LCS Recap: Cloud9 vs Clutch Gaming Week 1.

Cloud9 Faced off against Clutch Gaming on Day 2 of the Summer Split. They came off an important victory over FlyQuest, and faced a Clutch team that was desperate to avoid an 0-2 start to the split. Fortunately for Cloud9, they proved more than a match for their struggling opponent.

Draft phase

To start off the draft phase, Clutch first picked Sylas while Cloud9 picked Taric and Akali. Clutch then followed up with their bot-lane with Xayah & Rakan, which is considered a counter to the Taric/Sona bot-lane that C9 still chose to end the first phase of the draft. Cloud9 then banned Neeko and Kennen while Clutch banned Hecarim and Kindred, aiming the bans towards Svenskeren. To start off the 2nd phase of the draft, Cloud9 picked Rek’Sai for Svenskeren, who has been hot on the champion lately while Clutch picked Lee Sin & Pyke, trying to mimic the G2 style to some degree. Cloud9 finished it off with a Camille pick for Licorice.

Svenskeren

Overall, the draft had the same concept of champions with engage from yesterday against FlyQuest, but the difference this time around is that they had Sona/Taric which can heal and protect the composition very well. The small drawback is that Sona/Taric give up lane a bit easier compared to common bot-lanes, however the potential return is an insane mid to late-game team-fighting.

In game

Cloud9 looked completely dominant during their second game of the Summer Split. There wasn’t much of a bright spot for Clutch other then racking up a few kills while Cloud9 pretty much steamed rolled over them throughout this entire game.

These few kills were really the only thing Clutch did well in this game. It’s true that they took the Bot Lane tower at 9 minutes, but that’s something they are supposed to do against a bot-lane that can’t really contest until a little later on. Cloud9 played the team-fights really well with the sustain from Sona/Taric and the good engagement from their engage champions.

conclusion

Overall, Cloud9 steamrolled this game pretty convincingly. If

they continue to play like this, they will find very few challenges ahead of them this season. They took the initiative, took the objectives and won the team-fights with very firm control.

Zeyzal – Image from LoL Esports Flickr

The MVP of this match will go to Zeyzal on his Taric. He was essential in team-fights with Taric’s ultimate and part of the sustain that Cloud9 needed to pilot themselves towards a decisive victory.

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