League of Legends LCS playoff preview: OpTic vs. CLG – the ultimate underdogs
By Josh Tyler
The season series
These two teams first met in a Week 2 during OpTic’s run as one of the top teams in the LCS. OpTic, 2-0 at the time, would continue their perfect run by taking down the then 1-1 CLG in a sub-30 minute bout.
This game was notable for the heavy aggression around the mid lane with solo kills being exchanged between PowerofEvil and Crown as they traded kills on Irelia and Sylas with little jungle assistance while showing some fancy footwork. There was also some clean Poppy play by Dhokla as he abused Ruin’s Vladimir, carrying the side lanes along with strong jungle play from Meteos to secure objectives.
In Week 9, with OpTic at 8-8 and needing wins to secure a spot in playoffs, CLG struck back. It was a back-and-forth affair where each team found their opportunities to claim kills and the teams were separated by only 1,000 gold at 30 minutes.
It was a sneaky Baron take by CLG that allowed the team to break OpTic’s base and set them up for a snowball that would give them a 38-minute win. Although it was a team effort, Stixxay‘s 7/1/3 performance on Xayah carried the day for his team to a victory.