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CLG tops TSM in 3-2 nail-biter, wins NA LCS Spring

Riot·4/18/2016, 3:14:08 AM·2 votes·22,809 views

Who is he? Oh, he's Jae-hyun "Huhi" Choi, rookie mid laner for Counter Logic Gaming and now the 2016 North American LCS Spring Split champion.

He and the rest of CLG took TSM to a nail-biting 3-2 series at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas to secure the North American title, earn 90 Championship Points for their Worlds aspirations, and punch their ticket to Shanghai at the Mid-Season Invitational next month.

With the win, CLG defend their title as the reigning North American champs, having previously downed TSM at Madison Square Garden in the 2015 Summer Split, claiming their first-ever NA LCS title. For Huhi, though, this time is much different.

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He spent his first split as a sub for Eugene "Pobelter" Park, and although he was often called a pivotal member of the team, being a sub is a whole other story than being a starting mid laner. Especially when you're hoisting a trophy on the main stage.

"Watching them win [the 2015 Summer NA LCS Finals], I was kind of sad and happy at the same time," says Huhi. "Even though I wasn't playing in the game, I was pretty close with my teammates, so I was really happy for them. But at one point, I was like 'If only I was Pobelter, I'd be really happy…' I wanted to experience the crowd screaming CLG! CLG! CLG!"

As the 2016 Spring Split reared its head, Huhi finally got his chance to prove himself as CLG’s starting mid laner. In the 2016 offseason, the team lost two of their star players in uniquely dramatic fashion. Pobelter moved to Immortals, while one of their most iconic players, Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng, joined rivals TSM. The very same team they met here in the Finals.

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We couldn’t have scripted it any better ourselves.

Replacing two players who had been instrumental in taking CLG to their first NA LCS Championship was going to be no small task, but Huhi and fellow rookie Trevor “Stixxay” Hayes were up to the challenge. After CLG’s victory in 2015, people wondered ‘who he’ was when Huhi stepped on stage. That has definitively been cleared up now.

From the onset, Huhi made his mark on the series, pulling out a surprise mid lane Ekko and, bucking the current meta, building him full AP. Yet it was a pick that almost didn’t happen.

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"Actually, I was so happy to play mid Ekko finally! Because one of my favorite champions is Ekko. In scrims, I was going off on Ekko so people were really confident with my Ekko," Huhi explains. "But one day, Darshan said 'tank Ekko is OP. There is no reason to play him mid, I'm sorry Huhi, but I get to play tank Ekko top.' And it's like alright, that's all yours then."

"And then [today] we randomly came to this series and Darshan was like 'If you pick mid Ekko, I'll play Poppy,' and I was like really?! It made me really happy," says Huhi with a laugh.

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As blows were traded and the series wore on, the Best of 5 boiled down to one match. It was here that Huhi picked Lulu, a champion who, as he told us, he hadn’t played in weeks. Though, for Huhi, it was a pick that was all about trust. CLG needed to take the Lulu away from Bjergsen -- Huhi needed to trust his teammates to carry him to the title.

"I didn't play Lulu for like three weeks! My team, they only play good around Lulu...So, basically Game 5 I felt pretty useless. Because I was just screaming 'Stixxay you can go in, I'm shielding you! Stixxay, back up, I don't have my ulti!' I was doing no damage and praying we were going to win."

"I was confident with Stixxay even before," Huhi continued. "But now I'm even more confident, because that game it was all about trusting. I was putting every resource into him."

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With the 2016 Spring Split under their belt, CLG will now be heading to Shanghai, where they'll  take on the best teams from around the world at the Mid-Season Invitational. They’re steaming forward with their “win everything” mentality championed by their coach Zikz, and Huhi is more than happy to jump on board for the ride.

"I just hope that we can beat every team. [But if I were to pick one], LCK teams are always on top of communication, meta, and rotations. I know that we're going to win," he said while laughing, "There's a 0.0001% chance we're going to lose, but it doesn't matter, because we know we're going to learn something."

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As to whether he’s daunted by the prospect of foreign competition? Not in the slightest.

"I think we all signed up for travel visas to go to China," he said with a smirk.

28 Comments

Count Buffon4/18/2016, 6:03:37 AM5 votes

I'm kind of glad TSM came up short after waiting so long to go full tryhard. It would've been a little upsetting to see them ace the final after skipping class half the time all semester...

