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Team Liquid vs. Gold Coin United 2017 live blog: Scores, highlights, and news from the Promotion Series

The winner secures a spot in the LCS this summer. Follow along live here.

By Pete Volk Updated
Riot Games

7:39 p.m. ET: Team Liquid with a near perfect game finishing at 29 minutes with a 10-0 kill lead. This win re-qualifies them for the LCS!

7:33 p.m. ET: 25 Minutes in and this is by far the most clean game of the series as TL’s experience shows through with a baron a 6-0 kill lead and a 7k gold lead, as they look to continue grabbing objectives.

7:21 p.m. ET: This time it’s TL with an early lead, grabbing kills for Reignover and Piglet in the first 10 minutes. It’s a 1.5k lead, and that’s great news for TL: the victory has gone to the team who won the first 10 minutes in each of the first four games of this series.

7:09 p.m. ET: TL’s getting back to what won the first two games: Lourlo on Camille, but it’s a much squishier composition with Kha’Zix in the jungle and Malzahar instead of Tahm Kench at support. There’s no natural tank on either team here, and it’s bound to be a bloody game.

TL: Camille, Kha’Zix, Ahri, Ashe, Malzahar

GCU: Renekton, Rengar, Cassiopeia, Ezreal, Karma

6:50 p.m. ET: Gold Coin closes this one out easily, 18-5. Solo, Santorin, Fenix and Mash all ended the game with at least four kills, as TL looks mentally defeated after the Game 3 marathon.

6:45 p.m. ET: Piglet’s Taliyah strikes again. It hasn’t worked at all this split for Team Liquid, and he’s now 0/5/3 27 minutes into a GCU blowout. It’s looking pretty likely that we’ll head to Game 5.

6:28 p.m. ET: Another game with Lourlo on a tank and Reignover on a carry, and another game where GCU is able to take the early game lead. A botched dive bottom lane from TL turns into a GCU 5-3 lead and an Infernal Drake.

6:15 p.m. ET: We’re through picks and bans for Game 4. This time Gold Coin United is on blue side, and opens up with Rumble for Solo. But with strong, comfortable picks for Reignover (Graves) and Doublelift (Lucian), it’s hard not to like what TL’s done with this draft.

GCU: Rumble, Rengar, Jayce, Ezreal, Karma

TL: Gragas, Graves, Taliyah, Lucian, Nami

5:56 p.m. ET: GCU holds on for the marathon win, taking it 19-15 in 45 minutes after multiple attempts against an exposed TL nexus.

Fenix leads the way with his 8/2/4 Vladimir, and we’ll head to Game 4.

5:43 p.m. ET: Maybe someone needs to remind GCU they actually lost Baron? They overextend in TL’s base trying to end the game against empowered minions, losing a 4-0 fight and giving a triple kill to Lourlo’s Fizz. This one ain’t over yet, but GCU still holds the gold lead.

5:39 p.m. ET: GCU nearly closed this out after winning a team fight near Baron, but Reignover stole it to keep TL’s hopes alive.

Fenix’s Vladimir is still unkillable, and TL still doesn’t have a great answer to that.

5:27 p.m. ET: GCU is taking control with their backs against the wall. Fenix has solokilled Piglet in the mid lane and is now 3/0/1 on Vladimir. At 20 minutes, GCU is up 4k gold, but TL has lost just one objective (bottom lane outer tower).

5:17 p.m. ET: This time it’s Gold Coin United with the early lead, winning a three-for-one trade in the top lane and picking up two kills for Santorin’s Rengar. TL doesn’t have a natural tank this time: with Lulu and four slippery carries, there’s a path to victory, but it’s a more difficult one to accomplish thanin the previous two games.

5:05 p.m. ET: Game 3 sees a shake-up, as Camille and Karthus are both banned on the Gold Coin United side. Piglet’s now on Ahri, while Lourlo’s bringing out Fizz. The Ahri pick puts Fenix on Vladimir, one of his most comfortable champions, and this time GCU brings some shielding into the equation with Nautilus and Karma.

TL: Fizz, Kha’Zix, Ahri, Ezreal, Lulu

GCU: Nautilus, Rengar, Vladimir, Lucian, Karma

4:47 p.m. ET: Game 2 is over, and it was a very clean win for TL. Final score is 16-4 in 36 minutes, led by 1/0/8 from Reignover’s Rengar, 6/4/6 from Piglet’s Karthus and 4/0/6 from Doublelift’s Ezreal. TL is really liking this team composition with Reignover on a pseudo-tank enabling Lourlo’s Camille, and Matt on Tahm Kench as a tanky support.

But the biggest story is GCU stubbornly picking no-shield team compositions when TL has shown a willingness to play Karthus. Expect either a Karthus ban or a different support pick in Game 3.

4:30 p.m. ET: TL is now up 5-0 at 20 minutes, with three kills for Piglet (that Karthus sure is working out) and two Infernal Drakes under their belt. The team is on the fast track towards LCS safety, with options running out for GCU in this game.

