It wasn't always clean, but the end result was still more than convincing for Echo Fox, which earned a 2-0 series sweep over EnVyUs on Friday in Los Angeles to end Week 3 Day 1 of the North American League of Legends Championship Series Summer Split.
Team EnVyUs jungler Nam "LirA" Tae-yoo certainly benefited from his team's draft in Game 1, picking up Lee Sin and immediately racing out to a lead after picking up two kills early on. But it was Echo Fox (3-2, 7-4 match record) that would win a handful of close teamfights to gain a bit of an advantage heading into the mid game.
While LirA's Lee Sin continued to make plays, Echo Fox was content playing through top laner Jang "Looper" Hyeong-seok, using his Pantheon to great effect, jumping out to a 2/1/5 KDA (kills/deaths/assists) before 20 minutes. As both teams continued to trade kills back and forth, it looked as if plays around the Baron would ultimately decide the contest. That ended up being the case, but not before both teams squandered opportunities with the buff. EnVyUs' second Baron buff near the 43-minute mark was its downfall, as Echo Fox, after shutting down LirA, calmly finished off the 5-for-1 ace before racing to the Nexus for the Game 1 win.
Drafting an, aggressive AD carry-heavy lineup in Game 2, Echo Fox was on the offense early, with Looper's Kennen securing first blood. However a quick 2-for-1 trade by EnVyUs (3-2, 7-6 combat record) near the 13-minute mark all but knotted up the contest, with EnVyUs content to farm while Echo Fox focused on building up Henrik "Froggen" Hansen's Lucian in the mid lane. Continuing to tease EnVyUs with the possibility of a massive teamfight, Echo Fox diverted just enough attention to secure Baron at the 26-minute mark, opening up the first lead of the contest. Slowly split-pushing the respective lanes, Echo Fox parlayed the buff into a 4,000-gold advantage before 30 minutes. Another Baron kill just four minutes later put immense pressure on EnVyUs as it was forced to respond from near constant pressure on its base from all sides. Never allowing EnVyUs' composition to grow into a strong late-game presence, Echo Fox feigned interest in its third Baron before ultimately wiping three members of EnVyUs, quickly pushing down the Nexus for a series sweep.
Sitting near the top of the NA LCS standings, Echo Fox will try to go 2-0 on the week as it squares off Sunday against Team Dignitas at 6 p.m. ET. EnVyUs face a daunting matchup against Team SoloMid on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET.