The Rift Rivals are back in action as the North American Team SoloMid take on Europe's G2 Esports. TSM has been doing very well in The Rift Rivals event, coming into the match with a 4 and 1 record in group play. G2 Esports, on the other hand, has struggled. They come into the match with a 1 and 4 record and have yet to show off why they are a dominant team in the European LCS.
Early game
Team SoloMid came into the match with a nice early game. Soren “Bjergsen” Bjerg came up big through the first ten minutes of the match, gaining a 3-0 start onto the Rift.
TSM transitioned some pressure from G2 Esports in the bot lane and turned it into a rift herald. They used the Rift Herald to a nice advantage, striking down the tier 3 mid turret with it.
Mid game
G2 did hang around even though TSM had a solid start. Down about 4 thousand gold, G2 got a couple of kills onto their Kalista, trying to get some type of momentum to hold off the dangerous engage that TSM had. TSM secured a dragon and used their cloud drake buff to their advantage. TSM’s Hauntzer roamed through the enemy jungle with Jarvan, and really put some pressure onto G2.
Late game
TSM held their 4 thousand gold lead through 35 minutes into the game. They played a very patient game, grabbing kills where they could and playing the late game with their composition.
TSM grabbed an uncontested baron, but G2 grabbed an elder dragon during that time. TSM showed that they wanted to jump on G2, but they knew it couldn’t happen while the elder dragon buff was active. Both teams danced around for a long time but ultimately it was TSM in the driver's seat. G2 stalled out the game long enough to where the gold lead by TSM didn’t actually matter once both teams had full builds.
TSM had a nice team fight 45 minutes into the game, and they grabbed another uncontested baron, but G2 grabbed the elder dragon at the same time. Team SoloMid would win a fight and take down G2, finishing with a 5-1 record through the group stages.
G2 Esports put up a big fight. They started off the game very poorly, but they did a great job at stalling it out and maximizing their chance to win.
It didn't work out that way unfortunately for the team, but it showed at least that they understand how to play the game to their win condition. Even though the outcome wasn't what they wanted, you can break down their game and pull a ton of positives from it. Team SoloMid had a lot of rough parts to this game, and they had issues finding the window to close it out. They got it done though and finish group play with a 5-1 record.
