The match between Team SoloMid and Team Liquid during NA LCS Summer Split Week 6 was left a huge impression on me. TSM fell behind in the early game in both games, and each time Team Liquid seemed to have the game in the bag and was set to create a huge upset. However, when the dust settled, TL was unable to close the game and TSM emerged as the winner - twice.

Game 2 was especially shocking as TL had team gold lead over TSM of over 6K. A ballpark figure tells us that that's at least half of a core item lead for every player. Yet, TL slipped and fell yet again.

After the match, TSM Doublelift named three reasons why TL couldn't close the games and allowed TSM to take the match.

"When you have Taliyah and you are ahead, you should be able to take towers every time Taliyah has [ultimate]."

"I think their [composition] was super magic damage heavy. They only had Renekton for physical [damage]. So we outscaled them."

"I think their frontline was taking too much damage for free... They don't have good coordination."

Strong words. I wanted to see if Doublelift was correct. Why couldn't Team Liquid finish off Team SoloMid in both games that they have played?

Taliyah without Ultimates

Technically speaking, Doublelift's first reason is not applicable. By 23 minutes into the game and when TL still had a lead over TSM, only the three inhibitor turrets remained. Taliyah didn't need to use her ultimate to take down the turrets.

However, this is not to say that Goldenglue's Taliyah was without flaws. For the whole match, Taliyah was unable to make use of her ultimate to break down TSM's formation. Taliyah is feared for her ultimate that forces a team to scatter, not because she has strong damage dealing potential or CC abilities.

What Goldenglue did in teamfights were just slinging shots behind the frontline like typical AP-based Mage champions. There were no decisive plays made through Taliyah's ultimates that allows her to surf into enemy backline and wreck havoc on formation.

All-or-nothing Composition

Then, was the composition the problem? TL's composition was very straightforward. As the result of draft, TL had to end the game quickly because of TSM's Tristana. TL chose champions that are strong until midgame but falls off quickly in the lategame. Corki relies on skillshots too much, and Taliyah can't really burst down anyone without landing Seismic Shove - and it's very difficult to land it without prior CC.

However, TSM's Tristana isn't anything like that. Only Kog'Maw and Caitlyn can match Tristana's late game potential. Since TSM was blatantly aiming for the late game because of Tristana, TL should have made decisive plays before their entire composition started to fall off.

In other words, TL took a gamble with their composition that didn't pay off. To be fair, TSM admitted that they have weaker early games, and Piglet's Corki scales very differently from other ADCs as he is stronger in the early game. However, TL couldn't finish the game before that early game advantage wore off.

Perhaps a different champion might have helped. Picking Lucian instead of Taliyah might have given TL an extra mile in terms of raw power. Not because Taliyah is a worse choice, but because the game didn't really do justice of what Taliyah can do.

Frontline Blues

The last point that Doublelift brought up was TL's frontline taking too much free damage. To give TL a credit, there wasn't much that TL could do to avoid this. It might look like TL was just taking free damage like sitting ducks, but it was only because TSM's frontline were doing all they can to prevent TL from getting towards Doublelift.

Braum-Sejuani composition is starting to get very popular in competitive plays because not only it's insanely tanky but also because it has plenty of CC chain potential. If you'd look at the teamfight that happened around 24-minute mark, you'll see how TL tried their best to break into TSM's formation. While TL did succeeded in this teamfight, Doublelift didn't go down before taking Goldenglue and Matt with him.

That moment was when the game was really turned around, because the rest of the game went in TSM's favor. another teamfight happened at around 26-minute mark, and TSM's frontline stood their ground like well-trained legionnaires and protected Doublelift. It was evident from Doublelift's health left and damage dealt to champions after the teamfight. Of course, Piglet's questionable Valkyrie made Doublelift more stand out, but the point is that TSM's teamfight went just as they planned. Even at the teamfight at 32-minute mark where TSM had to back away after losing Hauntzer, Doublelift was hit just twice - once each from Corki and Galio - and walked away relatively unscathed.

In summary, compared to TSM, TL felt like they were an impromptu team formed in a Solo Queue match. Their individual finesse was outstanding: Lourlo crushed Haunzter in the laning phase, and Piglet-Matt duo had a lead over Doublelift-Biofrost duo. However, it wasn't enough for TL to close out the game. As the game went into the 'teamfight' phase, they couldn't make the most out of their strength while allowing TSM to fight however they'd like. That, in my opinion, is why TL lost - It was a match between a well-coodinated team and 5 good players.