LCS Recap: TSM vs Counter Logic Gaming

Team SoloMid squared off against Counter Logic Gaming in their second match in Week 1 of The LCS Summer Split. CLG came into this game off of a dominant display against 100 Thieves in their opening bout. Trevor “ Stixxay” Hayes displayed signs of his former self – going an impressive 5/0/5 to kick off their summer campaign. As for TSM, the six-time North American Champions are looking to bounce back after a less than stellar performance against newly found rivals Team Liquid.

Draft Phase

The pick and ban phase was nothing short of action packed with both teams inviting exciting compositions into this historic matchup. For the second time this evening the infamous Sona/Taric Bot Lane was introduced in the first round of the draft, and CLG responded with an interesting pick of their own with Zyra. TSM opted into a mid to late game scaling composition with the intention of protecting the Hecarim through ultimates from both Zilean and Taric. CLG opted into a full AOE composition, which when ahead provides serious damage to what TSM want to achieve with their composition.

Early Game

Jonathan “Grig” Armao made an instant impact on his return to the main roster through securing first blood onto Tristan “PowerofEvil” Schrage – abusing the power of the early game Hecarim with Ignite. As the game rolled past the ten-minute mark, TSM had earned themselves a small gold lead as well as a kill advantage in the process. Grig executed the early game perfectly, targeting the CLG bottom lane and ensuring Zyra did not come online.

As the game rolled on, Kim “Ruin” Hyeong-Min was showcasing why CLG made the acquisition. Ruin contributed massively to two team fights which blew open the gold lead for Counter Logic Gaming – TSM were staring down the barrel of a fed Rumble as CLG transitioned their gold lead past the 20-minute mark.

Late Game

Whilst CLG had been ruthless with their initiations, TSM showcased how deadly their composition can be simply through poking down a couple of members of CLG. Through this strategy, TSM was able to find crucial picks onto the carries of CLG and claw their gold deficit to within 400G. Several minutes of stalling later TSM was able to find the crucial team fight with the super speedy Hecarim to give them a much-needed Baron and pushed down the Mid Lane to win the game.

Conclusion

Despite a shaky early game, TSM was able to shore up some of the problems that eluded them in their first matchup against Team Liquid. After the first set of games, it is clear TSM are unable to cleanly play scaling compositions and are uncomfortable playing with a small deficit in the early game. Grig had a solid game in his return to the starting roster, which bodes well for them moving forward. Fans will be hoping TSM can shore up their early game problems as they take on Echo Fox and FlyQuest in Week Two.

Featured Image Courtesy of LoL Esports.

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