LCS Recap: TSM vs Cloud9 Week 3

Team SoloMid faced off against longtime North American rivals in Cloud9. TSM aimed to close the gap on C9 with a win while C9 looked to strengthen their 4-1 record and have their second 2-0 week of the split. This was the first time the two sides squared off against each other after their historic semifinal bout which saw TSM reverse sweep Cloud9 to reach the spring finals.

Draft Phase

TSM was able to draft themselves a solid team fighting composition while picking champions such as Poppy and Sylas who have great 1v1 potential in the side lanes. Cloud9, however, went for a more risky composition by picking the Gragas and Yasuo duo along with Irelia for Eric “Licorice” Ritchie. This team comp was risky for C9 as they would never be able to cleanly fight TSM in a team fight due to the power TSM had in their comp.

Early Game

C9’s composition relied heavily on forcing TSM into uncomfortable situations and forcing picks onto them. Yasin “Nisqy” Dinçer and Dennis “Svenskeren” Johnsen were able to pull off a successful 2v2 fight which resulted in first blood for Cloud9.

C9 Nisqy focusing in. (Image Courtesy of Hive Mind on Flickr)

TSM were able to pull off a successful team fight minutes later into the game, picking up four kills in the process.

TSM raced out to a 2k gold lead through their successful team fighting, allowing their dominance to be translated throughout the entire map. Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen was able to free farm his way through the early game, growing a substantial lead on his lane opponent. By the 20-minute mark, Team SoloMid had taken down three towers as opposed to Cloud9’s zero.

Late Game

The later stages of the game took a surprising turn. Despite having a weak team fighting composition, Cloud9 were able to successfully pull off two impressive team fights that eliminated TSM’s gold lead entirely. Despite losing these team fights Bjergsen was still a monster – even pulling out a triple kill with his last breath.

Despite Cloud9’s valiant effort, in the end, it was too much for the Worlds Semi-Finalists, Bjergsen and Zven were able to successfully kite out C9’s engage and pick up a Quadra Kill in the process, TSM were able to secure the win and tie for first in the standings with a 4-2 record

Conclusion

Team SoloMid did a great job dealing with the aggression Cloud9 often brings to the table. Sergen “Broken Blade” Çelik  had a standout performance on Poppy – finding crucial stuns which ultimately helped TSM pick up the victory. Cloud9 hung in there impressively despite having a team composition that was incredibly weaker at team fighting. TSM themselves have shown they are also not scared of being adventurous in the draft and are proving they too are a flexible team.