Week 9, Day 1 of the North American League of Legends Championship Series in Los Angeles kicked off with two of NA's most prominent esports organizations in Cloud9 and Team Dignitas facing off against each other. Cloud9 was able to take home the 2-0 sweep over Dignitas on Friday, pushing through strong starts from Dignitas in both contests.
Game 1 showcased Dignitas' (8-9, 20-22 match record) cohesion and dominance in the early game. Dignitas showed high energy and proactivity early on that was nearly matched by Cloud9 (13-4, 29-13), but Dignitas jungler Lee "Chaser" Sang-hyun took first blood and did everything he could to propel his team ahead. Despite having a mounting lead, Dignitas became its own worst enemy and began to over-pursue fights in the mid game. Over-aggression coupled with a Cloud9 Baron steal quickly turned things around, as C9 picked off Dignitas members to siege ahead and take the 1-0 lead in the series. Cloud9 midlaner Nicolaj "Jensen" Jensen played well throughout the game, putting up a 6/1/11 KDA (kills/deaths/assists) on Orianna.
The second game saw Cloud9 nab first blood before minions spawned, but that didn't slow down the constant pressure that Chaser put out, as he was able to get two quick kills. The Dignitas top and jungle duo of Kim "Ssumday" Chan-ho and Chaser outshined anything and everything Cloud9 did in the early game. The mid game followed the same pattern of the first match: Dignitas over-aggression gave away to Cloud9 resurgence. After getting Baron 28 minutes in, Cloud9 began to push into the Dignitas base. However, a strongly forced teamfight by Sssumday mostly neutralized Cloud9's Baron buff. The 36-minute mark saw Cloud9 take Baron with Dignitas countering by taking Elder Dragon. The ensuing fight didn't outright end the game, but it was the bot-lane push that led to Cloud9 being able to close out the series 2-0. Jensen again showed his expertise on Orianna, putting up a 9/0/11 KDA.
Cloud9 will close out Saturday's action against Phoenix1 at 6 p.m. ET, while Dignitas will finish its spring split against Immortals on Sunday at 3 p.m.