The Yankees. The Red Sox.
The Patriots. The Giants.
Team SoloMid. Counter Logic Gaming.
What do the former teams all have in common?
Dynasties.
What do the latter teams have in common?
Creating upsets.
On August 23rd, 2015, the North American Championship Finals took place in Madison Square Garden. Thousands of fans watched with bated breath as one of the most dynastic teams in League of Legends history were completely dismantled and torn apart.
Team SoloMid and Counter Logic Gaming have the oldest rivalry in League of Legends history. In fact, the owners of both teams used to play on the same team together, until ideological differences set them on two different paths.
Team SoloMid would go onto become one of the strongest teams in North America. This year, they even scored themselves an international title. They were known for always maintaining a steady season, showing up during playoffs, and managing to find a spot in the Championship Finals.
On the other hand, Counter Logic Gaming was trapped in the shadow of the rivalry. Although they would start off their season strong, they would always crumble in the late season. Fans always joked about the team’s tendency to choke under pressure since the team seemed to hit a mental block whenever playoffs came around. For example, one of the jokes is a subreddit referencing their star player’s empty trophy case, which was devoid of any achievements and titles.
The rivalry between the two teams runs so deep that there was even a bet made by the owners during a regular season game on who would win. Loser of the game would have to dye his hair pink. Team SoloMid won that bet, and the owner of Counter Logic Gaming was forced to sport neon pink hair for months.
Naturally, the North American Championship Final between Team SoloMid and Counter Logic Gaming taking place at Madison Square Garden seemed fated. Fans joked about it being the perfect script. After all, the historic rivalry would debut on one of the most coveted stages in the world,.
Counter Logic Gaming has lost every single game against Team SoloMid in the Spring and Summer Split this year (a total of 4 games). In this match-up determining who would bring home the trophy, it was widely assumed that Counter Logic Gaming would be topped by Team SoloMid again.
But then, something kind of amazing happened.
Counter Logic Gaming actually beat Team SoloMid in a clean sweep. They came in and dismantled the Team SoloMid dynasty.
How?
Smart picks, good game play, and a better coaching staff. Earlier on in the season, CLG picked up an assistant coach from Clemson’s basketball team. Although his experience was mainly in physical sports, he has been integral to the team’s success, helping them get over their psychological block in the late season.
This is one of the biggest upsets in North American League of Legends history. And because there was so much excitement surrounding the match, ESPN even interviewed two of the franchise players for SportsCenter.
Because Counter Logic Gaming secured first place, that means they take the first seed as North American representatives at the World Championships later this fall. After all the celebrations and emotional interviews on stage, the team stated in a press conference that they would spend their next few weeks boot-camping in Korea to prepare for the tournament.
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