100 Thieves edged Team Liquid 3-2 on Saturday to secure a spot in the upper-bracket final of the League of Legends Championship Series Summer Split playoffs.
The winner of Sunday’s other upper-bracket semifinal between Evil Geniuses and Cloud9 will play 100 Thieves on Sept. 3 for a spot in the grand final, which will be held Sept. 11.
The $200,000 double-elimination event culminates the season for the top North American League of Legends circuit. The top three finishers will earn berths in the $2.25 million League of Legends World Championships, scheduled for Sept. 29-Nov. 5 in San Francisco, Atlanta, New York and Mexico City.
The LCS winning side will pocket $100,000 and the runner-up will get $50,000. All LCS Summer Split matches are best-of-five, including the grand final.
After winning in 30 minutes on blue and 25 minutes on red, 100 Thieves looked like they were going to cruise to a sweep, but Liquid battled back, earning wins on red in 33 minutes and 28 minutes.
In the decisive fifth game, 100 Thieves were able to ward off the comeback, capturing a 32-minute victory on blue.
South Korea’s Kim “Ssumday” Chan-ho notched a 10-9-26 kills-deaths-assists ratio to lead 100 Thieves, while Gabriel “Bwipo” Rau of Belgium paced Liquid with a 19-14-23 K-D-A.
With the loss, Team Liquid are now competing in the lower bracket and will face Counter Logic Gaming in a quarterfinal match on Thursday.
League of Legends Championship Series Summer Split prize pool
1st: TBD — $100,000, Worlds
2nd: TBD — $50,000, Worlds
3rd: TBD — $30,000, Worlds
4th: TBD — $20,000
5th-6th: TBD — no money
7th-8th: FlyQuest, Golden Guardians — no money
9th: Immortals — no money
10th: Dignitas — no money
–Field Level Media