Week 3 of The League Championship Series kicks off Saturday, June 15. Six-time North American Champions Team SoloMid are looking for their first perfect week after starting out the first two weeks with a 2-2 record. TSM will have their work cut out for them this week as they go up against a revived Clutch Gaming squad on Saturday and longtime rivals Cloud9 on Sunday. Clutch Gaming comes into this week following their first 2-0 week. Cloud9 will be back with a point to prove after throwing away a substantial lead against Golden Guardians to end their undefeated run.
Clutch Gaming
Whilst TSM did prevail against Echo Fox, it was not as clean as fans would have hoped for. Nevertheless, Tony “Zikz” Gray made adjustments to the “protect Hecarim” composition and it worked wonders. Jonathan “Grig” Armao was the stand out player in the early game – racking up four early kills within the first 15 minutes.
Clutch Gaming will come into this week with a ton of confidence after taking down FlyQuest and 100Thieves
to pick up their first two wins of the season. Heo “Huni” Seung-hoon will be the player to watch this series.
Huni has been a shade of his former unorthodox self since his time on SK Telecom T1 and has fallen down the pecking order when he was once considered the best top laner in North America. Rumble is once again starting to become a special pick for Huni as he has played it three out of the four games in the first two weeks.
Cloud9
Once a heavily one-sided affair from 2014 – 2017, TSM had dominated in the rivalry against Cloud9. This is arguably the most hyped matchup of the season so far, both sides came into the season well prepared. However, for some this is not the case; whilst Cloud9 have looked strong out of the gates, TSM have failed to “show up” this season.
Cloud9 will be back with a swift vengeance after throwing a win away against the Golden Guardians. Team SoloMid will be looking for their first 2-0 week but it won’t come easy. TSM, however, will still have confidence they can pick up the win after successfully taking down C9 in a 3-2 reverse sweep in playoffs in Spring.
Player to watch: Everyone – TSM will need to be at their best if they are going to take down Cloud9. Cloud9 are the best-coached team in the league and drafting for late will be a huge risk against a team that can cope well under pressure in losing/even situations and force you into uncomfortable situations. Tony “Zikz” Gray will have to beat C9 in the draft and enforce their early game dominance if they are to take down C9.
Predictions
TSM will likely go 1-1 on the week for the third week in a row. Whilst Clutch Gaming is picking up some momentum, TSM has enough star power to be able to deal with what Clutch Gaming has to offer. TSM is not expected to take down Cloud9 who are looking like the best team in the league despite their setback. C9 will not take their loss to Golden Guardians lightly and will have shored up their mistakes.
Featured Image Courtesy of LoL Esports.
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