After a grueling 48-minute game filled with objective steals and more throwing than we can count, CLG are on top of the NA LCS—tied for first place with 100 Thieves, Echo Fox, and Team Liquid.
It may have been messy. It may have taken 20 more minutes than it needed to. And most importantly, it may mean that Zachary “Sneaky” Scuderi’s first week back on the Cloud9 starting roster didn’t end undefeated. But still, after CLG’s terrible last split, it’s great for fans to see the former NA LCS champions and MSI runners-up back in any position of relevance in the standings.
Don’t get us wrong, it was a very exciting game. Between C9’s almost-comeback and CLG mid lane Choi “Huhi” Jae-hyun Faker-esque Orianna ults, it was one of the most entertaining throwdowns of the split so far. But that doesn’t mean it was necessarily a good game.
CLG should have ended the game 20 minutes sooner, but they suffered some mishaps while taking the bot lane inhibitor and then had bad positioning against Dennis “Svenskeren” Johnsen’s Gragas, setting them up for some devastating Explosive Casks. C9, on the other hand, should have been able to stay level-headed while mounting their comeback until eventually they understood their strengths and used their eventual gold lead to press CLG back.
Unfortunately, both teams played it pretty bad. But CLG are still improving week-to-week compared to their Spring Split, and C9 still looked better this weekend than they have all split. Hopefully, by the time playoffs roll around (assuming at least one of them make the cut), things will be a little more toned and trimmed, and some of those shaky late-game map movements will have fallen away.
CLG’s next game is on Saturday at 7pm CT against the Golden Guardians, who have been making a case for themselves as one of the better teams in North America, too.
Published: Jul 15, 2018 05:08 pm