Søren “Bjergsen” Bjerg is the League of Legends Championship Series all time kill leader, but the moment is bittersweet. The 26-year-old Dane found his 2,274th kill in Game 4 of a 3-2 loss to 100 Thieves during the LCS Summer playoffs.
In an interview after the match, Bjergsen reflected on nearly a decade of professional League of Legends in the LCS.
“It makes me feel old,” he said. “It just means I’ve been playing for a really long time, but it’s cool to have things like that. I’m definitely going to keep killing enemy champions and hopefully I get so many kills that it’s gonna take forever for someone to catch up to me.”
Bjergsen passed his former teammate Yiliang “Peter” “Doublelift” Peng earlier in the year and then, during the match against 100T, edged past Jason “WildTurtle” Tran to claim the title of kill leader for himself. The kill in question occurred while Bjergsen was piloting Swain. The occasion was marked by air horns and a specially made graphic — Bjergsen’s face superimposed over his signature champion, Zilean.
As one of the LCS’s best players for close to a decade, it’s fitting that Bjergsen now leads the pack when it comes to kills.
“I’ve just spent so much time here in California, playing in the LCS,” Bjergsen said. “And I’m excited to keep going. I’m excited to make it to Worlds this year.”
TL fall to the lower bracket in LCS
Despite the landmark record, the day started dismally for Team Liquid. The team suffered two quick losses to 100T and were on the verge of being swept. Things took a turn in Game 3 when TL played a near flawless game.
“Game 1 we just got blown out. Game 2, it came down to a few key team fights,” Bjergsen said. “We picked very proactive comps in Games 3 and 4. Comps that have a lot of different opportunities to start fights, to [crowd control], to catch people. And I think that was working very well for us in Games 3 and 4.”
After that celebratory Game 4 where Bjergsen became the all time LCS kill leader, TL were thrust into yet another Game 5 situation against 100T. The Thieves have become TL’s staunch rivals in the LCS. The two teams are no strangers to their matches coming down to the wire. Ultimately, 100T came out on top after a tense final game.
“I don’t think people were unnecessarily stressed out in the Game 5,” Bjergsen said. “I think, obviously, the pressure was on the whole series. You feel the nervousness from each other and the excitement when you play, but I don’t think feeling the pressure too much in Game 5 is why we lost.”
This game meant so much to us and we’re heartbroken we couldn’t win it for you all.
We continue our fight in the lower bracket.
— Team Liquid Honda LoL (@TeamLiquidLoL) August 28, 2022
Now, TL have a daunting lower bracket run ahead of them. Their first opponent is Counter Logic Gaming.
“I think CLG is OK,” Bjergsen said. “I don’t think they’re really a super exceptional team, but they’re also not bad. We’ve been scrimming quite a lot recently, so I think both teams have a good read on each other and what each other want to play. And it’ll just come down on how both teams are showing up on the day.”
While Bjergsen’s immediate goal is to win the LCS trophy, there’s also Worlds qualification on the line should TL get eliminated from the lower bracket. Worlds 2022 is being held in North America, so there’s an added layer of significance for the NA teams.
“Worlds being in the US is gonna be big,” Bjergsen said. “But me, I haven’t thought too much about playing at Worlds yet because, more so than trying to to to Worlds, I’m trying to win the LCS first. I’m not just focused on the qualification for Worlds, but actually trying to win the trophy. That is my goal now. That’s what I want to do.”
