Phoenix1 handed Cloud9 its second series loss of the North American League of Legends Championship Series on Sunday with a 2-0 sweep in the final matchup of Week 5, Day 3 in Los Angeles.
Phoenix1 had a good start to Game 1, smashing early team fights and snowballing small-gold leads in all lanes. Cloud9's top laner Jung "Impact" Eon-yeong struggled early on Gragas as he made a couple of mistakes that cost him his life. Phoenix1 steadily pushed their advantages, taking down their first Nexus turret 36 minutes in, but overstayed and got punished, allowing Cloud9 to take Elder Dragon and dictate the next fight over Baron. Cloud9 won that team fight 3-for-0, taking Baron and seeming poised to take the game, but Phoenix1 had one last gasp in them. Taking a late-game team fight, Phoenix1 opted into a base race that they won with aplomb, taking Game 1 in just more than 43 minutes.
Cloud9 subbed in top laner Ji Won "Ray" Jeon for Impact for Game 2, putting him on Fiora and giving him plenty of help early from jungler Juan "Contractz" Garcia's Rengar to take early control of top lane. Contractz made his presence felt across the map as he participated in all of C9's first seven kills, but William "Meteos" Hartman, the Cloud9 turned Phoenix1 jungler, was just as active on Olaf and kept almost equal in kill participation. Phoenix1 took control of Game 2 with late-game team fights initiated by top laner Derek "Zig" Shao's Kled engaging with the ability Chaaaaaaaarge!!! Cloud9's team composition lacked enough disengage to stop Phoenix1 when they forced fights, giving Phoenix1 control of the map. Once Phoenix1 secured a Baron buff 25 minutes in, they were able to cruise through Cloud9's base to finish the series sweep with a commanding 27-minute win.
