Team Liquid (3-8, 11-18 match record), led by a nearly unstoppable Chae "Piglet" Gwang-jin, won a bloody 2-1 series against Immortals (5-6, 13-14) on Friday during Week 6, Day 1 of the North American League of Legends Championship Series Spring Split at the LCS Arena in Santa Monica, California.
Immortals' jungler Joshua "Dardoch" Hartnett, on Elise, had a great start to Game 1, turning around a gank in bottom lane to walk away with three kills around the five-minute mark. Immortals' hot start bled into the mid game, as the team was able to capitalize on poor vision control from Team Liquid to get picks and rotate efficiently around the map. In a desperate move to regain composure, Team Liquid's new mid laner Piglet, on Ryze, Realm Warped the team into Baron around the 30-minute mark. While Immortals would lose the buff, it would hardly matter as Team Liquid was too far behind to put up much of a fight in the late game. A final push would be all Immortals would need to secure the Game 1 win.
The tables turned in the second game, as Team Liquid immediately earned a lead thanks to a misplay by Immortals' Dardoch. An overextension on a jungle camp opened the door for Team Liquid's jungler Kim "Reignover" Yeu-Jin's Rengar and mid laner Piglet's Ahri to quickly collapse on Dardoch, securing first blood. While Team Liquid fell behind in objectives, it started to dominate teamfights thanks to flanks from Piglet and Reignover, and took a lead after a Baron buff push gave them a lead in turrets. Immortals couldn't do anything late in Game 2 despite their objective dominance early, leading to a series-deciding Game 3.
Reckless aggressiveness doomed Immortals in Game 3. Multiple times, Immortals committed to turret dives that would kill the initial target, but too often Team Liquid would turn the fight around, always getting the better end of the trade. Team Liquid began to run away with the lead after a Baron power play led to an opportunity to crack open Immortals' base. A chaotic teamfight in the top lane left both teams with only one player standing, but once Team Liquid respawned it immediately took a clean Baron kill, using the buff to wipe the remains of Immortals' battered base.
Team Liquid's revamped lineup will look to continue its roll as it kicks off Sunday's action against Echo Fox at 3 p.m. ET. Immortals aim to bounce back against Team EnVyUs following on the same stream at 6 p.m. ET.