Welcome to the 2019 NA Summer Finals

How much more drama is there going to be this year. Also Evo this year was awesome as always. Still salty that melee didn’t get a weekend slot.

play this in the background https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6-FMx_gu6g

Anywho let’s count the fallen.

TSM: Before we do a brief summary of the congrats video I’ll just have to say this. PFT HAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAAAHAAAEGRFDHGSAREGI. You guys are pathetic. While Clutch Gaming played better than expected. You did no favors for yourself with how sloppy you guys played. The playoff buff is dead. Both in planning and in execution. How about banning or taking away Huni’s Rumble, C9 learned that lesson 3 years ago and banned it the following game. Even routine things like securing a level 3-4 kill on an easy gank or trading objectives were fumbled and terribly miss coordinated. Oh yeah, we can do better than and Grig let’s send the rookie to slaughter with no pro experience. Your lack of identity was your main downfall. Have fun in the gauntlet.

Optic: I was hoping that you guys would have momentum from the tiebreakers make some magic happened. Instead, CLG gave you death by ricochets, scissor legs, and headshots. You guys fought well but CLG was just the better team. After that game 1 comeback by CLG, I knew it was too late to win back the series. They hit their stride and each game you could see the Green Wall crumble in real-time as they lost in increasingly humiliating fashion. Dhokla felt near invisible as Ruin was constantly bullying him even with tanks. Arrow was expertly neutralized by CLG as he was caught out in crucial mid and late-game moments. Game 3 was the cherry on top as Arrow was not allowed to play League of Legends.

CLG: What was it all worth in the end. The best split your team has had since 2016 the chance to make worlds again and a roster that’s stable for once. All it lead to was heartbreak in the playoffs by one of the top 2 teams. While you had a nice comeback going with games 3 and possibly 4, the damage was already done. The solo lanes were unable to be kept in check with every game starting with an early game laning detriment. Usually, one of your members got ridiculously fed, but the rest of the team would lag behind. I’ll admit, I was prepared to listen to silver scrapes in game 4 as you guys were a force of nature with how strong the squad looked. What killed your reverse sweep was your inability to convert a baron into anything meaningful as you guys were not careful enough and got caught out, neutralizing their hard-earned baron. The biggest problem throughout the series, however, was the draft. C9 constantly took away your strongest champions keeping the likes of Corki, Azir, and Sivir out of CLG’s hands. Don’t look at this defeat in shame, C9 is a very strong team that had a bye week to prep against you with. There’s a lot to look forward to, with TSM looking shakier than ever there’s a good chance you can convincingly clinch the last Worlds berth.

CG: With all of the joy and laughter you gave us in humiliating TSM, I’m afraid your run is over by the hand of the evil empire. You guys put up a valiant effort even forcing out the Silver Scrapes, but Liquid was just too much. Your champion pool was too limited. It showed in game 5 where both Quiyana and Rumble got banned. You also made the mistake of letting Team Liquid get their hands on Sona-Taric with perma heals in the late-game in game 5. When there was chaos, you guys thrived with Demonte cleaning up fights with assassins. In a more controlled game, Team Liquid suffocate you like they did in the regular season. You guys played with the heart and fire of champions, it takes more than passion to win at this shit though you also need to be smart. Unfortunately, I was partially rooting for Liquid as it would fully secure C9’s Worlds berth. Good luck in the gauntlet.

