After a long and winding road, we have reached the end of the season: The League of Legends World Championship. This is where the best of the best from every league around the world gather to compete for the coveted number one position. Both Team SoloMid and Cloud9 qualified for entry to the championship and the best of eight rounds. In this best-of bracket, the matchups were determined by a five game series, with the team winning three games moving on to the next round. Let’s see how they stacked up when all was said and done.
Quarterfinals
Samsung White vs. Team SoloMid
Game one in this series was a tough start for SoloMid. Out of the gate, WildTurtle and Lustboy were unable to get any kind of offense going, allowing Samsung White to get an early lead and going up 1-0 in the series. In the second game, SoloMid was able to charge ahead on their offense, but Dandy’s performance on Samsung White controlled the board, giving Samsung White another win. After being down 2-0, SoloMid’s WildTurtle pulled together an awesome performance with eight champion kills, giving SoloMid a much-needed win. Unfortunately, Samsung White came back strong in game 4, and Imp’s astonishing 10 champion kills sealed SoloMid’s fate. They were knocked out in the quarterfinals round.
Cloud9 entered this matchup as the clear crowd favorite, and it was clear in the first round why. Sneaky had one of the best performances of the entire championship, going 15-0 in champion kills and asserting dominance over Samsung Blue. His performance helped Cloud9 easily secure the first win of the matchup, putting them at 1-0. However, Samsung Blue went on a 3-0 tear to win that match. In game two, dade’s 9-2 performance kept all of Cloud 9’s champions to fewer than two kills apiece. In game three, Spirit’s 7-0 streak was able to counter Hai’s 5-6 streak, giving another victory to Samsung Blue. During game four, every champion battled valiantly, but ultimately Samsung Blue kept LemonNation to zero champion kills—swaying the game and matchup in their favor.
Even though both of our teams were knocked out in the quarterfinals, it was an admirable performance by everyone. Both teams advanced through the initial playing field, and both finished in the top eight teams worldwide. Throughout the course of the season, Cloud9 and SoloMid asserted dominance in the LCS series, placing first and second in the championship there.
It’s been a wild ride this season, so catch up on all our past recaps to see the road to the finals, and be sure to check back as the New Year and new season is right around the corner.
