The last time Team Liquid Honda and 100 Thieves met in post-season play, TL went up 2-0 before 100 pulled off the reverse sweep. But now in the 2022 League of Legends Championship Series summer playoffs with the first LCS Worlds 2022 slot on the line, TL attempted to flip the script as they rattled off two wins in a row to threaten a reverse sweep of their own. However, with Game 5 on a knife’s edge, 100 stopped the bleeding and clinched their spot at Worlds 2022.
100 can not place worse than third after advancing into the winners finals of the 2022 LCS Championship. Since the LCS has three seeds at Worlds 2022, this means that no matter what happens now, TL will at least capture the third seed; a far cry from the beginning of the series, when it looked like TL weren’t going to to qualify for Worlds at all.
From minute one of the series, 100 Thieves were in complete control which has been expected for a team that have been red hot since the second half of the summer split. TL brought some spice into the Game 1 champion selection by picking Urgot, which was the first Urgot pick in any major region so far in the summer season, according to Gol.gg. But it didn’t matter in the slightest. 100 made a statement by not only winning the game just over 30 minutes with a 12k gold lead but by doing so without giving up a single kill.
DEATHLESS. #LCS | #100WIN pic.twitter.com/FsLLSf9bf7
— LCS (@LCSOfficial) August 27, 2022
Game 2 was interesting from 100 Thieves, with the Zeri Yuumi combo being lethal in every region throughout the playoffs so far, 100 left the combo open for TL to take. However, 100 trusted that they had the correct counter to what is widely seen as the best bot lane duo in the game. By taking Senna and Seraphine 100 seemed to know something other teams didn’t. Credit to where credit is due, the counter pick worked. 100 completely neutralized Zeri and never let her get online. In just 25 minutes, 100 wrapped up Game 2 to move onto match point.
Can the Zilean save TL? #LCS pic.twitter.com/wDn8WSnXOL
— LCS (@LCSOfficial) August 27, 2022
100 were allergic to Zeri and Yuumi once again and with an opportunity to pick the combo, the team decided to prioritize Lucian and Nami who used to be the most oppressive bot lane duo in the metagame earlier in the season. But TL would not go out quietly. Banking on a mix of comfort and unorthodox picks, TL’s mid laner Søren “Bjergsen” Bjerg decided to bring out his trump card pick, Zilean. According to Fandom.com when it comes to champions Bjergsen has played more than 10 times in his career, Zilean is Bjergsen’s best champion when it comes to win rate with a 31-11 all-time record. That record improved to 32-11 as TL prevented the sweep to extend the series to Game 4.
ANOTHER GAME FIVE!!!#LCS | #TLWIN pic.twitter.com/BAJw6CxSvc
— LCS (@LCSOfficial) August 27, 2022
TL kept 100 guessing with the momentum now in their favor in Game 4. For the first time in the series, 100 were the ones that picked up Zeri but TL had the crazy answers. With a “deathball” comp highlighted by Swain, Sett and Nocturne, TL were able to dismantle 100 to push 100 all the way to a do-or-die Game 5.
Draft was another banger for Game 5 with both teams making major adjustments when it comes to champion priority. With Seraphine undefeated in the series, 100 first picked the champion while TL answered with the first Miss Fortune pick since TL’s bot laner Steven “Hans Sama” Liv played it at the end of July. The pick worked out masterfully through the mid-game punishing 100 for marching forward into teamfights. But with the game dead even in gold but with 100 on soul point, it was 100’s jungler Can “Closer” Çelik on Lee Sin that made the critical pick onto Hans Sama which opened up the game and gave 100 the win condition they needed. Even though Hans Sama stole Baron, TL lost the fight and the series. 100 prevented the reverse sweep to clinch their second straight Worlds appearance.
The road to Worlds isn’t over for TL yet, though; they move into the losers bracket after this.
Published: Aug 27, 2022 08:28 pm