TSM Lineup:
Sergen “BrokenBlade” Celik: Top Vladimir (3)
Matthew “Akaadian” Higginbotham: Jungle Jarvan VI (2)
Soren “Bjergsen” Bjerg: Mid Corki (3)
Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen: Bot Ezreal (2)
Andy “Smoothie” Ta: Support Galio (1)
Optic Gaming Lineup:
Niship “Dhokla” Doshi: Top Irelia (4)
Joshua “Dardoch” Hartnett: Jungle Sejuani (3)
Lee “Crown” Min-ho: Mid LeBlanc (2)
Noh “Arrow” Dong-hyeon: Bot Draven (1)
Terry “Big” Chuong: Support Tahm Kench (1)
TSM Cruise Control
After a thrilling come-from-behind win against 100 Thieves yesterday, TSM closed out their weekend with a measured victory over Optic Gaming, making the boys in black and white winners of eight of their last nine contests.
The plan coming out of the draft for TSM was clear: survive the early game and scale for late game five versus five team fights. Draven can easily snowball games if given an advantage in the laning phase, but no such advantage was given in this game as Zven and Smoothie stayed even with their Optic Gaming counterparts.
Elsewhere on the map, BrokenBlade and Akaadian combined to kill Dhokla three times during the first 21 minutes of the match. The importance of these deaths cannot be overstated as it took a significant amount of power away from Irelia’s ability to split push, disrupting the 1-3-1 that Optic Gaming wanted to fall into during the late game.
By 30 minutes, the TSM composition was in a position of power, having outscaled the majority of Optic Gaming. After killing off Dhokla and Big on the bot side of the map, TSM turned their attention to the Baron, which they were able to pick up, uncontested.
The next five minutes saw TSM knock down all three Optic Gaming inhibitors, beautifully balancing the minion waves while Smoothie played shepherd to his backline, shutting down any engage from Optic.
It would take one more Baron power play to close out the game, but TSM was never in danger of losing this one thanks to their controlled macro play.
Looking Ahead
Next weekend should see TSM extend their winning streak to four as they take on middle of the pack teams, Golden Guardians and Counter Logic Gaming. An interesting note, both teams feature former TSM players with Hauntzer on Golden Guardians and Biofrost on Counter Logic Gaming.
The next true test for TSM will come during the final week of the split in their rematch against Team Liquid. Still standing as their only blemish on an otherwise perfect record, Team Liquid will be coming in with revenge on the mind and looking to make a statement before the playoffs.
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