NRG claimed a back-and-forth 3-2 victory over Team Liquid on Saturday in the lower-bracket final of the League Championship Series playoffs.
With the victory, NRG secured a spot in Sunday’s grand final, where they will look for revenge against Cloud9. One week ago, Cloud9 swept NRG 3-0 in the upper-bracket final.
NRG opened the match with a 31-minute victory on blue before Liquid tied things at 1-1 by taking the second map in 35 minutes on red. NRG again went up by one, winning in 23 minutes on blue for a 2-1 lead, but Team Liquid earned a swift 19-minute triumph on blue to force a Game 5.
The decisive fifth map went NRG’s way in 35 minutes on blue.
Victor “FBI” Huang of Australia and China topped NRG with 22 kills, 34 assists and a plus-10 kills-to-deaths differential, while American teammate Juan “Contractz” Garcia piled up a match-high 44 assists.
After the regular season, the first- and second-place teams in the top North American League of Legends circuit headed to the upper-bracket semifinals of the double-elimination playoffs. The third- through sixth-place teams opened the playoffs in the upper-bracket quarterfinals. The seventh- and eighth-place teams entered the postseason in the lower bracket, while the ninth- and 10th-place teams were eliminated.
The top three teams in the playoffs will secure berths in the League of Legends World Championship, scheduled for Oct. 10-Nov. 19 in South Korea. The fourth-place team will head to the World Championship’s Wildcard Qualifier.
League Championship Series Summer Split prize pool:
1. $100,000, berth in League of Legends World Championship
2. $50,000, berth in League of Legends World Championship
3. $30,000, berth in League of Legends World Championship — Team Liquid
4. $20,000, berth in League of Legends World Championship’s Wildcard Qualifier — Golden Guardians
5-6. No prize money — Dignitas, Evil Geniuses
7-8. No prize money — TSM, 100 Thieves
9. No prize money — FlyQuest
10. No prize money — Immortals
–Field Level Media