E-Sports: CLG v. 100 Thieves Recap
The new season for League of Legends eSports is underway, folks! Over the past weekend, Computer Logic Gaming went head-to-head against 100 Thieves. Locked in with a strong offense on both sides, CLG went with Gnar, Jinx, Viego, Tahm Kench, and Viktor; 100 brought in Tryndamere, Lee Sin, Ahri, Aphelios, and Thresh. Champions locked in, the game began!
The early laning phase was slow, but not without a few close calls. Viktor was brought low by Ahri (an expected outcome—given where he is in the meta at the moment), but no dice for the spirit fox as Viktor managed to stick through and hold out just long enough to snag his first item. This acquisition was pivotal for his performance! However, Viktor's lack of mobility left the dragon wide open to Lee Sin, who took it early in the match.
Meanwhile, in Bot Lane, Jinx and Tahm Kench struggled behind their turret, allowing Lee Sin to come from behind and secure the kill—granting his team first blood. At this point, CLG's Bottom Lane was utterly wiped by 100, but not without suffering a casualty of their own, for Thresh went down to Jinx seconds before she was eliminated as well. This loss left Tahm Kench very low on health to fend for himself; things were tense, but a clutch shield at the very last second allowed him to survive. Here Viego rushed in and took out Aphelios before moving in on Lee Sin, who managed to escape.
Moving back to Mid-Lane with Viktor and Ahri, Thresh began moving around the map, offering much-needed assistance. In a matter of seconds, he hooked Viktor into a stun, allowing Ahri to burst him down and take the kill. Ahri then pushed the lane forward, with Thresh backing her. Simultaneously, Tryndamere began getting aggressive against Gnar. He tried to trick him into slipping up but to no avail. Spells were baited out, but despite the many moving chess pieces, no checks were made just yet.
Back to the Bottom Lane, Jinx was brought low by an aggressive combo courtesy of Thresh and Aphelios but survived with a clutch save from Tahm Kench. He launched Jinx out of harm's way with a shield just as the Jungler cavalry came in. They chose to leave the Bottom Lane be as Lee Sin took on heavy damage courtesy of Viktor, who moved further up into the jungle in an effort to take the Rift Herald without contest. Tensions rose as neither Viego nor Lee Sin seemed able to commit to an ambush. Finally, Lee Sin stepped up and, with the help of Ahri, absolutely executed Viego, wiping him from existence before rushing towards Viktor and Jinx. Being unable to complete the rest of the encounter, he instead retreated and took advantage of the confusion to take the second dragon.
Rift Herald was placed in the Middle Lane, knocking the tower very low. It was unable to be finished off as Gnar was attacked from the front and behind by Tryndamere and Lee Sin. Unable to escape, he was quickly taken out, with Viego arriving just too late.
While the early game appeared to be in 100 Thieves' favor, victory was far from guaranteed. The pressure was placed on Bot Lane as Lee Sin tried to engage alongside Aphelios and Thresh but was quickly spread out and deterred from the fight. Jinx and Tahm Kench were then eliminated, allowing for Lee Sin to close in and snag the third dragon. One more to gain Cloud Soul, which would provide a massive boost to mobility.
Another close save from Tahm Kench kept Jinx alive after a nasty team fight went south, while we see turret after turret falling. The last dragon was up, and 100 Thieves allowed CLG to snag so that they could take another tower and prepare to deal Baron a massive damage boost. Whether or not this was the right call was unclear.
In a brutal 4v1 fight, Tahm Kench was gutted like a fish. CLG was chased off, and 100 Thieves managed to snag Baron. Though they lost Thresh, everyone was able to keep their boost. At this point, CLG's chances were looking slim, but they stuck with it to see what would happen.
In the last seconds of the game, 100 Thieves moved in to take the inhibitors after mowing through CLG's defenses. After wiping out two out of three inhibitors, 100 Thieves was able to take the Nexus and secure the win.
