- 100 Thieves led the start, winning the first game with zero deaths
- By game 3, Team Liquid had gotten their act together, forcing 100T into an all-or-nothing game five
- The last game was intense, proving to be a suitable finish to the LSC Summer Playoffs
Fans were treated to an incredibly intense LCS final as 100 Thieves narrowly clinched their match against Team liquid.
100 Thieves Defeats Team Liquid
As the summer is coming to a close, so do the regional LoL leagues. One of these is the North American LCS which this weekend saw 100 Thieves take down Team Liquid and secure a place at the League of Legends World Championship.
Although 100T qualified for the Worlds, their victory was not certain at all. It would be an underestimation to say that their game against TL was close. Despite their loss, Team Liquid will still be able to attend the Worlds. Since the LCS has three seeds at Worlds 2022, this means that no matter what happens now, TL will at least capture the third seed, guaranteeing their slot at the event.
Liquid’s performance this season was perhaps not the beast. At one point during the early stages of the LCS, many doubted the team would qualify for the World Championship. However, through perseverance and roster readjustments, the team managed to get themselves to the LCS finals, putting them up against 100T’s younger roster. Despite the efforts, however, TL lost after a difficult five games.
It Was a Very Close Match
The match saw Team Liquid’s veterans, who have already won several LCS trophies while playing for other teams, come up against 100 Thieves’ revamped roster filled with young blood. The match started with the latter team taking the initiative. Not only that, but the team managed to win the game in about 30 minutes without giving up a single kill.
The second game was a bit more equal. TL had picked Zeri/Yuumi combo which proved to be quite lethal throughout the playoffs so far. However, 100 Thieves felt confident in their counter. They picked Senna and Seraphine, and their gamble paid off as 100T gained quick control of the bottom lane, neutralizing Zeri and winning the game within just 25 minutes.
With 100 Thieves’ two-game lead, Team Liquid finally got their act together in the third game. Relyuing on a combination of more familiar picks, TL’s mid laner Søren “Bjergsen” Bjerg decided to bring out his trump card pick, Zilean. This is the player’s best champion, according to Fandom.com, with a record of 31-11. This proved crucial as Bjergsen played a large part in TL’s win during this third game.
100 Thieves was so shocked by TL’s sudden comeback that they finally decided to pick the meta combo of Zeri and Yuumi. However, invigorated by their previous one game, Team Liquid steamrolled 100T with the “deathball” combination of Swain, Sett, and Nocturne, leading their opponents to an all-or-nothing fifth game.
With the slot for the Worlds standing in the balance, both teams made significant adjustments to their compositions. 100T picked the undefeated Seraphine, while TL answered with the first Miss Fortune pick since TL’s bot laner Steven “Hans Sama” Liv played it at the end of July. By the midgame, it seemed like Team Liquid had made a perfect choice as 100T performed terribly on every teamfight.
However, TL seemed to run out of steam in the midgame. That, coupled with 100T’s jungler Can “Closer” Çelik, playing Lee Sin, opening the game, got the team enough momentum to push back Team Liquid, who were distracted with taking objectives. Jumping in on every teamfigth, Closer helped 100T quickly reverse the tide, leading to their eventual victory over Team liquid.
The 2022 LCS, which saw Cloud9 and CLG break viewership records, was certainly an interesting one, with 100T and TL’s intense match being a suitable ending to it.
