League of Legends has ended their North American Championship Series in Vancouver’s Pacific Coliseum in British Columbia, Canada. Sunday April 23 is a day many LoL fans will remember as the two finalists, Team Solo Mid and Cloud 9, face off in an epic five game series. Before we talk about the match, we must setup the context for what led these two teams into the finals.

We will start with Cloud 9. This team came into the spring split with a rookie jungler in Contractz who has proven himself time and again throughout the split. Some criticize his success in that he has joined the second best team in NA where he doesn’t have to stress over carrying the rest of the team. Veterans like Jensen, Impact, Sneaky, Smoothie, and Ray to some degree  have strengths during the early laning phase that give Contractz the freedom to prove himself. This does not undermine what he has accomplished, as he has earned the title NA LCS Outstanding Rookie for the spring split.

However, the rest of the team can not be ignored as Jensen, the second best Mid laner of NA, dominates map pressure as well as his own lane opponents. Jensen spends every split fighting for the number one spot over Bjergson, his rival from TSM. His map play in particular has shown that he is capable of roaming to other lanes and provide kill pressure for the rest of his team. It is this strength that has given C9 a better game score versus TSM even though TSM has a better match score. The rest of the team plays consistently, not falling behind in lane and setting up plays for Contractz and Jensen when necessary. Together C9 transition their early game leads to decisive victories.

Now let’s talk about Team Solo Mid. TSM is the most accomplished team in NA LCS history as they have made nine consecutive NA LCS finals in a row. The one constant throughout all of these finals is Bjergson. This Danish native was imported into TSM in November 2013 and hasn’t looked back. He has consistently dominated the mid lane and holds the title for best mid laner. In this iteration of TSM, Bjergson has once again lead TSM to a top finish in the regular season and into the finals. His strengths lie in his understanding of his limits in game. He is able to push that fine line to take edges time and again, making him very entertaining to watch.

The team, however, is moreso known for their mid and late game teamfights. TSM is known for their coordination with each other in these 5v5 brawls. Even with the many roster changes the organization has gone through, this aspect of the team remains intact. The only change this split is in the Attack Damage Carry position with Wildturtle replacing Doublelift. However, Wildturtle has been in the lineup before and knows very well what being a TSM member means.

Because TSM prefers to stall out games, many teams in the regular split take advantage of this and try to take early leads against them. This has led to a curse within the organization to lose the first game of a best of three match. In spite of this, TSM is still able to end the regular season in first place and empower themselves in playoffs.

Finally we get into playoffs where the ultimate winner was decided. The competition this season was no challenge for either team, as both made it to the finals with relative ease. However, Cloud 9 was considered to be the underdogs because TSM has a history of going into overdrive during playoffs. No matter how TSM performed in the regular season, they go full force during playoffs allowing them to consecutively make it into the finals nine times in a row.

They showcased this during the first two games, as they beat Cloud 9 with insane mechanical plays. Cloud 9 had great opportunities to make plays against TSM, but were simply outplayed by the likes of Hauntzer and Wildturtle. Moving on to the next two games, however, Cloud 9 was able to pull the competition back as their early plays finally succeed. They use this to snowball the game in their favor and draw the competition out to game five.

This final match was truly one to remember as both teams constantly battle for control. If one team made a play early, the other makes a play in return. As one team maneuvers to secure an objective, one is lost to the other. A true tug of war revolved around the whole map until it reached mid and late game where neither team had an edge and both are on edge.

However, Cloud 9 was able to take a lead and buff themselves before looking to close out the game. It looked grim for TSM, but this is where they shined as they are able to find a final teamfight in their favor against all odds, killing every member of C9, even in their empowered state.

Team Solo mid won the NA LCS spring split, and advance to the Mid Season Invitationals where they will face off against other champions from around the globe.