Cloud9 Lineup:
Eric “Licorice” Ritchie: Top Aatrox (3)
Dennis “Svenskeren” Johnsen: Jungle Kindred (2)
Yasin “Nisqy” Dincer: Mid Viktor(3)
Zachary “Sneaky” Scuderi: Bot Cassiopeia (1)
Tristan “Zeyzal” Stidam: Support Galio (2)
TSM Lineup:
Sergen “BrokenBlade” Celik: Top Neeko (4)
Matthew “Akaadian” Higginbotham: Jungle Gragas (3)
Soren “Bjergsen” Bjerg: Mid Zoe (2)
Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen: Bot Varus (1)
Andy “Smoothie” Ta: Support Tahm Kench (1)
TSM Throws Late Game
For the second time this season, TSM and Cloud9 renewed their historic rivalry on the LCS stage. Although Cloud9 held a 9-2 record and second place in the league, TSM could not be counted out as they have looked like a revitalized team during their recent five game win streak.
Coming out of the draft TSM had a strong poke composition, featuring the first ever Neeko selection in LCS history. BrokenBlade was able to use the champion to great effect, constantly bullying Licorice during the laning phase. Likewise, Bjergsen dominated Nisqy in lane with consistent harassment, leading to huge CS advantages in the solo lanes for TSM and a gold lead coming out of the early game.
Throughout the majority of the match, TSM maintained their distance from Cloud9, using the devastating poke abilities of Zoe, Varus and Neeko to shut down fights before they could even start. However, despite having built up a large lead for themselves during the mid game, the match came crashing down for TSM after they had taken their second Baron of the game at 38 minutes.
It started with Bjergsen and Akaadian losing the Baron buff after dying while stealing the Elder Dragon from Cloud9. These two deaths halted the TSM momentum and Cloud9 capitalized on it just minutes later, forcing a deciding fight in their bot side jungle. Bjergsen was the first to fall in that fight for TSM and three of his teammates were soon to follow. Cloud9 then ran it down mid and destroyed the TSM Nexus.
Positive Takeaways
Despite the loss and severing of their five game win streak, there are plenty of positives for TSM to look at going into week seven.
First and foremost is the fact that they were winning this game all the way until they weren’t. Had Bjergsen not overextended, kicking off that final team fight, TSM likely would have taken home the victory. Their execution of the poke composition was masterful as they danced around Cloud9 dealing loads of uncontested damage; Bjergsen and Zven alone dealt nearly as much damage as all of Cloud9 combined.
Smoothie continued his streak of impressive performances as well, coming up with several clutch Devours throughout the match to keep his carries alive.
Although this loss almost guarantees that TSM will not finish the split higher than third place, they will still be strong contenders to make the split finals if they continue to show signs of improvement, as they did during their five game win streak.
Next week TSM will go to battle with Optic Gaming and 100 Thieves, both of whom TSM has already beaten this season. A 2-0 weekend should be expected and anything less will be considered a disappointment.
Gambling this season? Want to try it just to see what it feels like? Go to MyBookie.ag and use promo code ARMCHAIR25 at checkout. They will match your deposit dollar for dollar. Putting in $100? You’ll now have $200.
For quality up-to-date sports reporting, visit our website, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram.
