Is TSM a changed team on an international stage now?

Held in Germany, 2017 Rift Rivals Day 1 Group Stage kicked off today. Teams had two games each, and TSM led the pack by taking in 2 wins alone for the NA side. Though G2 and Fnatic each took a win, UOL lost both games, giving NA an edge on Day 1.

In the first match of the day, NA LCS top team, TSM took down the other region’s leading team, G2. Thanks to their coordinated teamfighting execution, TSM stole the bottom lane dominance away from the opponent. Biofrost on Tahm Kenchi joined in with Bjergsen’s Galio and Hauntzer to lay ruins to G2.

EU’s Fnatic tied up the score by defeating P1 in the next match. Fnatic’s Zac led the team by seeing opportunities when there weren’t seemingly none. Despite Ryu on Galio and Arrow on Caitlyn’s witty plays, the game was too much tilted in the Fnatic’s favor.

The third match saw G2 redeem themselves for their earlier loss. Trick’s successful gank attempt shifted the initiatives towards G2, and they looked to close out the game from the leads accrued in laning phase. C9 Sneaky on Tristana and Contractz on Gragas countered-attacked by securing Baron after killing members of G2. However, G2 picked off C9 one player at a time and got the next Baron to win the game.

P1, which closely lost their previous game, took a game away from UOL. From the beginning, P1 consistently targeted Exileh on Ryze. Ryu’s Corki was well-fed, and P1 naturally gravitated around mid lane to their victory. C9 also took a point for themselves in Match 5. Jensen’s LeBlanc was an unstoppable killing machine that greatly contributed to the team.

The last match of the day was between TSM and UOL, in which TSM finished the schedule with 2-0, whereas UOL ended it with 0-2. Though UOL’s Irelia stood ground by getting kills, TSM cleverly negated her effectiveness with superior teamfighting. The day was over when Bjergsen on Syndra’s raw firepower coupled with chained CC sealed UOL’s fate.


2017 Rift Rivals: NA vs EU Group Stage Day 1 Results

Game 1: G2 L vs W TSM
Game 2: FNC W vs L P1
Game 3: G2 W vs L C9
Game 4: P1 W vs L UOL
Game 5: FNC L vs W C9
Game 6: TSM W vs L UOL