In the latest iteration of the most famous rivalry in North American League of Legends Championship Series history, Team SoloMid took down undefeated Counter Logic Gaming in a 2-1 series on Week 2, Day 4 in Los Angeles.
Counter Logic Gaming (3-1, 7-4 match record) gave mid laner Choi "Huhi" Jae-hyun a surprising Fiora pick to counter the Galio of TSM mid Soren "Bjergsen" Bjerg. CLG (3-1, 7-4 match record) jumped ahead through strong skirmishing, taking a Baron kill right as it spawned at the 20-minute mark. Team SoloMid (2-2, 5-5 match record) did its best to stem the tide, but CLG's kept the pressure on with clutch Rocket Grabs from Zaqueri "aphromoo" Black's Blitzcrank. TSM showed some life late as it attempted a Baron secure around the 34-minute, but that allowed Huhi to split push down two inhibitors and a Nexus turret while the rest of CLG won a teamfight and took its second Baron kill of the game, knocking down TSM's Nexus shortly afterwards.
The early game action in Game 2 was mainly found in the side lanes again as CLG focused on top while TSM focused on bottom. TSM's commitment to the bottom lane gave it a modest gold lead with three kills and first turret gold by eight minutes. TSM showed better rotations throughout the mid game, securing several picks, a Rift Herald, an Infernal Drake, and a huge turret advantage. CLG found some picks later in the game, but TSM stayed on top through superior teamfighting and jungler Dennis "Svenskeren" Johnsen had an amazing performance on Lee Sin in Game 2 as his 13/0/12 KDA (kills/deaths/assists) earned him a 89 percent kill participation. CLG's final stand fell flat with 3-for-0 teamfight loss in its base as TSM pushed to even up the series.
Team SoloMid opted for a split pushing composition in Game 3, which worked up to a point. While TSM managed to build small CS leads in the solo lanes, CLG funneled resources into AD carry Trevor "Stixxay" Hayes' Xayah and tried to force 5-vs-5 teamfights. Neither team gained much in the first 20-minutes as kills, turrets and gold were relatively even. TSM started to pull away late in the game, but CLG had one good fight left in it, conquering TSM at 37 minutes and threatening to end the game with a dramatic final push. Team SoloMid respawned just in time to save its Nexus by killing three members of CLG, pushing into CLG's base with a huge wave of super minions to finish the 2-1 series win.
Team SoloMid's next match on the Rift is against Team Liquid on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET, and Counter Logic Gaming faces off against FlyQuest at 6 p.m. ET.