Game of the Day: Cloud 9 versus LMQ

By Helmight

            With both CLG and Dignitas losing to bottom-of-the-table teams in today’s matches, first place was guaranteed to end up in a three-way tie. The only question was who would join the leaders – newcomers LMQ, or the ever-dominant Cloud 9. Though the fan vote was heavily in favor of C9, the American upstarts from last year would fall to LMQ in a thirty-minute, 14-8 game.

            Cloud 9 showed their innovative spirit during the pick/ban phase when Meteos picked up Rengar for his second stint in the LCS, and when Sneaky opted for a Kog’Maw pick after Lucian and Twitch were both banned out. Meanwhile, LMQ stuck with mostly tried and true champions, but did select Graves for their bottom lane instead of the suddenly-popular Jinx. The unusual picks left both teams feeling around for weaknesses in their opponent’s comp early on, leading NoName to gank early for first blood onto LemonNation. That would be it for most of the laning phase though - despite Meteos and NoName’s best attempts, no further ganks succeeded and both teams fell to farming for the first ten minutes of the game.

            Once the passive play ceased, it was on for both teams. LMQ grabbed the first dragon of the game after forcing Sneaky back to base, and then proceeded to dive Cloud 9’s bottom lane twice in quick succession. Though LemonNation died a handful of times in these attempts, smart roams by Hai’s Kassadin and Meteos managed to equalize or better the kill counts in the immediate aftermath of the dives. Cloud 9 answered the aggression with the first tower kill of the game, only to watch as Vasili answered back on the other side of the map. And so it went – LMQ and Cloud 9 constantly at each other’s throats, trading back and forth to create an even and bloody game.

            Despite the solid start, Cloud 9’s normally immaculate rotations were somewhat lacking as midgame started. Though they managed to show up to contest LMQ’s second dragon attempt, LemonNation was on the wrong side of the pit, preventing Cloud 9 from making a play on the LMQ squad and then getting chased down and killed by LMQ. Though Cloud 9 caught out Vasili and Mor in the bottom lane, they were unable to take a kill on either of them thanks to Braum’s powerful defensive abilities. With Cloud 9 always on the back foot, LMQ had a field day on their competitor’s towers, pushing down the outer and inner mid towers and rotating top.

            It was here that LMQ broke down. Despite killing Balls under the tower, LMQ was forced to retreat from the rest of Cloud 9 – a message that NoName might not have gotten. The LMQ jungler turned on Cloud 9 alone, forcing his team into an awkward fight that not everyone was prepared to be involved in. Hai went wild, cleaning house on the disorganized LMQ and taking home the quadra kill, with only XiaoWeiXiao managing to limp home. After securing Baron, it seemed as though the tables had turned completely in Cloud 9’s favor.

            Although they had won a major battle, Cloud 9 was destined to lose the war. Immediately after the Baron attempt, Cloud 9 forced a fight near dragon. Thanks to a great Command: Shockwave and Cataclysm from XiaoWeiXiao and NoName, LMQ won the fight handily, taking four kills and an inhibitor off of their success. The fight would prove to be prophetic – though Cloud 9 continued trying to execute dives onto LMQ’s carries, XiaoWeiXiao’s Shockwaves were too much and the NA LCS veterans would fall ten minutes later. 

C9 bans: LeBlanc, Lucian, Elise

LMQ bans: Corki, Twitch, Lee Sin

Player	Champion	K/D/A
Cloud 9
Balls	Renekton	0/3/3
Meteos	Rengar	0/1/5
Hai	Kassadin	5/2/1
Sneaky	Kog’Maw	2/2/5
LemonNation	Thresh	1/6/6
LMQ
ackerman	Lulu	3/1/6
NoName	Jarvan IV	2/2/9
XiaoWeiXiao	Orianna	4/0/6
Vasili	Graves	5/3/8
Mor	Braum	0/2/13

  

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