In the end, Clutch Gaming really was that "Good Time" team

GeminiRune·10/19/2019, 10:16:58 PM·2 votes·2,699 views

After letting the results of the group today sink in, I've got nothing bad to really say. I mean, they (mostly Huni) wanted this group. They were in an uphill battle from the start. They stuck to their 10 minute Herald style. They made Mammoth, UOL, and Royal Youth believe. They made some games close in Groups. And they threw like 4 Barons and even got the ever famous Dignitas Baron throw sendoff at the hands of SKT. And at least they weren't TSM or CLG.

In the end, I'm just smiling compared to the gloom I felt with C9's departure yesterday. It was just nice to have that different team from NA at worlds, even if they got blown out 0-6. Like some Tournament of Power stuff where Clutch may be eliminated but you don't scold them; just give them credit where it's due and keep on watching and hoping...

And boy do NA fans have to hope now...

8 Comments

MakJuice10/19/2019, 11:23:35 PM1 votes

Never thought Clutch or Cloud 9 stood a chance in this worlds. Never was saddened or surprised by any of the results except for G2 Getting smashed back to back vs griffin.

I always assumed Team Liquid was our only chance to make a splash in this worlds and to be honest I think they have just a good a chance as anybody to win worlds.. The only favorite of the tournament in my eyes is SKT. everyone else that will be making it out of groups seems relatively close, and even SKT doesn't seem "that much" stronger.

ChompyWulf10/19/2019, 11:36:34 PM1 votes

It felt better two years ago when it was Immortals, imo.

Ok, sure, part of it is personal fan bias.

At the same time it was a squad that was some of the NA misfits. Xmithie and Pobelter were considered second tier. Nobody expected much out of a rookie Cody Sun. Flame wasn't considered a strong lane favorite in that patch. They were also against the #1 Korean seed, as well as Fnatic. Instead of a Chinese team they had the wild child Gigabyte Marines. And through their first round of matches they actually looked solid. Elimination day became a messy debacle. (And I still suspect Riot notified them the day before they were being cut from LCS and it screwed their mental game horrendously.)

As for TL being the last hope, I can't bring myself to care. They are a second version of TSM, buying out the "best" players in NA possible. It's like the idea of cheering for the Yankees or Lakers, why care when they SHOULD win because they buy out the supposed top talent?

III BAKURYU III 10/20/2019, 12:08:03 AM1 votes

I honestly think many "NA fans" don't seem to care about NA at Worlds at this point. Remember the boards back in 2015-2017 and how filtered it was with hate, topics and discussions no matter how vile or poking fun at NA? TSM rants and "Give C9 your energy" and look at it now. Just like the views for NA LCS it's dead and forgotten.

People don't care because it's going on 10+ years and NA still hasn't done much of anything( 2016 CLG MSI FINALS, C9 advances to the bracket stage and 1 time NA has gotten further than Quarters(1x in 9 years AKA 2019** Jersey meme) TL 2019 MSI Finals** and that's it for NA on the International stage.

Give Clutch credit for what exactly? Keep watching for regional pride or hope that NA won't go 3 for 3 in the group stage? Oh, TL might get out of groups but quickly eliminated in Quarters. [slayer-pantheon-thumbs]

NA being NA is to be expected and one can say " Next year or That was in the past but 10 years of constant garbage isn't enough?

I hope NA does well but I made a promise to myself that no matter if NA comes in 2nd place or all gets eliminated in groups or even wins the whole tournament that this was my last viewing of League/LCS/Worlds.
Enough is Enough

NA will get some type of hype from either teams(DIG and Immortals), players from other regions etc but it'll all be the same as it was a year before.

CurS1VE10/20/2019, 3:10:39 PM1 votes

I agree, CG didn't play scared; they played their style went out on their terms and yeah they saw that being 3rd best in NA doesn't make you "the best" but they DID see they can be competitive with their Roster going forward AND can continue investing in this Roster.

Honestly I hope they just really take the tape of how they lost and use that to further refine their style because in 1 split they made such huge improvement and now i really think that they have some Tape where they really got shown the holes in their gameplay and with their coaching staff and the strategic minds they have I can see how much growth can happen and now it's just about getting some more time.

Flat out if this roster stays together they will really Contend with Liquid next Split, i mean it took TL 5 games to beat this team! CG/DIG is about to be the squad to beat going forward