Now let's present contestant number 1

Play this for Liquid https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eZ_PvwGijM

Team Liquid makes it to their 4th straight finals and gunning for their 4th straight title. Ironic, the team that always used to finish 4th is now on the cusp of full shaking the memes once and for all. Driving the Liquid Honda mobile is Doublelift, arguably the best ADC in NA both today and in history. While he might be more known for his Sona this Summer, he still plays ADC’s that can take over a game. His partner in crime is CoreJJ is a swiss army knife being able to peel and disrupt. Their bot lane is so dominant that both of them are in contention for this split’s MVP award. Like I mentioned before this squad still utilizes Sona-Taric bot lane for the late game perma heals. At the start of the year, Liquid acquired a shiny new toy in Jensen. His presence has given Liquid a higher ceiling. He has been the most likely to take over games and can expertly pick apart his opposing laner. If they don’t stop the opposition we know what will: the brick wall known as Impact. What he lacks in dominant laning, he more than makes up for it with being able to absorb pressure arguably better than Licorice. Then when you try to ignore him he commits mass genocide on towers or makes a game-winning play in a teamfight. To support all of this star power there’s Xmithie to help empower his carries. He might not take over games but he’s never had to when he has Jensen and Doublelift on his team. Then there his ability to pull off smite steals out of his ass. The man hasn’t lost his touch. Rule # 1 of doing a baron dance with Team Liquid: Never challenge Xmithie to a smite fight; he will always win. Unlike C9 Liquid are calculated and methodical to their approach. They prefer to beat you with death by 1,000 cuts but can still bite your head off if you retaliate. The memes we will have if Liquid win this series.

Now who is this split's challenger

Play this for C9 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-3Yok5D3Aw

C9: Nisqy may I congratulate you on your climb to becoming an elite mid laner. When I first heard that he would be the new mid laner in the wake of Jensen’s absence, I was worried that he would constantly be stuck in Jensen’s shadow and play second fiddle to him. Instead of trying to fill his shoes, Nisqy helped C9 reinvent themselves with a playstyle even more aggressive than when Jensen was around. From the laning phase to the late game, Nisqy constantly tries to find kills in lane. When his opponent is defensive, he just roams bot for a double kill. Licorice is as sturdy as ever as he can absorb pressure for long periods of time while still threatening to kill his lane opponent at any time. Hopefully, his wrists won’t give out like KD’s calves in the NBA finals. With all of the roster shuffling C9 does, however, there is always one constant that you can depend on, Sneaky. While he’s never had the flashiest numbers or a strong laning phase, he will never break and finds ways to still be relevant even when he gets camped. His beard buddy Zeyzal has always been an aggressive support always fishing for engages throughout the game setting up ganks and starting fights. Since Alistar got nerfed, Zeyzal’s champion pool has expanded though he still likes going for the vanguards. Then there’s Svenskaren who’s arguably been playing the best League of Legends of his career and putting together a possible MVP campaign. The man does it all, he can seemingly gank every lane at once while keeping up in farm and be a key contributor in late-game fights. He is the combination of his aggressiveness back in EU with the teamwork skills he acquired with TSM. C9’s game plan is very simple but effective, win early and look to fight. This usually allows them to catch teams off guard in the laning phase with solo kills and early ganks. They also have the uncanny ability to pull a trump card out of their ass when defeat seems inevitable and win a fight to come back from a game they should have had no business winning. You know that Reapered always has some concoction that he’s brewing in the labs to puzzle their opponent. He finds strategies that always maximize his players' strengths while countering the opposition. Unlike last year, this squad don the cape of a heavyweight contender. Like last year, however, C9 has a hidden ace up their sleeve and might bring in a substitution when things get bleak. When Licorice was injured Kumo exceeded expectations and brought an X-Factor that could change the tides. This roster has always been the perfect mix of proven veterans and hungry newcomers. The Boys in Blue have a chance to claim their first title in over half a decade. Maybe this year could be different

Play this now https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x--nCW8YtYs

Predictions

The funny thing about this series is that both teams are locked in for Worlds and the only thing on the line is pride and a better Worlds berth.

If I were to predict who will win, I’ll take my chances with C9. I believe CG forced out a decent amount of Liquid’s hand as they were pushed to game 5. I also think that C9 has a little more hunger than Liquid as they’ve been starved of a title for 5 years.

Please stop the Evil Empire C9 [galio-happy]