Both of today’s best of five series were exciting for all parties involved. The two winning teams will head to Worlds to compete against the other best teams and players in the game. Fnatic and Origen’s series went into five games; it’s really cool to see Origen do so well in the playoffs against Fnatic because Fnatic has been undefeated up until this point, with a record of 21-0. TSM, on the other hand, lost in three games to CLG, proving all the people who thought they’d blow it in the playoffs very, very wrong.

For Game 1 of the series, Fnatic banned Kalista, Kog’Maw, and Sivir, while Fnatic banned Ahri, Azir, and Riven.

The top lane was occupied by Huni’s Lulu and Soaz’s Gangplank. That rework has been working out pretty well for the ol’ pirate. I’ve seen those barrels kill many unsuspecting folk.

Reignover’s Elise managed not to get banned, which is simply a sad sight for nearly any involved (on the other team of course) because her recent buff has been wiping the enemies’ remains off the floor. However, Amazing’s Gragas seemed to do the trick, shutting the Spider Queen down to a 1-2-2 game, while the Rabble Rouser went 3-1-4.

xPeke’s Varus and Febiven’s Viktor dueled midlane, though neither came out too far on top, as they were 2-1-3 and 1-0-2, respectively.

Rekkles had a Tristana pick into Niel’s Corki, but Corki is just too safe at 2-0-5 and outdid the Yordle who went 1-1-1. Corki was backed up by Mithy and Braum’s mustache, who had six assists while Tristana’s opponents were headbutted by YellOwStaR’s Alistar, who had three assists.

Game 1 went to Origen.

The bans for Game 2 were fairly similar, with Origen banning Azir, Viktor, and Riven, while Fnatic banned Kalista, Kog’Maw and Varus.

Fnatic must have realized that even after an undefeated series, they were not infallible, so they stepped up their game for the second game of the series.

Huni’s Gangplank defended the top lane against Soaz’s Olaf, who was the only Origen team member to win their lane or at least come even. Huni was 3-3-1 while Soaz went 4-5-1.

Reignover got that first pick Elise in (again, no ban on her, I’m still astounded). He outdid Amazing’s Gragas, who may not have been so, because he lacked any kills and only assisted on a single kill. Fnatic’s Elise went 2-1-8.

Fnatic dominated the mid lane this game as well, considering Febiven went 6-0-8 as Orianna. xPeke’s Lulu fell far behind, offering her team only one kill. Febiven is definitely going to be someone to follow into Worlds; he’s a fantastic midlaner and it will be interesting to see how the events play out.

Courtesy of esportsmoments.com

The bottom lane was dominated with Rekkles’ Tristana, scoring the gold for over five kills and just as many assists. (Look at this Baron fight!)  The Yordle Gunner was too good for the Battle Mistress, Sivir, who fell three times and could produce and kills or assists for her team. The supports seem to have followed their ADCs here, because YellOwStaR’s Janna was just as useful to the team, assisting in 14 kills while Mithy’s Alistar fell twice and offered up no gold in return.

Game 2 went to Fnatic.

Game 3:

Fnatic’s Game 3 bans were Kalista, Kog’Maw, and Varus, while Origen banned Gangplank, Sivir, and Viktor.

The Tidal Trickster won his top lane 6-3-9 to Soaz’s Hecarim, who went 0-8-4.

After missing yet another banning phase, Reignover first picks Elise AGAIN, matching Gragas at 2-4-7 to 1-5-9.

Febiven won his lane with a 4-1-14 Lulu, which was picked into an Azir pick. xPeke went 3-3-4 with Azir.

Rekkles’ absolutely dominated the bottom lane with another Tristana, bringing in the gold for 13 kills and 9 assists. YellOwStaR’s support Shen went 2-0-19. Origens’s Corki and Thresh lost their lane miserably, with the Daring Bombardier only ringing in at 5-5-5 and the Chain Warden coming in at 1-6-6.

Game 3 was Fnatic’s.

Game 4 last just over 50 minutes, which is incredibly long for an NA LCS game. Incredibly long.

For Game 4 Fnatic kept their bans the same: Kalista, Kog’Maw, and Varus, and Origen banned Azir, Shen, and Sivir.

Fnatic’s Tidal Trickster, Soaz, dominated the top lane against a 1-6-4 Gangplank, who just couldn’t lay enough barrels.

Origen managed to get the first pick Elise this game, with Amazing coming in at 3-1-6. Fnatic’s Reignover played Nidalee, and went 2-5-6.

Febiven won his lane again, with a 3-1-3 Azir, beating xPeke’s 0-2-5 Lulu.

Origen finally picked up the Tristana pick and it worked out well for them, snagging six kills and two assists. Fnatic’s Rekkles played Corki, but only managed to get three kills and just as many assists. YellOwStaR played Tahm Kench, while Mithy played Braum. Rekkles’ Tristana chased Fnatic down the midlane, resetting his jump four times for a PENTAKILL!

Game 4 went to Origen.

The last game of the series, so it was tense. When I was watching it on twitch.tv there were about 500k people watching.

Fnatic had the same three bans: Kalista, Kog’Maw, and Varus. Origen banned Shen, Sivir, and finally learned something banning Elise only after she’s been played in all of the first four games.

