Liquid Extends Dominance with Win Over Cloud9
Cloud9 had a chance to dethrone Team Liquid as the best team in the LCS after their victory over TSM. However, Liquid proved their superiority in today’s match, maintaining their position at the top of the league.
After an intense 40-minute battle, Liquid ended Cloud9’s eight-game win streak and solidified their standing with a 12-1 record.
Related: Jensen on facing Sneaky and Cloud9 again: “It’ll be less pressure”
Despite being ahead in the league and having previously beaten Cloud9, Liquid AD carry Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng entered the match with apprehension. In a post-game interview, Doublelift revealed, “I was really nervous coming into the match because [Cloud9’s] a really strong team, and they usually own us in scrims. They had some interesting strats. Xayah and Rakan is a really really hard matchup for Galio support since the kill potential they have is really insane.”
Cloud9 attempted to counter Liquid’s dominant bot lane by drafting Xayah and Rakan, one of the most oppressive duos. However, their strategy didn’t pay off. Doublelift and support Jo “CoreJJ” Yong-in patiently played Kai’Sa and Galio, while the rest of Liquid fell behind early in the game.
Liquid found their opportunity in mid-game teamfights. Although no fight resulted in one side completely acing the other, Liquid consistently came out on top in terms of kills, leading to objective control.
Even stealing the Baron was not enough for Cloud9 to mount a comeback. Liquid retaliated by securing the Elder Dragon and securing a few kills. With Baron gone, Liquid had the advantage to close out the game.
Currently on a five-game win streak, Liquid’s only loss this split has been to third-place TSM. Reflecting on their defeat, Doublelift stated, “That loss was a huge wake-up call, so it was really great… We were all really upset, and we really hated losing to TSM, and that can be a really good thing.”
Team Liquid will have to wait until March 24 for a chance to seek revenge against TSM.
Team Liquid, Cloud9, League of Legends, esports, LCS, dominance, win streak, match, bot lane, strategy, victory