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For the second time at the 2016 League of Legends World Championship, a wild card team has taken down a team from one of the five premier regions. Following Brazil’s INTZ e-Sports’ historic win vs. EDward Gaming Thursday, Russia’s Albus NoX Luna took down North America’s Counter Logic Gaming in a stunning upset Saturday.
The game was a relatively sloppy one for both teams, but Albus NoX’s superior map rotations and nasty poke composition (featuring Jayce, Nidalee and Trundle) proved to be too much for CLG to handle. Add in a frankly silly Tahm Kench game from support Kirill "Likkrit" Malofeyev, and that was enough for the win.
A long team fight results in a 4-3 trade for @albusnoxteam! #Worlds https://t.co/jwGzl0x6l3
— lolesports #Worlds (@lolesports) October 1, 2016
For CLG fans, it’s a disappointing defeat that recalls previous defeats to wild card teams like Turkey’s SuperMassive eSports (at MSI) and Brazil’s Pain Gaming (at Worlds). Our resident CLG fan Ryan Gilliam weighed in with the following:
With the loss, CLG moves to 1-1 at Worlds. In the team’s first game of the tournament, it upset European champions G2 Esports. Albus NoX Luna is also 1-1, after an opening loss to South Korea’s ROX Tigers.
Maybe CLG fans will find redemption tomorrow, but until then...