Origen’s Soaz pulled out the Gangplank for the third time, but fell just short to Huni’s Rumble. They were 4-4-5 and 4-6-10 respectively.

Since Reignover’s Elise was finally banned (or picked), he seemed to have to go old school and play some Olaf, who doesn’t seem to be a favorite (or even a crowd pleaser) anymore. He bested Origen’s Gragas, going 4-2-10, while Amazing went 3-2-1.

Febiven played Lulu this game, going 2-0-9, proving to be rather valuable for his team. His opponent, xPeke, went 1-4-1 as Azir.

Origen picked up the Janna/Tristana lane, while Fnatic went Corki/Annie for a hard engage, high damage support. The high damage worked out well however, because they had eight kills for their lane while their opponent had only two.

Huni’s Rumble went pretty ham and ended the game for Fnatic, winning the series.

Game 5 and the series went to Fnatic.

Team SoloMid and Counter Logic Gaming competed for the number one seed in the NA and the spot at Worlds, however, there could only be one. And it was CLG. (in three games.) I’m not quite sure what happened in this series, why TSM picked Yasuo, gave away Viktor, Jinx (WildTurtle played really well with her last week, earning a Penta for himself, and DoubleLift is awesome with her too, earning a Penta this series) but I digress. It can’t be left up to picks and bans alone, I’m sure Bjerg is a better Yasuo than I could ever hope to be, but it just seems like TSM failed to rub the sleep out of their eyes. Or maybe they just got outplayed hard, but I expected at least a five game series, no matter the winner. CLG brought it, and they didn’t relent.

Game 1 bans included, on the CLG (Blue) side: Azir, Maokai, and Lulu (although, I’m not sure if that Lulu is for Bjerg or Dyrus, both of whom are known to play the Fae Sorceress) and on the TSM (Red) side: Kalista, Alistar, and Ashe.

The top lane was occupied by ZionSpartan and Dyrus, who played Yasuo and Gnar respectively. Yasuo was four kills up on Gnar by the end of the game, who finished at a disappointing 0-4-0; Yasuo went 4-0-6.

CLG’s Xmithie chose to play Gragas in the jungle, outplaying Santorin’s Nidalee, nine assists to one.

Pobelter showed that not choosing or banning Viktor is a baaaaaad idea, but I think if this series had gone to four, or five, games, TSM would have learned. Probably. Maybe. Bjerg’s Orianna fell, 0-4-2, to Viktor, 6-1-3.

The bottom lane was dominated by Aphromoo and Doublelift, playing Braum(‘s mustache) and Tristana. Seriously, she’s so OP right now, I’m not even surprised that she was picked every single game. WildTurtle, Kog’Maw, and LustBoy, Janna, fell 3-4-0 to 7-1-4.

TSM had a few moments when they were out of position, and CLG tore them apart for it, just like this fight.

Game 2 bans were pretty similar to Game 1, and spoiler: to Game 3 as well. TSM banned Kalista, Olaf, and Tristana, while CLG banned Azir, Maokai, and Lulu.

Dyrus chose Nautilus this time, handing Gnar over to ZionSpartan, who played the transforming cutie much better than Dyrus last game, going 4-1-11 while the Titan of the Depths went 2-6-7.

Xmithie picked Gragas again, this time coming in at 3-4-16, while his opponent, Santorin, who pulled out the Boy who Shattered Time, Ekko, but Santorin couldn’t turn back time enough for the win; he ended the game at 3-5-7.

Pobelter’s Viktor tore up the mid lane (again) this time reeling in eight kills and eleven assists while Bjerg’s Yasuo only chalked up at 1-5-12.

WildTurtle played the voidling Kog’Maw again, this time ringing in more kills with 9, but still falling short to Doublelift’s Jinx, who got a PENTAKILL after what seemed like a losing teamfight. Lustboy’s Alistar backed up the voidling, while Aphromoo’s Janna complimented Jinx and Company, offering up 25 assists.

For the third and final game of the series, CLG kept their bans the same, again picking Azir, Maokai, and Lulu (hey, if it ain’t broke…) while TSM banned Kalista, Alistar, and Tristana.

Dyrus played Nautilus (again), giving away (again) the Gnar pick, while ZionSpartan (again) won the lane. 0-4-9 to 1-4-12.

Xmithie played Ekko this time, considering TSM first picked Gragas, so maybe they learned something. (Wait, where was that Viktor ban?) Santorin played Gragas this game, but Xmithie bested him, 8-1-13 to 3-5-4.

Pobelter (again) dominated the midlane with a(nother) Viktor pick. Bjerg picked Yasuo (again) which didn’t work out well the second time, either. Bjerg lost his lane, 2-5-5 to Pobelter, 7-2-13.

CLG caught Bjerg out of position a couple times, like this one.

Doublelift and WildTurtle both had four kills, but Doublelift’s Ashe had more assists, therefore more gold, ending the game at 4-2-18, while WildTurtle finished at 4-7-5. Aphromoo supported with Braum’s mustache, scoring two kills for himself, while LustBoy went 0-4-5 as Janna.

CLG won all three games and the series. Along with Fnatic, CLG will compete in Worlds!