Cloud9 downs IG to take lead in Group B

Chinese teams couldn't catch a break on Day 3 of the 2015 World Championship. After Edward Gaming and LGD Gaming fell earlier in the day, North America's Cloud9 toppled Invictus Gaming. Following yet another successful game for the boys in white and blue, An "Balls" Le and his team continued to prove that they absolutely deserve their spot in this tournament.

IG was favored to win against Cloud9, but they didn't choose a better team composition than the NA squad, at least according to Balls. "I think [IG]'s picks weren't that good compared to ours. They're just struggling with the new meta right now," he says. "Our picks allowed us to team fight better, and survive from their picks. So it was really hard for them to go on us because we had a lot of mobility champs. And it was easier for us to kite them in fights."

[[{"fid":"19957","view_mode":"centered","fields":{"format":"centered","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"tagName":"IMG","src":"http%3A//admin.prod.lolesports.com/s3/files/styles/centered/public/21857131732_eefaefe7ee_k.jpg%3Fitok%3D4u7ADkbJ","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered"}}]]

Cloud9 chose scaling champions like Tristana for Zachary "Sneaky" Scuderi (against Ge "Kid" Yan's Sivir) and Azir for Nicolaj "Incarnati0n" Jensen (against Eui-jin "Rookie" Song's Ekko). Balls went with the juggernaut Darius for himself. He did fall behind after an early iG lane swap though, and admits it wasn't as easy to stay in the game as it was when he was playing Gangplank in C9's first game against ahq e-Sports Club. "I came top lane after the 1v2, got dove, and my lane was over."

"I could have called Hai to help me top and protect me from the tower dive. But I was going to get behind top from the 1v2," he continues. Yet because he focused iG's attention to the top lane, Cloud9's bottom lane was able to pull ahead. "So it was a trade for a trade. I just had to not fall that behind."

[[{"fid":"19955","view_mode":"centered","fields":{"format":"centered","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"tagName":"IMG","src":"http%3A//riot-web-cdn.s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/lolesports/s3fs-public/styles/centered/public/igvsc9_0.png%3Fitok%3DKneP6Qyv","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered"}}]]

Even though Balls wasn't able to dictate the pace of his lane, his team still had his back. "My teammates just reassured me that it's okay, and that they can carry. And Hai was just like, 'It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. I'm going to do this [jungle camp] and you do whatever you can to survive.' Then, after my two deaths, I was just like, screw top lane I'm never coming up there again. I'm going to raid the jungle camps and try to stay in the game."

"Never give up when you're behind as a top laner," he says encouragingly.

And while Balls fought to stay in the game, Sneaky and Incarnati0n lived up to their promise and carried Cloud9 through the mid and late game. In team fights, they were able to comfortably position themselves well in their own backline and deal monstrous damage, or aggressively jump into iG to finish off the low HP squishies on the other side.

Following a risky Baron at around 27 minutes, Cloud9 subsequently aced Invictus Gaming in their own jungle, with Balls leading the charge against Liu "Kitties" Hongjun's Bard. After that, it was clear there was no coming back for China's No. 3 seed. "I think aggressive calls are really important. You don't want to just stall the game. You want to know what you have to do at every point of the game. And knowing how to make those calls and everyone trusting them, that makes us a good team," Balls explains.

With ahq's win over Fnatic on Day 3, Cloud9 now reigns as the only undefeated team in Group B. As Sjokz said, it's bonkers at Worlds 2015. "It feels really good being 2-0 right now, because at first, we thought it was a really hard group," Balls says. "The other teams were hyped to be some of the best and strongest teams out of all the teams. So, we thought it was going to be really hard. But we somehow made it to 2-0!"

[[{"fid":"19956","view_mode":"centered","fields":{"format":"centered","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"tagName":"IMG","src":"http%3A//riot-web-cdn.s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/lolesports/s3fs-public/styles/centered/public/21891283856_26e5e03f9a_k.jpg%3Fitok%3D9VQ5lc9c","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered"}}]]

Now, they've only got Europe's No. 1 seed Fnatic left to face. "Fnatic is definitely the Final Boss. Everyone is praising Fnatic and they looked really good in their match versus IG," he says. "They might be one of the best teams in this tournament, so it's going to be pretty difficult for us." Yet Balls is ready for the fight. "I'm prepared to play versus them, and it's going to be pretty exciting for sure."

Find out what happens in the battle between Cloud9 and Fnatic on Sunday, October 4 at 8am PDT / 5PM CEST right here on Lolesports. And to catch up on all of the matches from the 2015 World Championship so far, head over to the spoiler-free VODs page.