Team SoloMid derailed Phoenix1's hype train from Rift Rivals by smashing them in a quick 2-0 series during Week 6, Day 2 of the North American League of Legends Championship Series in Los Angeles.
While Phoenix1's loss can be blamed on a number of factors, one of the biggest ones was an underperforming jungler Mike "MikeYeung" Yeung. The rookie jungler made a huge name for himself during Rift Rivals with aggressive play that drew comparison to other successful homegrown talents. Team SoloMid completely shut him down, however, and he was unable to carry his team. In Game 1 he was forced onto Sejuani, a pick that is rising in popularity but that stymied his aggression entirely, and he wasn't able to find the teamfighting performance necessary to make up for it. He did get his hands on Rek'Sai for Game 2, but it proved little better, as he lost his first round of buffs to TSM top laner Kevin "Hauntzer" Yarnell's Camille after a poorly-planned invade went wrong.
The series was far from a simple series of blunders from P1, however, and the man who took control of the series early on was TSM mid lane ace Soren "Bjergsen" Bjerg. He honed in on roam-heavy picks like Taliyah in Game 1 and Galio in Game 2, and was key to TSM's success in both games. From somehow out-damaging his own marksman hypercarry in Game 1 to saving many a life with his Heroic Entrances in Game 2, along with other feats that earned him MVP for the series. Wherever the action was, so to was Bjergsen, and it was primarily for this reason that Team SoloMid walked away with the match win.
