FlyQuest Secures Finals And Team SoloMid Secures Worlds
FlyQuest get to rectify their League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) Spring Split finals loss earlier this year after they defeated Team Liquid 3-2, claiming the first Summer Split finals spot - while Team SoloMid grabbed the final League of Legends World Championship spot after they defeated their longtime rivals in Cloud9. Team SoloMid had an impressive series over the former Spring Split champions, making sure that the most dominant team in the LCS this season couldn't make it to international play.
Cloud9 vs Team SoloMid
Team SoloMid broke their two-year streak of not making it to the World Championships, defeating Cloud9 in an unconventional way, playing through the top side of the map having Sergen "Broken Blade" Çelik on ranged champions like Jayce and Lucian. To help support this playstyle, Team SoloMid had Mingyi "Spica" Lu and Søren "Bjergsen" Bjerg help with ganks and pressure in the top side of the map. Team SoloMid showed impressive kiting and team fighting throughout the whole series as well.
It was a surprising game one win for Team SoloMid as they picked a full damage and ranged composition with Lucian in the top lane, and Graves in the jungle, while adding the support of a Senna and Rakan bot lane. Team SoloMid played the team fights well kiting and utilising the range of their champions, Bjergsen also had a number of crucial ultimates on the Twisted Fate. Broken Blade was key in this victory as he drew much pressure from the Sprint Split champions — allowing for Team SoloMid to push another part of the map while he got punished.
Cloud9 would show flashes of the Cloud9 of old, as they’ve done plenty of times this split, and in playoffs during game two. They played the team fights as well as a team could — annihilating Team SoloMid’s carries. This was all off the back of Eric “Licorice” Ritchie’s stellar Lillia play.
Game three would be a repeat of their first victory as Team SoloMid, once again, utilised high damage compositions and relied on the layering of key abilities. Cloud9 had ample opportunities to climb through the mid-game — due to their own plays — but they couldn’t handle the Team SoloMid pressure. Throughout the game, Cloud9’s mid-laner Yasin “Nisqy” Dinçer was outpaced by Bjergsen on the Twisted Fate — who posted an 8/0/8 scoreline.
For the final game of the series, Cloud9 allowed Bjergsen to have his signature Zilean, and this would spell doom for the former champions. Team SoloMid reacted to everything that was thrown at them making it a dominant final game win, claiming the final World Championship spot.
Team Liquid vs FlyQuest
FlyQuest qualified for their second finals in a row this season after a defeat of the number one seed - Team Liquid. The Spring Split runners-up showcased immaculate team fighting and decision making as Team Liquid were left out of sorts. Team Liquid continued the trend of trying out new compositions and playstyles that they showed off in their previous match again Golden Guardians.
Team Liquid had a slim lead to start the first game of the series, but one great team fight at dragon was all FlyQuest needed to turn the game on its head, allowing them to seize control. This led to the control of Barons and dragons - eventually being able to grind Team Liquid out of the game.
As for game two, Team Liquid brought out defensive play with Lux support and Orianna mid, protecting themselves from anything that FlyQuest threw at them. FlyQuest had three engage attempts in a row onto Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen, with every single one of them failing due to the shielding on Team Liquid’s composition — leading to a Team Liquid victory.
In continuation of Team Liquid’s attempt at a new style, they brought out a composition consisting of a lot of poke with mid Kog’maw, paired with a bot lane of Zyra and Jhin in the third game of the series. This led to Team Liquid standing and posturing often, while FlyQuest had a similar poke comp but contained more engage — allowing them to take control of the game. Couple that with plays from Lee “IgNar” Dong-geun on the Thresh and Tsitan “PowerOfEvil” Schrage on the Azir to seal the deal.
A strong early-game lead put Team Liquid in an excellent position to force Silver Scrapes, but like game one, FlyQuest would have a definitive team fight win, putting them in the lead once again. All seemed lost for Team Liquid, but a miscommunication by FlyQuest as they pushed to end the series proved to be their downfall. Allowing for the Rookie of the Split, Edward “Tactical” Ra, to grow out of his 0/2/3 scoreline — flashing in and making the game-turning team fight. This allowed for Team Liquid to mount the comeback and force a fifth and final game.
It was complete and utter domination for FlyQuest in the fifth and final game, as it was a stark difference in the prior four games. FlyQuest were outplaying Team Liquid, leaving them in the dust.
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THE FINAL WEEK OF PLAYOFFS
Looking into the final week of the LCS playoffs, Team Liquid and Team SoloMid will battle it out to get the last finals spot. Another chapter in the rivalry between Jensen and Bjergsen continues, while Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng gets the chance to enact revenge on his former squad.
FlyQuest eagerly awaits the winner of the match on Saturday as they look to right the wrong in the last split’s finals where they were swept by Cloud9.
Images via lolesports