LoL - LTA: Team Liquid destroys 100 Thieves to become the first LTA Champions

Team Liquid has won The League of Legends Championship of The Americas (LTA) in an action-packed 3-0 sweep against 100 Thieves in the grand finals, becoming the very first champions of the new league. With this victory, TL has now qualified to the First Stand, Riot's new international tournament, where they'll soon face off against each LoL region's representative.

The two teams are far from strangers: Over the last seven years and since 100 Thieves’ 2018 entrance into LoL, they’ve faced off in playoffs a total of eleven times. TL has been the historical favorite, winning seven out of eleven previous series, but in their most recent clash, it was a different story. In that game, their LTA North matchup weeks earlier, 100T managed to win the close 2-1 series and take down TL. But this time, TL struck back with a vengeance.

Game one began with Eain “APA” Stearns locking in his signature Ziggs, a champion usually perma-banned against him. Pure destructive gameplay followed from the bomb-slinging Yordle, picking up triple kills and turrets with ease, while Um "Umti" Sung-hyeon's Maokai Crowd Controled the Thieves at every turn. In less than 30 minutes, the Ziggs marched into the enemy base with his team, exploding everything in their path, including the Nexus.

Before game two could begin, TL had to deal with a brief out-of-game crisis. After already breaking the night before, Sean "Yeon" Sung's prescription glasses broke again, leaving the series on hold. Luckily, the behind-the-scenes team rushed to fix them, the AD Carry was able to head into game two with his vision restored.

Yeon made full use of his sight, going 10/1/10 on his unstoppable Varus in game two. The Thieves fought hard in the early game, using Kim "River" Dong-woo's Nocturne to kickstart an early snowball. But an overextension in the botlane by River and Lim "Quid" Hyeon-sung allowed TL to punish them and secure Atakhan, following it up with one teamfight win after another. With Yeon leading the charge, Team Liquid completed the comeback, closing it out the game in a clean 35 minutes.

In game three of the series, 100 Thieves once again took an early lead, but Team Liquid battled back in the mid-game to regain the gold lead. A three-man Counter Strike from Jeong "Impact" Eon-young’s Jax allowed Yeon’s Kai’Sa to soar in and wreck the Thieves, picking up a quadra kill, and proving himself indisputably as the LTA's best ADC. Yeon's flawless performance earned him the well-deserved Finals MVP award.

While this is their first title under the LTA branding, Team Liquid previously claimed five domestic championships in the LCS. Sticking with this same roster, they've now reached three consecutive domestic finals, winning two of them. Soon, the team will leave São Paulo, where the LTA Finals were held, and head to Seoul, South Korea, for the First Stand in March. There, TL will face off against the champions of every LoL region, in hopes of claiming the title.