Sycksh1t4/18/2016, 11:11:02 AM4 votes

Thank you CLG!!!! After c9 went down my only hope for any satisfaction in this final was for Doubledouche to lose too his old team!!! "I didn't think CLG was that good" ...They wasn't while you was on the team...lol =p

PoltergeistZ4/18/2016, 3:24:32 AM3 votes

A hard fought battle, i cheered for Team Solo Mid but CLG deserved that title after ending victorious in many dead-even matches. The only thing i found kind of sad is that it seems that blue side has way too much of an advantage either because of the first pick/ counter to top or mid and you can clearly see that every match the blue team ended up winning despite the advantage that either team had gotten over the game. still cheering for TSM next summer split though. _ laughs like zed_ * Zed

TheHawkeyeMihawk4/18/2016, 7:03:29 PM3 votes

Honestly, Darshan is so cocky and arrogant it hurts. Yes he is the best top laner in NA but as you saw at worlds his smugness gets crushed in the international competition. I hope at MSI he gets absolutely destroyed. I love every member of CLG now except him.. He ruins the team for me. Congratulations CLG but Darshan please learn to be more humble...

69469238DEL14/18/2016, 6:11:32 AM3 votes

Is no one going to talk about that Rageblade Tristana like whaaaaat

AlexanderMagnusI4/18/2016, 12:22:26 PM3 votes

At least TSM didn't win, then we would have the worst team in the playoffs representing NA. At least with CLG there is a slight hope for them to make NA look good, but had TSM won then we would look worse then we did last year. item 3124 Tristana FTW!

20MinNoName4/18/2016, 3:53:19 AM2 votes

Amazing series! Sad the way it ended though. Hauntzer tried too hard to start a fight and threw imo. After you don't get Stixxay into the team you can't win but they kept pressing and lost. Better luck next split TSM!

Smart Kitty4/18/2016, 4:07:02 PM2 votes

CLG baby! Everyone said they wouldn't be good without Doublelift, but what now haters!

SecondComing4/24/2016, 5:21:31 PM1 votes

Didn't watch the games myself but I bet they were pretty cringe. Still can't believe Immortals got swept like that by TSM, given both teams look all split; IMT absolutely dominating and TSM, despite that all-star like roster having ups and downs. Didn't watch these games either, but I can't stop thinking they were set; IMT sold the series. I heard that Huni didn't play good at all (and when Huni tilts, everyone knows what happens). Guess I should watch the games myself to have a viewpoint.

Kudos to CLG; defending the title despite losing their adc and mid laner, both pretty good players- they're looking strong and solid. Maybe we're start seeing #Gold(en)Age instead of #TiltAge again?

Magnum Mack4/18/2016, 3:45:46 PM1 votes

TSM threw that last team fight so hard. Coulda just walked away and came back into it with the Cait traps like they'd been using.

I gotta say that the post-game interview with the team on stage was painful to watch. You could see it in Aphro's expression that he wanted to throttle them for how they presented on stage. I'm all for being awkward and such for your first time but god damn, get it together. Words and syllables guys lol.

LeBlanc Jameś4/18/2016, 10:36:51 PM1 votes

Thank you captain spolier.... WTF

andrewd004/19/2016, 2:23:14 AM1 votes

CLG never won

{{summoner:2}} {{summoner:2}} [zombie-brand-mindblown]

WHAT EVER HAPPENDS IN VEGAS STAYS IN VEGAS!!

Capt3n4/18/2016, 1:36:48 PM

Rito Please @ the awesomely awkward player parade before the start of the match. It was enjoyable to see at least some of the players could, at a minimum, self-consciously smile at hearing their names announced while the crushing scrutiny of the beady eyed die-hards from the darkened bleachers bore down upon their sweaty foreheads and each and every one of them fumbled hopelessly about with their hands, having nothing to do with them, and, most likely, feeling very naked on stage.

In all seriousness though, wouldn't it sound better, not to mention legitimately more professional, IF when announcing players we followed the format [ First Name "Moniker//Summoner name" Last Name ] as opposed to the current summoner name only, which feels awkward, jarring, and incomplete. Just a thought.

Finish with something positive: definitely enjoyed all of the spring split and especially the finals. Thanks for the broadcast, and thanks G2-OG for the exciting games.