For the first time in five years, Counter Logic Gaming have come out the gates rolling. After the first week of play in the 2022 League of Legends Championship Series summer split, the team sits atop the LCS standings, with a clean 3-0 record after their latest victory of Sunday against Golden Guardians. Through their cohesive team play and spicy draft picks, CLG have looked great this summer, finally matching their best start to a split in five years.
And the faithful are always rewarded 😇
We take the win over @GoldenGuardians and finish the week with a 3-0! #LCS | #CLGWIN #CLGFIGHTING pic.twitter.com/1scdd81bY0
— NRG League (@NRGLeague) June 19, 2022
CLG’s third match of the opening weekend allowed them to continue throw out some unorthodox drafts once again. After destroying TSM and Dignitas with Seraphine in their first two games, GG learned their lesson and decided to ban her away from CLG in champion select. However, CLG just pivoted to even spicier picks; bot laner Fatih “Luger” Güven and mid laner Cristian “Palafox” Palafox responded by drafting Sivir and Taliyah. This was Sivir’s first game in the LCS in the summer split, and only the second for Taliyah. CLG rounded out their off-meta drafts with Philippe “Poome” Lavoie-Giguere locking in Sona, a champion also making her second appearance in the 2022 LCS summer split; EG picked Sona against Dignitas in their win earlier in the day.
The Sona and Sivir bot lane duo didn’t do too hot in the early game, but thanks to smart macro play around objectives and opportune team fights, CLG managed to put GG away in just over 30 minutes to secure their undefeated week.
Thanks for the free baron gents 👍 #LCS | #CLGWIN #CLGFIGHTING pic.twitter.com/VWDDQT4Dvh
— NRG League (@NRGLeague) June 19, 2022
CLG’s opponents on Week 1 were not the strongest teams CLG could have played. GG were the only playoff team from last season that CLG has played so far — but the wins count the same in the standings. The only two other undefeated teams after Week 1 of the 2022 LCS summer split are Evil Geniuses and Team Liquid Honda.
The last time CLG started off a season 3-0 was back in the 2017 LCS summer split; that season saw CLG finish in third place in the playoffs, but ultimately come up short in the Worlds 2017 qualification match against Cloud9.
CLG will look to continue their streak in Week 2, as they go up against FlyQuest and the defending LCS champions, EG.
