Top Dead: SSG advance to the Semifinals

The sound was deafening when Cloud9 took to the stage here at the Chicago Theatre. They were the last hope for North America here at Worlds, and If Cloud9 were going to come away with a win they were going to need all North America’s energy to make it happen.

That's because they were up against a Samsung Galaxy squad that had finished their previous two games in 23 minutes and topped Group D over the likes of TSM and Royal Never Give Up. 

The first series started out slow, but it was in the top lane where expectations were flipped. Cloud9’s top laner Impact created a meme when he coined the term “top die” after a string of solo kills during the Regional Qualifier. Going into the Quarterfinals, he had one of the highest solo kill counts for all top laners, but CuVee wasn’t about to become a victim to the meme.

“Yes, I’d heard of ‘top die’ before,” said CuVee with a laugh. “The words ‘top die’ popped into my head a lot when I was killing him. Except I was saying ‘top joogyutsuh.’”

CuVee pummeled Impact -- picking up solo kill after solo kill. “I’d have to say that killing Impact over and over in the top lane the first game was definitely the most satisfying thing about the series,” says CuVee of his performance. The mismatch in the top lane was indicative of Cloud9’s opening game. They looked completely out of sorts. Their proactive plays were stifled. Sneaky was killed before the observers could even catch up, and in the end Samsung posted their third consecutive sub-30 minute win. 

[[{"fid":"23486","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/worlds_qf_10132016_cyw_yw21261.jpg%3Fitok%3DfKw_rkry","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered","height":"661","width":"992"}}]]

Everyone in the Chicago Theatre realized just how uphill of a battle Cloud9 were facing.

While things looked bad for the boys from North America in Game 1, they massively upgraded their performance in Game 2. It was neck-to-neck until about 26 minutes -- a minute shy of when their last game had ended. There were only two kills on the board, but Cloud9 had the Dragon lead.

Then things went from zero to sixty in an instant. It all started with an incredible Teleport play from CuVee that showed off the all-in prowess of Samsung’s team comp. Despite both Orianna and Kennen being down in CS, they nailed their ultimates -- picking up four kills and nabbing Baron. That single play snowballed into a 7,000 gold lead. From there it was just a matter of playing the game out in the methodical way that Korean teams are renowned for. And despite being even for so long, Samsung walked away with their second win of the night.

Going into Game 3 it was do or die for Cloud9. If they wanted to keep North America’s hopes alive, they were going to have to win this game first, or their Worlds campaign would be dust. They managed to go even with Samsung for so long in Game 2, but hadn’t yet pushed them outside their comfort zone. So if they were going to give themselves a chance they were going to have to shake things up.

That shake came in the form of a green gelatinous blob -- Meteos’ signature champion Zac. It was the final pick for Cloud9 and as soon as it was locked in, the theatre erupted. Zac was a champion that the superstar jungler made his name with when Cloud9 first bounced onto the scene. If Cloud9 were known for reverse sweeps, this would be an epic time to pull one off. 

In the end Samsung were clinical in how they buried the game and with it the hopes and dreams of North America. There were some promising early plays, particularly from Meteos, who gave Cloud9 a great engage tool and kept Samsung’s lanes on edge. But the cross map presence from Corejj's Tahm Kench and the great Teleport plays from CuVee's Poppy gave Samsung huge advantages in gold, objectives, and map pressure. It was the longest game of the series -- and Cloud9 hung on valiantly -- but it wasn’t enough as Samsung clinched the first Worlds Quarterfinals series.

Looking to the Semifinals, CuVee had a message for the rest of the Semifinalists:

“There will be a Korean team in the Finals.”