For the second time so far at the 2016 League of Legends World Championships, a "wildcard" team lived up to its name and provided a big surprise.
Albus NoX Luna from the Commonwealth of Independent States, an International Wildcard region, defeated Counter Logic Gaming in a very back-and-forth contest on day 3 of the tournament.
ANX drafted champion Tahm Kench for support Kirill "Likkrit" Malofeev, a player well known for his play on champion Brand and a high-damage style that's uncommon for those in his role. He met expectations in this matchup, picking up three kills and 10 assists and doing almost as much damage as his ADC, Vladyslav "aMiracle" Shcherbyna on champion Lucian.
The game started with several traded kills and towers, as both teams took every opportunity to put pressure on their opponents when they spotted a dive or a move on the other side of the map. Albus NoX Luna picked up the first turret of the game 14 minutes in, as they rotated to the top lane while Darshan "Darshan" Upadhyaya of CLG was away and without teleport to protect his tower.
From there, the teams would exchange kills and towers until the 26th minute, when CLG won a 3-0 teamfight in the jungle but then fell asleep on ANX. The Russian squad then ran straight to Baron Nashor and earned the buff without the American team even noticing, and that was a sign of the outcome for this game.
Counter Logic Gaming tried to push into the ANX base and was punished in the ensuing team fight, and then lost a fight at Baron Nashor once both teams respawned, which proved to be the game-winning play for the Russians. They would use the buff to push right down the middle of the map and finish off the upset, with Likkrit cancelling a recall from Choi "Huhi" Jae-hyun to guarantee his teammates the opportunity to destroy the nexus.
CLG falls to 1-1 in the tournament, while ANX improve to 1-1. Both teams will have one more game this weekend, as CLG will take on top seed ROX Tigers and ANX will look for another upset against Europe's G2 Esports.