Originally posted at http://www.echofox.gg/news/nalcs-weekend-2-recap
The Foxes came out of the gates with a strong start to the Summer Split. Last week, they faced FlyQuest and Team Liquid with an outstanding performance from Matthew “Akaadian” Higginbotham. This week, our Foxes will sub in Jonathan “Grig” Armao for Akaadian. Will they continue their winning streak in Week 2?
Counter Logic Gaming (1-2)
Game 1
The early game was slow for both teams as they were farming for gold. At the 10-minute mark, CLG picked up infernal drake and gave them the advantage to destroy the top turret for the first in the game.
Upon another infernal drake spawning, both teams wanted to engage. With Zaqueri “aphromoo” Black in low health, Yuri “Keith” Jew came in to finish him. Joshua “Dardoch” Hartnett hid in the bush and assassinated Henrik “Froggen” Hansen at the same time. Both teams disengaged thereafter.
In 23 minutes, CLG captured Baron. Due to the damage from Baron, Jang “Looper” Hyeong-seok snuck in kills from aphromoo and Dardoch. With Baron buff, CLG secured map control and continued to push Echo Fox’s lanes.
With Dardoch building full AD items, CLG was able to push into Echo Fox’s base to win Game 1.
Game 2
Echo Fox wanted to exhaust Dardoch of his resources in the jungle and Grig went in for an early invade. He grabbed blue buff and Gromp. When Dardoch came to his blue buff, he was surprised by Grig who killed Dardoch for first blood.
At 14 minutes, Grig captured Rift Herald and brought Choi “Huhi” Jae-hyun down to low health. Huhi looked to escape through the jungle, but Looper used Rumble’s ultimate to grab the kill.
With Rift Herald, Echo Fox gained control of the map and objectives. They also defeated infernal drake, then pushed mid and top lanes. CLG looked to take control of mid; however, Keith had 3 kills along with 150 CS in 16 minutes. A fed Caitlyn for Keith led him to take control of the game.
Around 30 minutes, Echo Fox with the Baron buff pushed their way from bot lane and took down bot inhibitor. However, CLG was resilient and would not lose. Keith and Froggen continued to grab kills and split push lanes. As a result, Keith solo-killed nexus turrets and team regrouped to win Game 2.
Game 3
CLG set to control early game when Dardoch ganked Looper and gained first blood. Dardoch attempted another gank on Looper, but Grig came to help and avenged Looper for a kill.
In 9 minutes, Grig helped to get Echo Fox’s infernal drake and pick off Huhi in the process. Froggen, Grig, and Looper continued to push mid afterwards and took down the turret. CLG contested, but Grig picked off aphromoo. However, Huhi countered for a kill on Looper, resulting in a one-to-one trade.
Going into mid game, the amount of gold and kills were even for both teams. Echo Fox took control with the map taking down 4 turrets to 1 for CLG.
Echo Fox looked to split push using Looper, while the rest of the team tried to capture Baron. After taking down Looper, CLG went to Baron to find Echo Fox and stole Baron. This swung momentum to CLG’s favor and winning the series.
Cloud9 (0-2)
Game 1
The Foxes faced a seesaw game with macro play. From the first 5 minutes, there was a total of 6 kills from both teams. Austin “Gate” Yu played as Sejuani that complimented Keith’s champion as Xayah. With Sejuani’s 4-stack stun, Grig aided bot lane in getting first blood. The game was even throughout until the 11-minute mark when
The game was even throughout until the 11-minute mark when Grig, Gate, and Keith captured Rift Herald. This allowed map control, macro play, and spread the team into a 1-3-1 composition.
Cloud9 took control of the area around Drake and they got 3 drake buffs to Echo Fox’s 1 buff. This did not stop the Foxes from split pushing and taking the gold lead from turrets.
Froggen attempted to backdoor Cloud9’s Nexus. However, Cloud9’s wards spotted Froggen throughout their jungle and caught him by surprise. Cloud9 took down Froggen and swung the momentum in their favor to win Game 1.
Game 2
This game started off strong when Grig got first blood from Juan “Contractz” Arturo Garcia with an assist from Froggen. Grig with the early gold gave him the advantage to roam lanes.
Grig’s next target was helping Looper for his 2nd kill of the game. By the 14-minute mark, the Foxes was up 5 to 1 in kills and can play another macro game after capturing Rift Herald.
At the 20-minute mark, the Foxes attempted to capture Baron. But, Cloud9 called to battle Echo Fox at Baron and stole it. Using Baron buff, Cloud9 secured map control and pushed mid.
The additional damage from Baron buff and minion wave gave the freedom for Cloud9 to zone out Echo Fox from engaging in combat and taking the series.
Although there was a 0-2 outcome this week for Echo Fox, there is an upside with Grig. His Lee Sin play showed he can be the best jungler one day. Next week they will go head-to-head with Team EnVyUs and Team Dignitas. Echo Fox will look to correct their mistakes and turn it into victories.
