SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- The 2016 Scouting Grounds has come to a close, and Team Ocean, backed by Team Liquid's braintrust head coach David Lim, top laner Samson "Lourlo" Jackson and jungler Joshua "Dardoch" Hartnett swept the best-of-three final against Team Cloud, which was headed up by Counter Logic Gaming's head coach Tony "Zikzlol" Gray and captain Zaqueri "Aphromoo" Black.
Both games were high-kill affairs with Team Cloud getting off to quick starts. The story was the same in Games 1 and 2: Omar "OmarGod" Amin, the first overall pick in the Scouting Grounds draft, would get ahead with his aggressive, brutish offensive style, and Cloud would amass a lead. Then, in the late-game, everything Cloud did for the first 20-to-25 minutes of the game would become meaningless, the team playing too forward and aggressive in attempts to put away the game. Team Ocean's patience and late-game teamfighting sealed the victory and the tournament, and the last pick of the draft, "Mr. Irrelevant," Bradley "Vex" Miller, was arguably the team's best player throughout the tournament.
Scouting Grounds was viewed by an intimate gathering of around 50 people, including some media, NA LCS professionals and members from Challenger clubs scouting for domestic talents. The two teams that did not make the final, Team Infernal (supported by Echo Fox) and Team Mountain (supported by Immortals), were also in attendance, taking in the action before having a final meet-and-greet with the remaining Scouting Grounds attendees.
While from all indications from Riot Games, the players, and supporting teams suggest the event was a success and Scouting Grounds 2 could be even bigger and better, there is no official word on if the exhibition event will return for 2017.
Grand Final
Team Ocean 2 - 0 Team Cloud
Standings of Scouting Grounds Group Stage:
Team Ocean (Team Liquid): 2-1 (5-2)
Team Cloud (Counter Logic Gaming): 2-1 (5-3)
Team Infernal (Echo Fox): 2-1 (4-3)
Team Mountain (Immortals): 0-3 (0-6)