An exciting eSports weekend is behind us, 3 playoff finals were fought in Riots League of Legends.
League of Legends - LCK Final: KT Rolster vs. SK Telecom 1 0: 3
The LCK in Korea started with KT Rolster against the reigning world champion SK Telecom 1. Even before the game there was a small sensation. In the At the opening ceremony, SKT1 Faker was allowed to sit on the so-called “bonjwa” throne. This is an eSports honor that only 3 Starcraft: Broodwar players have achieved before him (BoxeR, iloveoov and SavioR). "Bonjwa" are players who have performed extremely well in their game over a long period of time and have left their mark on the whole scene. This certainly applies to SKT1 Faker, as a 3-time League of Legends world champion and undisputedly one of the best League players of all time, his name has become synonymous with skill.
So it's not surprising that SKT 1 was able to win the playoff final with a relatively clear 3-0 over KT Rolster. In contrast to the expected Faker Solo Show, SKT1 Jungler Peanut stood out in games 2 and 3. SK Telecom 1 represents Korea at the Mid Season Invitational (MSI).
League of Legends - LCS EU Final: G2 Esports vs Unicorns of Love 3-1
In Europe, the team Unicorns of Love, which is very popular with the fans, unfortunately had to admit defeat 1: 3 against G2 Esports. After a 0: 2 deficit, the Unicorns were able to win game 3, but found no means to force a fifth game in the decisive fourth game.
This means that Europe is represented at the MSI by G2 Esports.
In the match for 3rd place, Team FNATIC won 3-0 over Team Misfits.
League of Legends - LCS NA Final: Team SoloMid vs. Team Cloud9 3: 2
The league equivalent of "El Classico" did not disappoint. Team SoloMid had to go the full distance of 5 games to prevail in their 9th LCS Playoff Final. Team SoloMid can now claim 5 of 9 LCS NA titles.
The final started relatively "boring", SoloMid won the first 2 games in record time with 28 and 22 minutes and was on the way to setting the record for the fastest final victory. Then Cloud 9 finally woke up and forced a 4th game after an exciting 47 minutes. When it was 2: 2 after game 4 everything was open again and the nerves on SoloMids side were blank.
The decisive 5th game
The decisive 5th game was fiercely competitive, you felt more like a Rocky movie where both sides dealt ruthlessly and kill followed kill. Only later did it become a bit more tactical when both teams positioned themselves around Baron Nashor. Cloud 9, with 2 strong split pushers in the form of Jensen on Ekko and Ray on Kled, tried to gain an advantage in this way. After a won team fight, which Cloud 9 survived with 3 players and only Hauntzer survived on Camille on Team SoloMids side. It almost looked like a win, but Cloud 9 hesitated and played it safe instead of putting everything on one card and pushing.
That was bitter revenge only a few minutes later, when SoloMid, although Baron Nashor, gave up but decided to fight for the Elder Dragon. With iron nerves SoloMid focused the Cloud 9 Midlaner Jensen, who reacted a millisecond late with the Ultimate or his Zhonya and fell first. After that, Cloud 9 was simply missing the damage and only Jungler Contractz on Khazix and ADC Sneaky on Lucian were able to save themselves. While these two tried to take Team SoloMids Mid Inhibitor and force a withdrawal, TSM put everything on one card. Only Jungler Svenskeren and Toplaner Hauntzer returned to the base defense and were able to prevent Cloud 9 from defending their base by killing Sneaky & Contractz. Bjergsen, Wildturtle and Biofrost had free rein and thanks to the Elder Drake Buff they were able to advance to the Nexus and achieve victory.
Team SoloMid goes to the Mid Season Invitational
A bitter defeat for Cloud 9 and especially their Midlaner Jensen. Jensen once again missed the chance to step out of Bjergsen's shadow. Nonetheless, a terrific victory for Team SoloMid, who kept their nerve and waited for their chance. Team SoloMid will thus represent North America at MSI.
In the match for 3rd place, Phoenix1 won 3-2 against Flyquest.
The 2017 Mid Season Invitational will take place in Brazil from April 28th to May 21st.