4:22 p.m. ET: TL has once again taken an early lead through the top lane, as Piglet takes First Blood on a Karthus ult, finishing off Solo after a skirmish with Lourlo. TL appears to have the favorable comp, especially late game, so if GCU wants anything to happen it’s likely going to need some big plays from Fenix.

4:09 p.m. ET: We’re staying on the same sides with some similar team compositions. With Elise and Varus banned, TL puts Reignover on Rengar and Doublelift on Ezreal, but otherwise sticks with its winning Game 1 comp. GCU subs out Gragas for Poppy and Caitlyn for Ashe, but otherwise is running the same as its Game 1 comp, too.

TL: Camille, Rengar, Karthus, Ezreal, Tahm Kench

GCU: Poppy, Kha’Zix, Ahri, Ashe, Zyra

3:50 p.m. ET: Team Liquid takes a relatively smooth Game 1 thanks to more strong carry performances: 3/0/2 from Lourlo’s Camille, 4/1/6 from Piglet’s Karthus and 5/1/4 from Doublelift’s Varus.

At 31 minutes, a GCU Baron looked to give a window back into the game, but TL responded with three kills (included two from the Karthus ultimate). Three minutes later, TL forced a great fight, netting a 5-1 ace (and a Doublelift triple kill) en route to the 14-6, 35-minute Game 1 win.

3:45 p.m. ET: Team Liquid is holding onto the lead, but it’s close. A 27-minute fight almost went disastrously, when Reignover was picked off trying to kill Mash. It ended up a 2-for-2 with TL picking up the dragon, as Piglet, Lourlo and Fenix now have sevenof the game’s nine kills.

3:35 p.m. ET: Gold Coin took a brief advantage with first tower after another dive in the bottom lane, but TL responded by taking the top outer turret. The game has slowed down considerably since then, without any fights. GCU has both dragons, and has been able to regain map control, but TL still holds a slight gold lead.

3:25 p.m. ET: We’re 10 minutes in, and Team Liquid has a 1k gold lead after two nearly simultaneous plays across the map. First, Reignover ganks top just in time to secure First Blood on Solo. Moments later, TL counters an attempted GCU dive with a well-timed Karthus ultimate, turning what looked to be a very bad situation into a one for one trade.

Both mid laners have a kill now, but Team Liquid has sizable gold advantages in the jungle and top lane and there’s not much GCU’s comp can do against a late game Karthus.

3:14 p.m. ET: The team comps are in for game one and Piglet is playing Karthus! Froggen brought it out last week for Echo Fox for the first time, and it’ll be a counter to Fenix’s Ahri for Piglet here.

TL: Camille, Elise, Karthus, Varus, Tahm Kench

GCU: Gragas, Kha’Zix, Ahri, Caitlyn, Zyra

After wins Friday in the first day of NA LCS Promotion Tournament action, ninth-place LCS finishers Team Liquid and Challenger Series champions Gold Coin United square off Saturday in another best-of-five. The winner will become the first team in the tournament to qualify for the Summer Split, while the loser will move on to Sunday to face the winner of Saturday’s other match: Team Envy vs. eUnited.

After a disappointing Game 1 loss to eUnited, Team Liquid bounced back with three straight ones. Rejuvenated performances from Reignover in the jungle and Piglet in the mid lane led TL to some pretty dominant wins, and getting Doublelift back onto his favored Lucian didn’t hurt, either.

Gold Coin United also won their series 3-1, taking down last-place LCS finishers Envy. NV’s strong early game wasn’t enough to handle GCU’s methodical play, and the Challenger squad was usually able to extend to the late game, an area of strength for GCU and also for its team compositions.

A strange sight for Team Liquid fans will be the mid lane match-up, where former TL teammates square off as Piglet takes on Fenix. Fenix isn’t the only former TL employee on Gold Coin United’s roster: top laner Solo was on Team Liquid Academy, and GCU’s head coach is former TL coach Yoon-seop “Locodoco” Choi.

The best-of-five series will start at 3 p.m. ET.

Lineups

Riot Games

Gold Coin United:

  • Top: Colin “Solo” Earnest
  • Jungle: Lucas “Santorin” Larsen
  • Mid: Jaehoon “Fenix” Kim
  • AD Carry: Brandon “Mash” Phan
  • Support: Mingi “Madlife” Hong

Team Liquid:

  • Top: Samson “Lourlo” Jackson
  • Jungle: Yeu-jin “Reignover” Kim
  • Mid: Gwang-jin “Piglet” Chae
  • AD Carry: Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng
  • Support: Matt Elento OR Adrian Ma

Series info and how to watch

You’ll be able to watch all the Promotion Series games this weekend on Lolesports. This series will be on the NALCS1 Twitch channel. With pre-game analysis, you can probably expect the first game to start around 3:10 p.m. ET.

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