After a tough fought forty five minute match that left everything on the table, South Korea’s Samsung Galaxy came out on top against North America’s Team Solo Mid.
Every time TSM looked to have accumulated a meaningful advantage, Samsung would slowly dismantle it. Every time Samsung looked like they had the game under control, TSM would pull themselves up by their bootstraps and take a team fight they had no business winning.
It was Kang “Ambition” Chan-yong who drew first blood in the opening minutes and helped solidify a nearly 1k gold lead for his team early on. However, superior laneing by TSM meant they were able to out-farm their opponents and keep Samsung’s advantage from growing. While Samsung are experts at pushing the advantage and snowballing when give the early lead, TSM fought their way back into the game time and time again.
Unfortunately, it was this same zealousness that was also their undoing, as Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng and his team kept overplaying their hands after scrounging together small victories. One push down center lane after the thirty minute mark was particularly painful to watch, as Doublelift scored one kill after another only to find himself unnecessarily burst down by an enemy ultimate he had forgot to account for.
In the end it was superior vision across the map and making fewer mistakes that allowed Samsung to eventually force TSM into submission. This leaves Samsung at the top of group D for now, with matches to follow on the hour for the rest of the night, available to watch live here.
You can re-watch the entire match in full below.