In one of the most epic matchups in League of Legends World Championships history, Cloud9 was able to come back and defeat Flash Wolves in a 70-minute marathon which saw the American squad behind for most of the game.
Just before the game hit 40 minutes, C9 was able to make one of its first big plays of the game, as Jung "Impact" Eon-yeong held off a 2 vs. 1 attack to pick up a kill and force Flash Wolves to use multiple cooldowns, which would help C9 stay out on the map and respond to FW's moves.
But the game would stall out, and Cloud9 would get indecisive. At 53 minutes, Flash Wolves would win the positioning and vision battle for Baron Nashor, earn the buff despite an attempt to steal from William "Meteos" Hartman, and would then put pressure on the C9 base.
But the Americans held their base well, rotating to stop sieges and keeping the League Masters Series squad from getting close to the nexus. When Flash Wolves finally did get into the base, C9 fought back and picked up two kills and the Elder Dragon, which stalled out the game once again.
The respawning of Baron Nashor forced another moment of action for both teams, and Flash Wolves got priority on the jungle monster yet against. But this time, after multiple previously failed attempts to steal, Meteos and Nicolaj "Jensen" Jensen were able to steal away the buff and start to take down the FW base's defenses.
With Cloud9 on the front foot for the first time since the very early laning phase, it was Meteos again -- who had been fairly anonymous for most of the early and midgame -- who dodged discovery in the enemy jungle and initiated a team fight which Cloud9 would win. This led to yet another Baron buff, and gave the North American League Championship Series side another chance to go after the FW base.
One last team fight was all the Americans needed, as Jensen was able to secure a kill in the middle lane after a failed flank attempt, and a counterflank from Meteos secured a second kill, enough to overwhelm the nexus and earn a win for Cloud9.
Somehow, over the course of the 70-minute epic, Jensen did not die, registering a 6/0/3 scoreline on Orianna.
The result moves Cloud9 to 1-1 for the event, while Flash Wolves fall to 0-2. Next up for C9 is a matchup with I May, while Flash Wolves will take on SK Telecom T1, with both matches taking place on Sunday.