After A Shaky Start, Team Liquid Make It Two In A Row At The Epicenter
Published: Jun 14, 2017 - Last Updated: Jul 24, 2023
After winning last year’s Epicenter event, Team Liquid were among the favorites to earn the top prize this year. After a week of exciting action in Moscow, Team Liquid once again took home the $250,000 top prize.
The eventual champions had to do things the hard way after a less-than-stellar group stage. Team Liquid began their campaign with a 2-1 defeat to the team that would eventually top Group A, LGD.Forever Young. Things got worse when they lost their second game 2-0 to Team Secret.
This set up a must-win against OG, and the 2016 champions scraped through with a 2-1 win. That left them a final group stage game against Natus Vincere, who had lost all three of their games to that point. Liquid won 2-0 to claim the third spot in the table behind the two teams that had beaten them in the group stage.
Meanwhile, in Group B, Evil Geniuses were asserting their dominance, winning all four of their games to claim top spot in the group and seeding position into the semifinals. They were joined in the playoffs at the quarterfinal stage by second-place Virtus Pro and third-place Invictus Gaming.
In the quarterfinals, things initially went to form: higher-seeded Team Secret emerged 2-0 over Invictus Gaming. In the second quarterfinal however, Team Liquid faced Virtus.pro with an inferior record but showed some real quality to come back from a 1-0 deficit to win the series 2-1. Indeed, if there was a game in the tournament that saw the momentum turn in Team Liquid’s favor, this was it.
The first semifinal saw Evil Geniuses continue their dominance, proving too strong for Team Secret. This 2-0 victory meant a finals spot, and at this point they looked like clear favorites alongside LGD. Forever Young.
But in the second semifinal, LGD.Forever Young suddenly found a Team Liquid squad in inspired form. The third-place qualifiers ended their opponents’ undefeated streak in their best performance of the tournament to that point.
The June 11 final between Team Liquid and Evil Geniuses was a best-of-five encounter. By then, Team Liquid were buzzing and showing the confidence. In the opening matchup, they produced a masterful display to take the opening map in just 17 minutes.
To their credit, Evil Geniuses bounced back in the second game, which was the longest of the final, tying the series at 1-1. But in the next two maps, Team Liquid romped to once again earn the title of Epicenter Champions.
Perfect records busted in busy, surprising week of LoL Summer Split action
Before Week Two’s fixtures in the League of Legends Summer Split, there were several teams enjoying perfect 2-0 records. But following a week of big clashes and some surprising results, there are considerably fewer.
In the highly competitive North American LCS Summer Split, there are now no teams with perfect records. Indeed, there is a four-way tie at the top of the table. Counter Logic Gaming, Team Dignitas, Team EnVyUs, and Immortals are all 3-1.
Three teams have a 2-2 record (Cloud 9, Echo Fox, and Team SoloMid) while two have a 1-3 record (FlyQuest esports and Team Liquid). Poor Phoenix1 have yet to win a game.
Week Two saw some shocking results throughout the three days of action. On Day One, Team EnVyUs ended Immortals’ perfect record with a 2-0 victory and then put themselves right into contention at the top of the table with a 2-1 victory over Team Liquid the next day.
Day Two saw two more upsets. Counter Logic Gaming lost their unbeaten record to the 1-2 Team SoloMid. Plus, Team Liquid ended Team Dignitas’ unblemished record with a 2-1 victory.
Week Three kicks off later this week, and there are some intriguing clashes on the schedule. Team Liquid face two tough games against Immortals and Team SoloMid, while Immortals follow up that tough opener against Cloud9 on Day Two. Team EnVyUs taking on Team SoloMid looks to be the highlight of Day Three action.
As usual, bettors can wager on all the top Week Three action in North America, Europe, China, South Korea, and more at Bet365.
Since: August 10, 2015
