It was a hotly contested end of the Summer Split in the NA LCS this year. With 5 teams all looking like they had a legitimate shot at a run on winning playoffs, over 100,000 people have been tuning into the quarterfinal and semifinal matches via Twitch alone, just to see who would come out ahead. And yesterday, the resounding answer to that question was Immortals.
Immortals Head to the NA LCS Finals
Securing second place in the regular season and a first round bye, yesterday was Immortals’ first performance in the 2017 NA LCS Summer Playoffs. And they made sure to make an entrance, because they took down Counter Logic Gaming in a clean 3-0 sweep. And it truly was a team effort, because although their All-LCS support Olleh took player of the series, their wins were predicated on bot lane synergy, solo lane pressure, and Xmithie’s supportive jungle strategy.
.@clgaming look for a fight in the mid lane, but @Immortals turn it around for the ace! #NALCS pic.twitter.com/kXgq8vRRUr
— lolesports (@lolesports) August 26, 2017
Counter Logic Gaming, on the other hand, has had their share of struggles. After replacing jungler Dardoch with OmarGod rather late in the regular season, the team’s focus has been more on breaking in the rookie than propelling themselves into a world-class team. And while OmarGod is undoubtedly mechanically gifted and even had some outstanding plays (like his flash-predict-W against Pobelter in game three), it’s hard to expect a recently shaken up roster to compete with teams that have had more than the entire split playing, practicing, and scrimming together.
Lucky for CLG, their win in the quarterfinals secured enough circuit points that they’ll be heading to the gauntlet-style Regional Qualifiers in September. That tournament will pit the four teams that hold the most circuit points at the end of Summer Playoffs, behind the winner of Summer Playoffs and the circuit point leader, who both qualify as the #1 and #2 seeds for Worlds. But they have a tall task if they hope to find the kind of integrated cohesion they’ll need in time to compete on the global stage.
Later today, Team Dignitas takes on reigning NA LCS champions Team SoloMid in a bo5 to see who will face Immortals in the finals.
The 2017 #NALCS Summer Playoffs continue tomorrow at 12PM PDT or after #EULCS concludes with @TeamSoloMid facing off against @TeamDignitas! pic.twitter.com/OKYLIapRAh
— lolesports (@lolesports) August 26, 2017
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