This weekend saw the beginning of the League of Legends NA LCS playoffs, where the six top teams from the regular season battle it out for dominance and a chance to represent the region at Worlds. While CLG was able to secure their expected win over Team EnVyUs, Team Dignitas pulled ahead of Cloud9 and managed to eliminate to former NA Champions from the playoffs in a 3-1 brawl.
NA LCS Quarterfinals Recap
Saturday saw Team Dignitas go head to head against Cloud9 in what was already expected to be the closer of the two quarterfinals matchups. But while the analysts agreed beforehand that Cloud9 would pull through, as they usually have done in the past, it was Team Dignitas that came out ahead. The strategy they found in the middle of the Summer Split, relying on the lane dominance of All-LCS toplaner Ssumday and the surprise powerhouse duo in the bot lane with Altec and Adrian, Team Dignitas proved that their current roster is not to be underestimated. Cloud9, meanwhile, seemed a bit disjointed, getting off to a terrible start after Shrimp executed a successful gank in the top lane and Contractz flew into a 2v1 simply to give away a second kill in game one.
And although Jensen was All-LCS himself and is in the running for MVP, he proved not to be the key the team needed to find success in the playoffs. There certainly were glimmers of excellence, like Sneaky’s triple kill on Tristana in game four, and Cloud9 even took down all three inhibitors of Team Dignitas’ base. But they couldn’t find the right focus and Team Dignitas was able to run them off, stall for time, ease the pressure, and secure the victory.
If you missed #C9LoL‘s Quarterfinal match against @TeamDignitas today then check out these highlights of the series! https://t.co/KZ3FDUv2ls pic.twitter.com/PObdBZWCo5
— Cloud9 (@Cloud9) August 20, 2017
The second match up of the NA LCS Quarterfinals was thought to be an easy day for Counter Logic Gaming. However, the underdogs on Team EnVy were able to take not one but two games off them before succumbing to defeat in the end. There was some crafty playmaking and strong early games as usual. Casters even pointed out that Seraph was playing much better than usual. But CLG’s rookie jungler OmarGod wasn’t showing any nerves on his first playoff stage, and Team EnVy couldn’t ban away Huhi’s unusual and tricky champion pool. CLG took the series 3-2, but the end result doesn’t inspire confidence. Was NV better than everyone expected, or is CLG still looking sluggish after their mid-season roster swap?
Holy shit that was a hard series. GG’s to NV and see you guys in Boston!!
— Trevor Hayes (@Stixxay) August 21, 2017
Next week will kick off the semifinals, with the playoff debuts of the top two teams, Team SoloMid and Immortals, from the regular season. CLG will have to take on Immortals, and Team Dignitas has the tall task of taking down reigning champions TSM. But TSM has to feel good – with Cloud9 eliminated this early from playoffs, they’ve already secured their ticket to Worlds.
The 2017 #NALCS Summer Playoffs continue next Saturday! Thank you for watching and stay tuned for #NALCS Tonight!
https://t.co/enX5nE7Qwd pic.twitter.com/FvuWDHfkFF
— lolesports (@lolesports) August 21, 2017
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