Team Liquid came away with the first series win of the Mid Season Showdown, beating TSM 3-1 in a fairly dominant fashion. TSM took the lead in Game 1, with proactive gameplay out of Spica. However, TL held on long enough to win a Baron at 37 minutes to turn the game and win. Santorin flipped the script in Game 2, getting everywhere early on Nidalee. Team Liquid cleanly snowballed for the win. TSM got their first win in Game 3 with a true hard engage composition constantly finding the right targets. For Game 4, Team Liquid swung back with superior fighting and map play around Twisted Fate.
Player of the Series: Jensen
Liquid’s mid laner took home Player of the Series honors, with fantastic performances in three of the four games. Jensen’s Ahri in Game 2, Sylas in Game 3 and Twisted Fate in Game 4 did a ton of work. While the wins and losses were not earned by any individual, Jensen stood out compared to PowerOfEvil in almost every match.
Part of the flashiness came from Everfrost, which he built on the last three games on three different champions. Providing extra roots and slows on top of Ahri’s charm, Sylas’ stun and Twisted Fate’s Gold Card turned out to be the difference-maker in this series. Jensen used his champions’ mobility to get to fights quickly and lock down as many people as possible.
On top of that, TSM drafted Seraphine in three of the four matches. While Seraphine is widely considered a strong pick, she does not plug-and-play into TSM’s playstyle. TSM look best when PowerOfEvil is on a hypercarry and SwordArt can charge headstrong into battle. Seraphine removes both of these pieces. She forces TSM to play slow and extended fights, and she puts PowerOfEvil into a utility role with less damage.
Regardless of how Seraphine held TSM back, Jensen still put up a strong showing for Liquid’s first round of Mid Season Showdown. The mid laner only secured 3rd Team All-Pro this split, showing how spectators felt Perkz and PowerOfEvil influenced their games significantly more. Jensen stepped it up for playoffs, gaining 16 percent kill participation, 3.5 percent damage share, and nearly doubling his KDA from regular season. He branched out to new champions, and Team Liquid provided counterpick in three of the four matches. Jensen deserved Player of the Series, which bodes well for TL heading into their match versus Cloud9.
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