The North American playoffs are off to a spectacular start. Insane backdoor plays, massive upsets, and, uh, a lot of Nunu.
Facing off first, Team SoloMid and Team Dignitas put on a heck of a show. Two separate backdoors, three games going more than 50 minutes, and countless amazing plays from both sides made appearances.
In the end, however, TSM showed off why they’re one of the most beloved teams in North America, taking down the hot and cold Dignitas in four games.
In the second matchup of the weekend, Team Curse was ready for Counter Logic Gaming. Unlike their quarterfinal opponents, they’d played out the final week of the season without leaving the country, instead choosing to focus on playing at home. Obviously, with their 3-0 victory, the decision worked out in their favor.
CLG, on the other hand, looked like a team without a sense of direction. Clearly taking influence from their week-long trip to Korea, they seemed lost at sea when it came to champion select, going after compositions they struggled to figure out how to utilize.
As a result, Curse looked to be the more decisive team, forcing their will on CLG and taking all three games off of them with relative ease.
THE THINGS THAT FOLLOW
Despite being fairly hit-or-miss all split, Curse is looking red hot. Typically a team that doesn’t respond terribly well to heavy pressure, they seem to have figured out how to defend themselves against a variety of strategies. Which will help, because they’re facing Cloud9 this Saturday, a team known for their hefty amount of pre-planning. We’re looking at you, LemonNation. Don’t think we don’t know how filled that little notebook is.
Meanwhile, TSM is looking stronger than they have in months. However, they’ll have to be ready for LMQ, a team they haven’t won a single game against all split. They’ll have to execute perfectly if they’re going to deal with the hyper aggressive LMQ squad. We’ll have to wait and see if they can carry the momentum from their win over Team Dignitas into their semifinal series.
Now that we've gotten that out of the way, let’s take a look at some of the best moments of the weekend.
TSM VS DIG GAME 1 - THA CANE
Trick2g must be proud of ZionSpartan. After more than 50 minutes of a brutal back-and-forth Game 1, Dignitas’ top laner and his Nasus decided that he was tired of playing that particular game, and Teleported directly into the TSM base.
TSM VS DIG GAME 2 - PAYBACK TIME
Not to be outdone, TSM laid down a backdoor of their very own in Game 2. It may have taken a few attempts, but the final hits on the Nexus set the stage for TSM to take victories in the next two games, moving on to face LMQ in the semis.
CRS VS CLG GAME 1 - DEFENSE CLAP CLAP
For the first 40 minutes or so, CLG looked to control Game 1 with careful moves and precise rotations. However, they weren’t expecting to be met with Curse’s hearty defense of their mid lane inhibitor turret. This was a turning point.
CRS VS CLG GAME 3 - THE NAIL IN THE COFFIN
After that first game, CLG just couldn’t get their feet back under them. When Curse moved to take their second dragon of the game, they attempted to challenge it. The teamfight that followed was sloppy and disastrous for the struggling squad, and they never quite recovered.
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