Game 1
Despite Cloud 9 being behind from the beginning of the game, they did a good job mitigating their losses. Though they were not matching LYON kill-for-kill, they were still claiming map objectives and slowly whittling into LYON’s gold lead… Until the late game.
Cloud 9 lost multiple team fights in the late game, which allowed LYON to not only secure a dragon and Baron, but it also let LYON’s gold lead to skyrocket to 7.0k. From there, LYON snowballed and the game was over soon at 38 minutes.
What we saw from LYON was their true potential. They were locked in and had little wasted movements. Each of their carefully-chosen picks or fights resulted in gaining additional map objectives. They were able to challenge, beat the top team of the LTA in Cloud 9.
Game 2
Both teams approached the game slowly. They focused on farming and leveling-up in order to contest objectives later in the game.
While game has largely been uneventful, Cloud 9’s Blaber and Loki teamed up to find a pick onto Saint securing First Blood.
Both C9 and LYON found a way to play a game within the game. 15-minutes into the game, they raced each other to destroy first turret. Cloud 9 narrowly beat LYON to claim the objective and increase their gold lead to 1.9k.
Despite the slow pace, C9 claimed the firsts while LYON claimed the first three dragons.
The game intensified after LYON claimed the Ocean Drake. Their confidence dramatically grew and they began taking the fight to Cloud 9. They won several small skirmishes, slaid the Atakhan and took a slim control of the gold lead.
LYON easily claimed Ocean Soul and crushed Cloud 9 in the subsequent fight. They boasted a 4.4k gold lead as they began Baron a few minutes later.
They believed they could kill the objective quick enough but they were wrong! Cloud 9’s Loki made a miracle play with his Yone and stole the Baron right from under the noses of LYON. Loki perished for his efforts, but the rest of the team got away clean as they cut LYON’s gold lead to 2.9k.
To quote Anakin Skywalker, “This is where the fun begins!” LYON has slain all four dragons, maintain the gold lead, they lead the kill count 11-4 and they have destroyed more towers 5-3. Cloud 9 has Baron buff and a dream!
After an intense battle at the Elder dragon pit, Cloud 9 was unable to overcome the endless healing of the Ocean Soul-empowered LYON squad.
Lyon slew four clouds, claimed the Elder at 30 minutes and, just a few minutes later, were rebuffed in their effort to end the game. They overstayed near the nexus towers just wishing to find a play that, ultimately, did not materialize. Instead, they were scattered and hunted down one-by-one by Cloud 9 losing four members and gifting the Baron to C9.
The very next team fight was very close. Cloud 9 ultimately aced Lyon while only losing one member and they were able to immediately march down the mid-lane to end the game and take the series to game 3.
This is a prime example of how to throw a lead. In Lyon’s hubris having both Elder and Ocean Soul buffs they flew too close to the sun. In their attempt to close the series, they soaked up double-digit shots from the nexus towers while C9’s Sven used the “Bullet Time” from Miss Fortune’s ultimate and they divided their forces leaving vulnerabilities for C9 to exploit.
Game 3
The draft to kick off game three was brutal for the bot lane. LYON really put the pressure on Sven by banning Ezreal, Lucian and Xayah while Cloud 9 banned Varus and Ziggs. Given the fearless format, players are not allowed to play champions used in previous games in the series. This forced both Hena and Sven to get creative in champ selection to not only feel comfortable on the who they are using, but they also need to synergize with their overall team composition as well. LYON’s Hena opted for more damage output with Jhin whereas Sven chose to focus on farming with Sivir.
Per usual in an elimination game, both sides started off very slow, even. Of course, there were some attempts at kills and some skirmishes. However, the focus of the early game was to complete map objectives and avoid dying too much.
By 16 minutes the kill count was 2-2, each team had one dragon and the gold lead was negligible. LYON broke the tie by defeating the Rift Herald and using it to take down two turrets in the top lane.
It was at this point both sides knew whichever team killed the next dragon would get significant buffs such as unlocking tier-3 boots. Both teams were also on the precipice of the Feat of Warfare, which goes to the first team to kill three enemy champions.
Due to the high stakes, there was a massive team fight for the third dragon. Cloud 9 was able to find an early pick and take down Licorice. Blaber also won the smite-fight for C9 to kill the dragon and claim the free tier-3 boots.
LYON just took a big blow, but they were not out of the game just yet. They quickly regrouped and went directly for the Atakhan. They beat C9 to the objective but did not have enough damage to kill it quick enough. Cloud 9 showed up and killed four LYON members in a prolonged team fight and claimed the Atakhan as the reward.
This is the point of the game where Cloud 9 began feeling great especially coming off of two team fight victories and earning the rewards after. However, pride cometh before the fall… they overextended on a pick attempt onto mid-laner Saint and they lose three members, the gold lead and the next dragon. Just after their reset, LYON scored another pick onto top-laner Thanatos.
The critical juncture of the came 30 minutes into the game. With both Baron and Hextech Drake spawned, Cloud 9’s Thanatos and Sven kill the dragon while the rest of the team went to scare LYON off of Baron. They are able to regroup with the rest of Cloud 9 in the mid-lane just as Blaber’s Skarner hits LYON with a double-pull. C9 kills two opponents then nab the Baron.
After successfully using the Baron to destroy towers and threaten Lyon’s base, C9 rotate to the dragon pit to collect their Soul point. Just as Blaber was delivering the final blow, Hena last-hits the dragon with his Jhin ult to steal the Hextech Drake for LYON.
LYON’s luck did not last long however. Just a couple minutes later when both squads were preparing for the Baron, Cloud 9 finds a pick onto the support and the rest of the team falls like dominos.
Cloud 9 marched down mid-lane and closed out the series 2-1.
Game Day Digest 
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