Team SoloMid defeated Cloud9 3-1 on Sunday to win the 2016 NA LCS Summer Split Finals. With the win TSM advance to the 2016 League of Legends World Championship as North America’s first seed.
.@TeamSoloMid are your 2016 #NALCS Summer Split Champions and NA's first seed heading into #Worlds! pic.twitter.com/7HaGX9dV5y
— lolesports (@lolesports) August 28, 2016
Things got off to an interesting start in Toronto, as C9 embraced their underdog status and took Game 1 on the back of some incredible Pillars of Filth from Smoothie’s Trundle, who also had a 1/1/15 KDA and participated in 16 of C9’s 19 kills.
However, TSM tied the series as Doublelift’s Jhin didn’t die a single time in Game 2 and finished the game with an impressive 8/0/6 scoreline. Game 3 saw Meteos pull out a Zac pocket pick, and the secret weapon provided C9 with a lot of early pressure. With that said, C9 lost their momentum after a number of failed ganks, as Bjergsen’s Cassiopeia and and Svenskeren’s Rek’Sai made quick helped TSM take the win in under 30 minutes — the shortest game of the series.
C9 picked up Jhin in Game 4, denying the pick for Doublelift, who played the champion in the series’ first three games. In response, TSM picked up Doublelift’s other comfort pick, Lucian.
TSM won just about every trade throughout the game and this translated into three Drakes taken at 30 minutes, while C9 weren’t able to take one of their own. TSM took the first inhibitor shortly after, but they took a disastrous 4v5 engagement which gave C9 a delayed Ace and much needed momentum. Impact landed a massive Gnar Ultimate that secured the fight.
.@Cloud9 ace @TeamSoloMid in the top lane! #NALCS #LockIn https://t.co/6dQt0Mu8Kv
— lolesports (@lolesports) August 28, 2016
However, after a number of skirmishes, TSM got an Ace of their own thanks to the positioning and damage output of Doublelift’s Lucian.
A massive back and forth fight in the mid lane leads to an ace for @TeamSoloMid! #NALCS #LockIn https://t.co/zvzg86a7Om
— lolesports (@lolesports) August 28, 2016
With four Drakes taken, TSM took an Elder Dragon and contested C9 at the Baron pit. TSM pushed past C9’s line, taking down four and marched onto Cloud9 to take the game and the series.
The win also sees TSM continue their Worlds attendance streak, as they are the only team in the world to have attended every single Worlds event so far.
