Today’s match involving Team Liquid and 100 Thieves was a tale of two halves, with two of the finest League of Legends organizations in North America vying for a position in the 2022 LCS Spring Finals. The game revolved around mid-series random adjustments and momentum, and only the Thieves were able to adapt in time to win.
100T departed from what had worked for them throughout the regular season and the playoffs in the first two games. Instead of a traditional front-to-back lineup, they went with a jumble of distinct champions with little coordination.
Match recap
With characters like Trynda, Sett, and Vex, the Thieves didn’t have a real point of engagement, and Liquid easily dispatched them. On Twisted Fate and LeBlanc, Bjergsen went on a clinic, piling up 5 kills, 22 assists, and only died two times in the first two games. Hans Sama, his star partner, was also having a great day, with 16kills/10ass without dying a single time.
Liquid appeared to be on the verge of a 3-0 sweep, but 100T altered their strategy just in time. They offered Ssumday and Closer the appropriate champs to give their squad a solid frontline while also giving enough engage for their teamfight to stay aggressive in teamfights. For games 3 and 4, “FBI” and “Abbedagge” were able to do as much damage as they wanted because Ornn and Jarvan IV were right in the middle of things.
Not only did Ssumday absolutely dominate Bwipo in the final 3 games of the series, but “Abbedagge” also bounced back from a shaky start by unleashing flawless wombo-combos on Orianna, as well as flawless poke on LeBlanc. With his picture-perfect teamfight positioning, FBI provided the team’s late-game insurance, racking up crazy stats of 12 kills/17ass, and only two deaths in the comeback win.
The final game
The final game was the toughest of all of them and, with 100 Thieves smashing the early game just like they had in the previous two games. Liquid, on the other hand, came back with a couple of very good teamfights, keeping the game tight despite their better five-vs-five team composition. As a consequence, 100T understood they only could win the match by using Abbedagge’s Twisted Fate as a backdoor.
The defending LCS champs fought with everything that they have, and their perseverance and shrewd drafting helped them win. It felt good to reverse sweep “the club that believed they were really the best team in the league,” Abbedagge remarked, having just lost the first 2 games in that manner.
While 100T advances to the finals, Liquid must win their lower bracket battle either against Cloud9 or Evil Geniuses to qualify for the finals. Both teams have shown flashes of brilliance throughout the series, but Liquid’s experienced jungler Santorin gave the slight edge to Evil Geniuses, and he turned out to be right.
The EG won against the Cloud9 in an amazing way, causing happiness for all of those who were smart enough to bet on them as underdogs.
