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After a scary start, Cloud9 has moved on to the semifinals in the 2016 NA LCS Summer Playoffs. The team responded from a rough Game 1 loss to rout Team Envy in the following three games, taking the series 3-1.
C9 received star performances from many of its players, but perhaps most impressive was the play of mid laner Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen, with 47 total kills in the four games. He blind-picked Syndra in the first two games and won lane both times, going 9/3/5 in a Game 1 loss and 14/2/6 in a Game 2 win, tying the record for most kills in an NA LCS playoff game.
Then he came back in Game 4 and broke the record (previously held by David “Cop” Roberson), going 20/2/5 to clinch the series and move onto the next round. The mark also broke the regular season NA LCS record of 19, previously held by William “Scarra” Li.
Here was the record-breaking kill:
.@C9Jensen breaks the #NALCS record for kills in a playoff game! #NALCS https://t.co/77mKYUWQPf
— lolesports (@lolesports) August 13, 2016
Cloud9 will now face Immortals Saturday in the semifinals. Team SoloMid will face the winner of Sunday’s Team Liquid vs. Counter Logic Gaming series a week from Sunday.
Envy opened up the series with a roaring start with a strong roaming team ready to make plays. Cloud9 was able to stay in the game thanks in large part to Jensen’s large damage output, but a Baron fight went very wrong and Geon-woo “Ninja” Noh’s Lissandra and Woo-yeong “Seraph” Shin’s Kennen were able to feast on the back line.
.@EnVy_Ninja picks up a triple kill as @TeamEnVyUs get four kills in a massive teamfight! #NALCS https://t.co/zW6P3PxxFN
— lolesports (@lolesports) August 13, 2016
Envy won the game 18-14 in 47 minutes.
Cloud9 went with the exact same team composition in Game 2 save for one change: Thresh instead of Tahm Kench, who was banned by Envy. That confidence was rewarded, as the combination of Ashe and Syndra combined to terrorize Envy and build up a large early lead.
.@TeamEnVyUs go aggressive in the mid lane, but @Cloud9 turn the fight for two kills! #NALCS https://t.co/Ss25Rzh5SV
— lolesports (@lolesports) August 13, 2016
Cloud9 won the game 24-8 in 38 minutes.
AD Carry Zachary “Sneaky” Scuderi had a strong series on Ashe and Jhin but especially excelled in Game 3, where he took an early lead with a 2 vs. 2 double kill and finished 5/0/7 in the 16-2 rout.
.@C9Sneaky picks up an early double kill in the bot lane! #NALCS https://t.co/k1WqWgwWpE
— lolesports (@lolesports) August 13, 2016
Cloud9 won Game 3 16-2 in 25 minutes.
Game 4 seemed to start off well for Envy, as Procxin picked up First Blood on Lee Sin by ganking mid.
And then Jensen went off again. His record-breaking Game 4 performance carried Cloud9 to a 30-8 win, clinching the spot in the semifinals.
.@C9Jensen gets a triple kill as @Cloud9 get a cross map ace! #NALCS https://t.co/Pz2PIzKOiH
— lolesports (@lolesports) August 13, 2016
Cloud9 will play Immortals Saturday, August 20 at 3 p.m. ET.