TSM beats G2 in first game of NA/EU Rift Rivals

Team SoloMid have won the first game of the 2017 NA/EU Rift Rivals tournament, taking down European champion and Mid-Season Invitational runner-up G2 Esports.

The last time these two teams met was at the Mid-Season Invitational, where they went 1-1 in two very long drawn out games. In response to that, both teams kicked off Rift Rivals by drafting compositions focused on the late game with TSM picking out Tristana for AD Carry Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng, while G2’s Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen played Kog’Maw.

Team SoloMid grabbed first blood around seven minutes with a gank toplane, but the kill was immediately traded back when the two teams traded jungler for jungler. This gave TSM a slight early lead that they never let go of, despite struggling in the mid-game with several members getting caught out for nothing.

As the game began to get late, both teams seemed dead set on settling their competition through teamfights, which gave Team SoloMid a distinct advantage. Despite that advantage, TSM engaged three or four fights in a row very poorly, which allowed a brief, but possible, window for G2 to get back into the game. However, after each pick and victorious teamfight, G2 seemed to be at a loss for what to do next, never getting any significant objectives off of their successes.

TSM eventually managed to iron out their teamfighting issues and finally, after 42 minutes of slowly growing their lead, Team SoloMid took down the G2 Nexus to secure the first win of Rift Rivals for North America.

TSM vs G2 41:24

Riot Games