Behind a big effort from Sean “Yeon” Sung, Team Liquid extended its stay in the League Championship Series playoffs by beating 100 Thieves 3-1 on Friday in a first-round, lower-bracket match.
Liquid opened with a 42-minute victory on blue before 100 Thieves pulled level with a 27-minute win on red. Liquid then closed the series with a pair of 32-minute triumphs on red.
Yeon, of the U.S., paced the winners with a 15-4-13 kill-death-assist ratio, while teammate Jo “CoreJJ” Yong-in of South Korea finished at 2-8-29. Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng of the U.S. led 100 Thieves at 16-6-13.
After the regular season, the first- and second-place teams in the North American top League of Leagues 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.
Action continues the next two days with the upper bracket second round. Cloud9 will go up against Evil Geniuses on Saturday, and Golden Guardians will oppose NRG on Sunday.
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
4. $20,000, berth in League of Legends World Championship’s Wildcard Qualifier
5-6. No prize money
7-8. No prize money — TSM, 100 Thieves
9. No prize money — FlyQuest
10. No prize money — Immortals
–Field Level Media