "Olleh" Joo-sung, Immortals executed this strategy to perfection. Immortals made it a point to harass TSM top laner Kevin "Haunzter" Yarnell's Fiora early to get the snowball rolling, resulting in three kills by the time 20 minutes had passed.
TSM had a sliver of a hope in the midgame when it took a decisive fight around Baron to secure the buff, but the buff only served to even up the gold between the two teams. From then on, Olleh, who finished with an MVP-earning 3/1/10 KDA (kills/deaths/assists), continued to secure picks for his team at every angle, which eventually overwhelmed TSM and allowed Immortals to pick up the 37-minute win.
Immortals took its momentum from Game 1 and hit the ground running in the second game with another first blood, with Jake "Xmithie" Puchero, this time on Gragas, once again being the catalyst for the pick. While TSM pushed back with a couple of kills shortly after, Immortals went for a haymaker in the form of a 3-for-0 teamfight win just 12 minutes in.
That was the only boost that Immortals needed to start picking up fights all across the map. Despite having drafted a 5-vs-5 composition centered on teamfights, TSM was too often spread out, which allowed Immortals to easily hold its lead into the midgame. TSM's tendency to spread out culminated with Immortals securing a massive 4-for-0 teamfight win that allowed it to waltz into the base and lock up the series sweep with a 32-minute Game 2 win.
Immortals will be back in action Friday at 9 p.m. ET to take on Team EnVyUs, while TSM will face Team Dignitas on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET.