After weeks of sharing the first spot in LCS, Cloud9 and Team Liquid clashed during the weekend where the former won the game. Cloud9 has taken sole possession of first place with the victory and has a one-game lead over Team Liquid.
The game was chaotic from the begining, with both teams going back and forth. An early dive attempt from Cloud9 on Gabriël “Bwipo” Rau resulted in a kill each for both teams. A fight broke out near the Rift Herald, which initially looked to go Team Liquid’s way but was quickly turned around by the Cloud9 roster. Cloud9 came up huge in the fight securing four kills while only losing one. This was the start of Cloud9’s snowball, and Team Liquid’s team coordination started to diminish as the game progressed. Team Liquid picked up a few kills in the mid-game, but they had no answers for Park “Summit” Woo-tae, who constantly split pushed on Tryndamere.
Although gold was relatively equal towards the end game, Cloud9 had more objectives in their bag. Bwipo, who has had an underwhelming game so far, was caught clearing a Control Ward, resulting in his death. This gave Cloud9 a window to secure Baron Buff, which they eventually did. One Baron Nashor was down, there was not stopping the Cloud9 roster, and they walked inside Team Liquid’s base to seal the victory.
After head coach Nick “LS” De Cesare was released suddenly from the Cloud9 organization, many believed this would be detrimental to the team’s performance. However, with only two losses so far, Cloud9 clearly are on an upward trajectory. That said, there are plenty of games left, and the split is far from done. As for Team Liquid, they are still arguably the best team in North America, and the loss should only help them reach their goal of international success.
