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Counter Logic Gaming slays China's dragons

Riot·5/7/2016, 1:23:19 PM·3 votes·10,890 views

North America's Counter Logic Gaming has delivered the first blow to China’s Royal Never Give Up, beating them in an unbelievable come-from-behind victory here at the 2016 Mid-Season Invitational. With that win, CLG have confirmed their spot in the Semifinals (alongside RNG and FW) and secured a top four seed for North America at Worlds 2016.

For RNG, it’s a small blemish on an otherwise impeccable record. For CLG, it is huge moment in the history of the organization -- and a continuation of their truly counter logic performance here in Shanghai. Today they lost to the underperforming SKTelecom T1 at lunch and beat the undefeated RNG just in time for dinner.

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“I think we're all really strong mentally and we knew our loss against SKT came down to a really minor mistake," explains CLG's AD carry Stixxay. "After the Baron, we didn't walk out together and that was literally the reason we lost the game. Then we fought a fight we shouldn't have fought. So, we knew it wasn't a bad game from us, it was just a very small thing that lost us the game."

"Even if it's a really bad game, I don't think any of us tilt at all," he continues. "We're always able to mentally reset for the next game, so it felt like a fresh game.”

It’s not just the fact that they beat RNG -- it’s how they beat RNG. To say that CLG were behind would be a travesty of an understatement. At one point they were 17k gold down. They had two waves of Super Minions on their Nexus turrets and were down four Dragons. Then, after a team fight in their own base and some overly aggressive play by Wuxx on Lucian, the match completely flipped on its head.

“The moment we knew we were winning was in the base fight -- I just remember Lucian Flashed then used E on top of me, and he was super aggressive. We pretty much knew they were getting really greedy, especially with their positioning," says Stixxay. "After that fight, we were able to 5 vs. 5 them and we knew that the only way they could win was split pushing. So we countered that, grouped as five, and they couldn't beat us.”

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“It was like wow! They're throwing! Oh thank god, they're actually throwing," he laughs.

From there it was RNG’s game to lose. CLG grouped as five and started working their superior team fight composition. Stixxay's Kalista performance was incredible. He’s also putting a claim on being one of the best players of the tournament -- and certainly the best ADC of the tournament.

“I don't think I'm the best player, but I think I'm the best AD carry in this tournament," says Stixxay. "I think individually a lot of Asian AD carries aren't very good, except for Bang. He's the only good one I've played against. The other ones seem like they get carried by their team.”

“Something just kind of clicked with me this tournament.  I don't want to be the reason my team's losing. So I just try really hard to improve. I actively know what I'm trying to improve on.”

And improve he has. So what did his coach say to him at the end of the big win? The same thing we probably all would have…

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“He just came up, hugged me, and said, 'good shit, dude.' And I said, 'I have no idea how we won.'”

Tune in tomorrow to Lolesports for the final day of the MSI 2016 Round Robin when the top four seeds for Worlds 2016 will finally be confirmed. And remember to hit us up on Twitter with the #MSI and show your region some love.

14 Comments

Banana Girl5/7/2016, 5:35:11 PM6 votes

Best ADC this tournament may be a little over ambitious. But I will say, ever since that finals vs TSM Stixxay has been playing amazing.

TrollFan015/7/2016, 3:08:05 PM3 votes

Called it! CLG made it to the bracket stage. NA is already doing better this year.

jodobo5/7/2016, 6:33:08 PM3 votes

i guess now we call good plays NA and bad plays EU plays now. should tell NB3.

OutlawHunter5/7/2016, 7:36:56 PM2 votes

LMAO RNG throws hard,. TBH this win from clg still looks ugly though, they got stomped like shit in the early-mid game.

Legacy of Ra5/8/2016, 6:47:16 AM2 votes

This just goes to show that anyone can throw. Not to take anything away from CLG, but this win was definitely given to them. I feel like RNG was a bit drunk on their success this tournament and went over-aggressive when they shouldn't have. Either way, I hope that CLG doesn't let this go to their head (which it seems like it already might be). Stixxay is definitely good, sure, but I hope he doesn't buy into his own ego.

FunctionMSTR5/8/2016, 3:10:38 PM1 votes

Lets not forget, CLG won. RNG's win condition was to end sub 30min. They failed, because CLG maintained, never gave up, and peeled for the monster Kalista.