Back to back to back -- TSM wins again

North America is home to many League of Legends players and teams, but once again the head of the house is TSM. TSM completed a NA LCS three-peat by defeating Immortals in a tightly contested series in Boston’s championship-clad TD Garden.

Down about 10k gold in Game 4, TSM turned the corner their backs were against into a springboard. Fight after fight, TSM denied death. Super minions knocking on their turrets and their Nexus nearly exposed -- none of it mattered.

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TSM’s team fighting was led by Biofrost and Svenskeren syncing their ultimates to isolate one of IMT’s carries. In a game that initially saw Olleh and Xmithie chain their abilities to snowball the IMT lead, it was -- to say the least -- unexpected to see TSM’s own support and jungle combo flip that script.

With four marksmen -- Lucian, Xayah, Corki, and Tristana -- in play, the game was all about the which playmaker could serve up the other team’s carries first. Once TSM clawed back into the game, every single moment in the game could have been the decider. A catch here. A catch there. Team fights won and lost. Spilled water. None of them seemed to be the key to a victory, though.

Not until an ace within TSM's own base. IMT tried to find a fight one last time at TSM’s inhibitor, but like the series, Doublelift slipped away from their grasp. It was one of the greatest comebacks in NA LCS Playoffs history, and it turned the already rabid Boston crowd up another notch. With the Nexus' fall, TSM secured their sixth NA LCS Championship.

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IMT capped off their brilliant season with a strong, if ultimately disappointing, performance. TSM is a juggernaut and had a massive advantage when it came to experience on a stage like this. But after Game 1, IMT seemed to shake off their nerves. They won Game 2 thanks to some big plays from their carries on Corki and Kog'Maw. And then they held a lead in Game 3 before being unraveled by TSM's potent team fighting ability.

The lead the accrued in Game 4 showcased their strength -- the roaming synergy of Xmithie and Olleh.

"The best thing about Olleh is his roams," said Biofrost, who praised Olleh's ability to always time his movement correctly -- especially to disrupt mid laners. Svenskeren suggested this was amplified by Xmithie and IMT's ability to ward widely and deeply early in the game. 

Olleh and Xmithie then catapulted IMT to a massive lead by chaining their crowd control perfectly. IMT will rely on them to replicate that success more consistently in a month when the Worlds 2017 Group Stage begins.

TSM, too, will now set their sights on Worlds -- they return to Worlds as North America's top seed again. Doublelift suggested their run last year was hamstrung by arrogance and a wrong mental approach to the event. This year, though, he's confident that understanding their shortcomings from last year will give them a better shot.

The back and forth final was exciting for fans. It was an edge-of-your-seat kind of tension. Would TSM actually lose? For Bjergsen, though, TSM has been here before. It was, he said, "Just another day at the office." 

There are no other goals for TSM but a deep run and ultimately the championship. In China, it is not just immortals who await them. There are champions. There is god. And they'll have to beat them all.