North America's Warriors step up to challenge Korea's Kings

North America’s Counter Logic Gaming have beaten LMS' Flash Wolves here at the 2016 Mid-Season Invitational, booking themselves a Finals showdown against Korea’s SKTelecom T1. In doing so, they’ve also become the most successful North American team at any MSI or Worlds event -- ever.

CLG’s rise through the tournament is nothing short of remarkable. They came in as huge underdogs, with most experts predicting them to be a 5th placed team. Defying all expectations, they stormed through the Round Robin Group Stage and beat every team in the tournament at least once, a feat only matched by China’s Royal Never Give Up. Less than a year ago people laughed at CLG’s top laner Darshan, when after the 2015 NA LCS Summer Finals he said he wanted to win everything. Now, that dream is one step closer to reality.

[[{"fid":"22627","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/26908367152_cd80f84d7c_k.jpg%3Fitok%3DCFgHEi4l","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered","height":"663","width":"992"}}]]

“I can understand why people wanted to laugh at me and think that, 'Oh, this guy is out of his mind,' because when they see through history, or over the past three years, that Korea's always won and NA's never done well," Darshan says. "So of course if I fail, everyone will be like why did you even think that you could come close to being the best team?”

He continued, “I always feel that whatever I do in life, it's really important to have that self-confidence and the confidence in your teammates that you're going to win. There are always going to be people who are going to tell you that you can't do it. Basically, if they don't think they can do it, they want to tell you that you can't do it too.”

Coming into the series against Flash Wolves, the tables had turned and it was surprisingly CLG who were the favorites to move on to the Finals. Tensions were high, and it was CLG who came out strongest in Game 1.

[[{"fid":"22629","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/26933516241_6e8a5e4cc8_k.jpg%3Fitok%3DbnAO6yAo","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered","height":"661","width":"992"}}]]

Both teams looked reluctant to pull the trigger and were happy to try and scrape incremental advantages past one another across the Rift. CLG slowly pulled ahead and when the teams finally clashed in a mid-game team fight, it was CLG who prevailed. They steamrolled Flash Wolves, picking up an Ace and snowballed it into a win.

Game 2 started with a roar as Stixxay locked in Caitlyn. The Chinese audience, like the rest of us, were excited to see what he could do on a champion that had been permabanned against him all tournament. Though it was Flash Wolves who took control of the game.

Maple was an absolute monster on Ryze, who would go on to become the most contested champion pick all series. A sloppy fight outside Baron pit was the tipping point for Flash Wolves, and after a super aggressive dive into CLG’s base for the Ace, they became unstoppable.

[[{"fid":"22630","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/26969771786_a4daf0f29c_k.jpg%3Fitok%3DaZ4pprKJ","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered","height":"699","width":"992"}}]]

“Ryze is such a contested pick because he scales really well, wins every lane matchup, and is basically a tank who does carry damage," explains Darshan. "He's probably the most [overpowered] champion in the game right now.”

Ryze was picked in every game of the series, but there were unique picks for both sides in Game 3. With both Soraka and Bard banned, Aphromoo showed his hand on the rarely seen Sona. It looked shaky at first, but some clutch Crescendos helped carry CLG to their second victory of the series.

NL’s renowned Varus pick failed to take off, and even with a huge early lead thanks to aggressive play from Karsa on Kindred, Flash Wolves couldn’t close out the game. CLG pulled off another come-from-behind victory -- something they're becoming renowned for here in Shanghai --  led from the front by a stellar performance from Xmithie's Graves.

[[{"fid":"22631","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/323232.jpg%3Fitok%3DsSb2rt-X","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered","height":"606","width":"992"}}]]

“I felt like I could have carried in early game and communication wise it was kind of unfortunate," says Xmithie. "Usually every early game we didn't keep track of their jungler and even if we did, we misplayed on it. I think the biggest thing we have to take from that series was learning from early game.”

Game 4 started off with a bang as Aphromoo’s Sona roamed mid to gank Maple’s Azir and dived under turret for first blood, even though it cost him his life. The punches kept coming, and it was Karsa again on Kindred who snowballed the early lead for Flash Wolves. Great Teleport plays from both Huhi’s Ryze and Darshan’s Poppy pulled CLG back into the lead, and from there they were relentless. Taking objectives, looking for fights, and eventually winning the match to close out the series.

[[{"fid":"22633","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/26399085733_a824650e9c_k.jpg%3Fitok%3DqyOFB-zT","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered","height":"693","width":"992"}}]]

Now, they take on SKTelecom T1 in the MSI 2016 Finals. It's a team CLG have already proven they can beat at this tournament. Though SKT in a Best of 5 series is a completely different beast. Even so, Darshan and the rest of CLG are approaching it with the confidence they've shown all tournament.

“I think something you should always remember when you're playing a sport is that everyone playing is human. Everybody makes mistakes. Nobody is perfect. Sure SKT looks unbeatable. But we beat them before in the Group Stage. We know that they're going to make mistakes," says Darshan. "The only thing that ever matters in a team sport is who plays more like a team. It's not who the best team in the world is, it's who is the best team on that day."

"So we're going to show up on that day and play our hearts out,” Darshan says.

Darshan also had one final message for fans back home in North America. “I want to say thanks to all the NA fans for the support at MSI. We will make NA proud by beating SKT in the Finals.”

When we told him that’d he’d already made North America proud, he grinned and left us with one word.

“Prouder.”

[[{"fid":"22632","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//riot-web-cdn.s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/lolesports/s3fs-public/styles/centered/public/26968689716_8c094ee8ab_k.jpg%3FEI_s11Dhg25HLiby6DNveAGB2rsHpf2P%26itok%3DI7mEa5Ma","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered","height":"606","width":"992"}}]]

The 2016 Mid-Season Invitational concludes tomorrow and you can see who will rise and become the champions at Lolesports. Don't forget to hit us up on Twitter with your favorite moments from MSI with #MSI2016.