Golden Guardians won and Cloud9 lost on Wednesday, leaving the two teams tied for first place as the final week of the League of Legends League Championship Series Summer Split group play began.
Golden Guardians (11-5) defeated Team Liquid (9-7), while NRG (9-7) downed Cloud9 (11-5).
In the chase for the sixth and final upper-bracket playoff berth, sixth-place TSM (8-8) fell to FlyQuest (5-11), allowing Dignitas (7-9) to cut its deficit to one game. Dignitas beat 100 Thieves (6-10).
The other Wednesday match saw Evil Geniuses (10-6) get past last-place Immortals (4-12).
The 10 teams in the top North American League of Legends circuit will play every other team twice in the group phase, which runs through Friday. All group-stage matches consist of a single map.
The first- and second-place teams will head to the upper-bracket semifinals of the double-elimination playoffs. The third- through sixth-place teams will open the playoffs in the upper-bracket quarterfinals. The seventh- and eighth-place teams will enter the postseason in the lower bracket, while the ninth- and 10th-place teams will be eliminated.
Golden Guardians rolled past Liquid in 29 minutes on blue thanks to an 8-0-6 kill-death-assist ratio from South Korea’s Kim “River” Dong-woo. Another South Korean, Park “Summit” Woo-tae, paced Liquid at 3-3-1.
A 6-2-6 K-D-A ratio from Australia’s Ian Victor “FBI” Huang led NRG past Cloud9 in 38 minutes on blue. South Korea’s Kim “Berserker” Min-cheol wound up at 6-2-4 for Cloud9.
FlyQuest, playing on blue, posted a 25-minute win over TSM behind a 6-1-5 K-D-A ratio from South Korea’s Lee “VicLa” Dae-kwang. South Korea’s Lee “Bugi” Seong-yeop (2-4-1) had two of TSM’s three kills.
Dignitas needed 43 minutes on blue to top 100 Thieves. South Korea’s Lee “Rich” Jae-won (6-1-7) starred for Dignitas, while countryman Lim “Quid” Hyeon-seung ended up at 3-3-3 for 100 Thieves.
Evil Geniuses were the only Wednesday winner on red, beating Immortals in 31 minutes. The United States’ Mohamed “Revenge” Kaddoura logged a 9-1-8 K-D-A ratio for Evil Geniuses, while countryman Edward “Tactical” Ra closed at 2-3-3 for Immortals.
Five matches are scheduled for Thursday:
–FlyQuest vs. Immortals
–TSM vs. Cloud9
–100 Thieves vs. NRG
–Evil Geniuses vs. Team Liquid
–Golden Guardians vs. Dignitas
League Championship Series Summer Split group-stage standings
T1. Cloud9, 11-5
T1. Golden Guardians, 11-5
3. Evil Geniuses, 10-6
T4. NRG, 9-7
T4. Team Liquid, 9-7
6. TSM, 8-8
7. Dignitas, 7-9
8. 100 Thieves, 6-10
9. FlyQuest, 5-11
10. Immortals, 4-12
–Field Level Media