With NA’s worlds teams decided, we had the order to shake out. In the lower bracket final, 100 Thieves defeated Cloud9 to progress to the LCS Grand Finals.
After a season of play, the top 3 LCS teams had been decided. Team Liquid, 100 Thieves, and Cloud9 would be going to Europe. What remains to be decided, though, is in what order. In the lower bracket final, Cloud9 took on 100T. For the winner, it was a chance to win the LCS trophy against Team Liquid tomorrow. For the loser, they'd take NA's third seed and have to play through Play-Ins at Worlds. So who took what fate?
Game 1: FBI leads 100 Thieves to victory
Despite some early-game action around the bot lane, the first 10 minutes were relatively calm. 100 Thieves funneled lots onto Victor "FBI" Huang's Aphelios. Finally, the teams traded kills at about 12 minutes. 100T continued building a sizeable gold lead, but several picks by Cloud9 kept things close.
Finally, at 17 minutes a big fight broke out. C9 managed to isolate Felix "Abbedagge" Braun's Orianna, while 100T couldn't capitalize on their 5v4 before Jesper "Zven" Svenningsen arrived. Several minutes later, they'd get a big pick on Zven in mid, but this was immediately traded by C9 onto Abbedagge. From there, they threatened Baron to force a teamfight. C9 took down Kim "Ssumday" Chan-ho's Ornn to keep closing things up.
At 22 minutes, C9 again tried Baron for a fight. This time, though, FBI's Aphelios was really online, and melted them with the Infernum Moonlight Vigil. Over the teamfight, he dealt 6588 damage.
At 28 minutes, another teamfight in top lane went 100T's way. As 100T pressured the base, C9 tried to pick off FBI. While it finally worked, it took 3 deaths to do it. 100T closed it out at 32 minutes.
Game 2: 100 Thieves come back in 50-minute affair
As the early game in Game 2 progressed, it was C9 earning a small lead. Through several picks in the mid lane, they got ahead early. While 100T grabbed some objectives, C9 won a close fight in the mid lane and kept a small lead at 20 minutes.
As the mid-game went on, it became clear that C9 weren't about to let this one slip. C9 played it slow and calculated, taking few fights but slowly building on their lead. Eventually, though, as C9 tried to play around Baron, 100 Thieves found their play. Luka "Perkz" Perković used his Twisted Fate ult into the backline, but isolated himself, allowing 100T to turn the play. Several minutes later they'd find another teamfight win in mid, and began seriously bringing the game back.
While 100T had momentum, C9 managed to find a fight of their own. An extended bot lane skirmish ended up with a C9 ace. They also claimed an Ocean Soul. But as C9 began pressuring the base, a gorgeous Lee Sin kick from Can "Closer" Çelik kept the game going. We were reaching 50 minutes, and the teams were still at a stalemate.
After pressuring mid, finally something would break. 100T found a pick on Zven's Varus, and FBI dished out all the damage to keep C9 on the back foot. They still barely managed to take down the nexus, as C9's members came back up, but the Thieves still did manage to close it out.
Game 3: C9 pick up their first game in crazy fashion
In opposition to earlier games, we had lots of early action. By 3 minutes, Cloud9 had already grabbed a 3-0 lead in kills. But in quick succession, 100 Thieves brought it right back. At 6 minutes, there were 9 kills, with Cloud9 only having a small lead. At 7 minutes, 14 kills. And still it didn't stop.
As things began to slightly settle going into the mid game, fights and the gold lead were still back-and-forth. As teams pressed each other all over the map, Cloud9 finally found a critical teamfight in top side river. They also began to establish a significant gold lead, a first for any team all game. A follow-up fight win in top lane led C9 straight to the 100T base. In a crazy game 3, C9 brought it back.
Game 4: Back-and-forth game closed out by 100T
The early game in Game 4 was much calmer than the previous. No more '14 kills at 7 minutes', this time it was 0. As teams worked to make cross-map plays, though, 100 Thieves started building up a lead. A 3-for-1 in top lane really busted it open in their favour, with over a 4k gold lead at 16 minutes.
As the lead built, 100T overextended in mid lane, giving C9 two kills. A follow-up win gave 100T Baron, though, allowing them to keep things going. Eventually, a big teamfight in mid lane let them close it out. At 3-1, 100 Thieves were through to finals.
What's next?
For Cloud9, they'll still be attending Worlds. However, as North America's third seed, they'll have to play through an extra stage of the tournament, the play-ins, if they want to reach the group stage. For 100T, they've booked their spot in groups, and will play Team Liquid tomorrow for the chance to be called the best team in the LCS.
TL and 100 Thieves play at 1 PM PT/4 PM ET tomorrow. Stay tuned to Esports.gg for the latest League of Legends news and updates.