LTA North: Team Liquid and 100 Thieves Walk Away with Clean Victories

Today, we saw everything: from new picks, to new players, in LTA North’s matches. Ganbat "Yuuji" Ulziidelger made an explosive debut on Team Liquid’s roster, and we saw some pocket picks like Rayan "Sniper" Shoura’s Riven. The competition was stiff, yet today brought some of the fastest matchups of the Split so far, with both series ending in clean 2-0s.

Heavy trades went through botside, causing both ADCs to sit at less than half health before minions spawned. Jo "CoreJJ" Yong-in tried a super late invade, but got caught out by Denilson "Ceos" Oliveira. After repeated walk-ups from the Team Liquid Support, Juan "Contractz" Garcia was finally able to take a late first blue buff. This allowed Yuuji to gain an early level over the opposing jungler.

Team Liquid was able to take all three of the first objectives, securing the Feat of Monster Slaying for themselves without contest. Just under fifteen minutes in, Sean "Yeon" Sung claimed First Turret topside, giving TL the boot buff. Without any kills on the board, they managed a 3k gold difference.

A 5v5 broke out at Rift Herald: the first objective contested by either team. The skirmish gave two kills to Team Liquid, but Shopify Rebellion could not get any in return. Both teams showed up in full force for the third Drake of the game, but TL’s snowball could not be stopped. A Drake and a clean ace went to Team Liquid.

Shortly after, Ju "Bvoy" Yeong-hoon was able to get a shutdown on Yuuji, putting Shopify Rebellion on the board almost 20 minutes in. Two teleports put SR in great position for another team fight, but the gold difference was just too much. The fight went one-for-three in favor of TL once again.

Atakhan went to Team Liquid without contest, but Eain "APA" Stearns and Yuuji fell in a skirmish shortly after. Despite the fight looking up for Shopify Rebellion, they ultimately got aced. The bloodbath continued mid, but Shopify could not up. A triple kill from Yeon set TL up for soul (and later, Baron) nicely.

Using Baron and Cloud Soul to push through the turrets quickly, Team Liquid was able to make quick work of the remaining defenses Shopify Rebellion had left. The game ended just over 28 minutes in, with TL on top.

The early game was full of trades (even taking Cristian "Palafox" Palafox down to only four HP), but Shopify Rebellion came out on top in the race for the first Drake. First blood and a second kill went over to Team Liquid thanks to a clutch Neeko ult from APA. Another Pop Blossom under the bot turret secured the Feat of Warfare for Team Liquid.

Contractz was able to take down the Void Grubs and steal away the second Drake of the game, giving Shopify Rebellion the Feat of Monster Slaying and complete control over the early game objectives.

Team Liquid was able to stop the Drake stacking and claim the Feats of Strength. They maintained a solid 2k gold advantage in the midgame, but did lose one skirmish in the botside jungle, where Shopify Rebellion was able to secure two kills in a 2-for-1.

Everyone showed up for Atakhan, but neither team was able to claim it before chaos broke loose. Team Liquid started a coordinated dive from their front line, ending in an ace and Atakhan. Yuuji secured their second Infernal Drake, while their gold lead extended above 3k again.

In a skirmish near mid, and with another decisive ult from APA, Team Liquid took three kills to Shopify Rebellion’s zero, leading to a free Baron. The kills kept coming, with Yuuji earning a triple kill just before Team Liquid secured their third Infernal Drake. Turrets fell quickly under the Baron-enhanced minions. While they weren’t able to end here, they did take down two inhibitors.

With only Ibrahim "Fudge" Allami left to defend, Team Liquid shredded through Shopify Rebellion’s turrets, ending the series 2-0. In his debut LTA games, Yuuji in particular stood out, going 10/1/8 on Viego in Game 2.

While everyone started the game carefully, 100 Thieves secured four kills and stole the first Drake of the game just minutes in. Shortly after, a roam from Lim "Quid" Hyeon-seung to botlane secured another kill, while the team took the three Grubs as well.

A TP-engage from Sniper, on his signature Riven, secured a kill on to Jeremiah "ScaryJerry" Leathe and the second drake of the game, and gave 100 Thieves the boot buff from the Feats of Strength. 100T continued playing aggressively, taking kills under turrets and running straight into Disguised. FBI stole Rift Herald, putting it down mid as Sniper, Quid, and Bill "Eyla" Nguyen finished the teamfight with a clean ace.

In Drake Pit, Disguised was able to get a huge shutdown on Kim "River" Dong-woo, but still lost the objective, putting 100 Thieves at an early Soul Point. Atakhan went over to 100T, DSG helpless to contest. With a gold lead soon nearing 11k, Disguised’s turrets continued to take heavy damage.

100 Thieves took Cloud Soul before diving onto Disguised, hopping walls to chase kills before rushing to take Baron. Using the enhanced minions, 100T continued to dive Disguised under their Nexus turrets before ending the game shortly after with a seismic 17k gold lead in just 27 minutes.

A failed level one invade from River started off the game, with Lawrence "Exyu" Xu winning the smite fight at Raptors. A Flash + Viktor E with help from Aery gave first blood over to Quid. The aggressive plays kept coming, as Sniper flashed in to catch Felix "Abbedagge" Braun out once again. A third kill came with a gank from River up top, securing the Feat of Warfare for 100 Thieves early.

Disguised took a good fight near the Drake Pit, but River got saved by a bailout from Eyla's Renata, putting the score zero to four. DSG found success in an early objective, taking all of the Void Grubs for their own. 100 Thieves took the first Drake of the game, just over ten minutes in.

A gank from River topside gave 100 Thieves two kills, but Disguised looked to retaliate, bringing all five members of their team to toplane as well. Picking up a kill for Abbedagge and another for Castle, DSG was on the board. Exyu was able to secure Rift Herald while 100T took their second Drake.

The teams traded kills in the jungle, but Disguised ultimately got the short end of the stick, losing the fight one-for-three. Both teams pushed for turrets as Atakhan came up, with Exyu dropping Rift Herald topside before cruising down to mid with it. WIth the third Drake spawning, DSG decided to go for it.

Disguised took their first drake of the game, but lost their entire team for it, the ace going over to 100 Thieves. On respawn, the skirmishing continued deep into DSG’s jungle, but they couldn’t keep up. In a 4v5, 100 Thieves aced again before running to Baron.

In a last stand, Disguised worked to fight off 100 Thieves under their nexus turrets, but could not hold them back. In a decisive blow, the turrets came crashing down and 100T emerged victorious.

This week was full of highs and lows for the teams here in LTA North. LYON and Disguised were sent home in this Split’s first elimination matches, while the rest continue on for next week’s competition. A strong debut from Yuuji has the community talking, but how will the rest of the Split pan out for Team Liquid? Find out more in next week’s LTA North match recaps!

Photo Credit: Riot Games // LTA North via Flickr.