Clutch Gamers vs Royal Youth

For our second Best of 5, we have a fairly exciting clash between North America's Clutch Gaming and Turkey's Royal Youth (the TCL champions). Again, much like the match preceding it, this isn't exactly a must-watch by any stretch of the imagination, but it's a fun scrap nonetheless.

It is a fight between two inconsistent teams, but also a chance for us to see whether or not Clutch Gaming really deserve our benefit of the doubt coming into the Group Stage. Their run so far has been... Well, for a lack of a better word "underwhelming". Sure, they got the job done, which is the only thing that matters, but they really didn't look that godo in the process. We're all fully aware of their inherent potential, but not much of it was on display whenever they stepped foot on stage. Their two losses to the Unicorns of Love (the LCL champions) really got people thinking -- is this the team that's going to give Fnatic, SKT T1 and Royal Never Give Up a run for their money? Is this a team with the right skillset to even put up a fight?

Now, losing to the Unicorns isn't the end all be all, but it definitely hurt their stock quite a bit. Maybe that's even an understatement. Their drafts were abysmal, their play was as inconsistent as humanly possible, they were telegraphing every decision or move they made and just weren't that cohesive as a five-man unit.

In short, their performance echoed the Clutch Gaming back from the regular season. Short, impressive bursts of excellence, followed by baffling decisions and egregious mistakes. That's Clutch Gaming in a nutshell. And that's why we all love them, but sooner or later they're going to be punished for their inherent inconsistency.

Fortunately for them, the end of the road isn't that near seeing how they're fully favored to beat Royal Youth and, by proxy, reach the Group Stage. They might not dominate en route to such an achievement, but they should be able to get the job done nonetheless.

Royal Youth weren't exactly impressive in their Play-In tenure either. They displayed less potential and were far less proactive and dominant when compared to many of their peers. While they were able to squeak past into the second part of the Play-In stage, their underwhelming 2W-3L record left a lot to be desired. Either way, they do have a chance of making things somewhat competitive, seeing how Clutch Gaming aren't exactly firing on all cylinders, for whatever reason.

In the end, we have to side with Clutch Gaming, although we're bit uneasy at the though after seeing them fumble to such a degree over the last couple of days. But despite their shaky play, they've done enough. They deserve our benefit of the doubt, although they're not exactly a seismic titan that's about to dominate. Instead, they're a solid, well-rounded if a bit unstable and inconsistent challenger. A team with a fair bit of potential, but also a team that is still finding its footing in the current meta. They're picking up steam, and a commanding win over the Turkish champions will do wonders for their confidence coming into the Group Stage.

And seeing how they know whom they'll play against once that happens, they need all the confidence and momentum they can muster.