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TSM sweeps Immortals, clinches No. 1 seed in NA LCS playoffs

A Doublelift pentakill sealed the deal.

By Pete Volk
Riot Games

There was a lot on the line entering Friday night's NA LCS match of the week between 15-1 Team SoloMid and 15-1 Immortals. Either team could have clinched the No. 1 seed in the playoffs, and while TSM entered the day favored, it had also recently been potentially exposed in an upset by relegation candidates Phoenix1.

The TSM we saw Friday night was of a different sort entirely. Mid laner Søren "Bjergsen" Bjerg excelled on Zilean, countering Immortals' Malzahar pick in both games, as a close Game 1 led to a route in Game 2 and a 2-0 sweep for the region's top team.

The first game was a tight back-and-forth affair, with an early TSM lead challenged by strong Immortals play in the mid lane. After an explosive late-game team fight appeared to secure Immortals a crucial advantage despite being down four Dragons, Immortals threw the game after taking Baron by overstaying in TSM's base.

Immortals drafted a peculiar team composition in the second game, allowing TSM to draft Sivir (arguably the strongest champion in the game) and Karma (a very strong pairing for Sivir in the bot lane) in the second rotation of picks and bans. Immortals topped off its team composition with a surprising Tahm Kench pick for Huni in the top lane. TSM started the game with six unanswered kills, opening up a 3k gold lead before the nine-minute mark had passed.

Team ROCCAT's head coach was among those perplexed by Huni's pick.

Immortals was able to recover with a few kills in the mid game, bringing the kill score to 7-6 and TSM's gold lead down to 2k. But TSM's super speed comp with Hecarim, Zilean, Sivir and Karma pulled off a perfect tower dive at 20 minutes, picking up three kills and firmly putting the momentum back in their favor. At 26 minutes, a nearly-botched TSM dive turned into an ace thanks to more excellent play from Bjergsen.

At 33 minutes, Doublelift earned a pentakill to clinch the win.

This is the second time TSM took a series off Immortals this split -- in Week 2, TSM beat them 2-1. Two regular season losses is now an all-time high for Immortals, who went 17-1 in their inaugural split this Spring.

There's a more than good chance of these two teams meeting again in the finals. With the No. 1 seed locked up, TSM will have a bye in the first round of the playoffs before playing the lowest remaining seed in the semifinals (the sixth seed if there's a first round upset, the fourth/fifth seed if there isn't). Immortals will also have a first-round bye before playing the other semifinalist.

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