Cloud9 vs Origen

For our second match of the day, we have yet another exceptional clash between two fantastic teams. This match-up, in particular, isn't as easy to predict. Sure, after yesterday's matches we simply have to side with the Europeans, but it could end up being a lot closer than most people expect.

On one hand, we have Cloud9. The only North American team that played twice yesterday. Unfortunately, even though they had opportunities to leave a mark, they failed to do much on the Summoner's Rift. In fact, that's a mild way to put it. They didn't do anything worth mentioning. Certain members tried their hardest, that's for sure, but in the end it wasn't enough. Not even close.

They were outclassed by G2 Esports but at least they had Blaber in their line-up. One would think that their somewhat passive draft stopped them from playing up to their full potential. And the fact that they had their "B" jungler also enabled a lot of theorizing. Would they lose with Svenskeren in the line-up? Even if they would, perhaps it would be a much closer affair? A game worthy of mentioning, perhaps?

When they went out on the Rift for the second time, they didn't do much even though they had Svenskeren in the line-up. You wouldn't really notice the difference if we removed the name tags.

In fact, it was just as big of a shellacking, even though they were up against an entirely different team. From top to bottom, Cloud9 were losing the game from the very get-go. Licorice once again went up against Bwipo and managed to lose just as badly as he did back at the 2018 World Championship. When he had just a single item in his inventory, Bwipo had two and a half.

He was three levels below his European adversary. In short, he had Licorice's number. Broxah was also able to have a huge impact early on even though he was heavily set back by Svenskeren's invade. That's what he does best, perhaps. Regardless if he's ahead or behind, he always finds an avenue towards success. His jungling stats aren't the best in the region, but that's only because he's so darn proactive on the map. He's always creating leads and helping his laners out -- his jungle plays a secondary role entirely. And the same happened yesterday as well. He focused on getting Bwipo ahead and he succeeded admirably.

That's what Fnatic does best. They tunnel on just a single lane and get them ahead to such a degree that there's no way they can lose. By the time the mid game comes around, they have such a big lead at one part of the map that they can fight without reserve, with full unyielding confidence. The fact that Rekkles and Hylissang completely obliterated Sneaky and Zeyzal helped out as well. North American bottom lanes are simply too passive at this point in time, and they're getting punished by the 2019 meta. They need to be aggressive, they need to step up and start making plays, and yet they are unable to do so.

They're just not used to such a hectic pace. Without Jensen in the line-up, there's no one left to hard carry, and that's a problem. Nisqy, to his credit, did admirably well yesterday. He created his own leads, he traversed the Summoner's Rift and did what he had to do, but it wasn't enough. He didn't snowball his leads, and his team didn't have any concrete benefit because of his advantage. They were passive and always second to react.

Against a European behemoth, that's just not enough.

This time around, they're up against a top-tier team that looked somewhat out of sync back on European soil. We are all fully aware of their huge talent, but Origen simply didn't look as good as they did back in Spring. They didn't exactly regress, but they need a bit more time before getting back to their prior form.

That said, once they stepped foot on stage yesterday and faced the second-best team North America has to offer, they looked like an absolute beast. Perhaps that's even an understatement. The final tally was 17 to 3 in Origen's favor. The perennial North American giant Team Solo Mid couldn't even land five kills. Let that sink in. They took Team Liquid to five games in the 2019 Spring Split final, and yet they couldn't find any semblance of success yesterday. And it wasn't an off day either -- Origen is just that good.

We don't have a big enough sample size on Origen yet, but based on their one win yesterday, we simply have to give them the benefit of the doubt. They showed immense potential, and they're surely looking to continue building on their successful start. This game could end up being a lot closer than most people expect, but Origen should be able to emerge victorious.