The North American LCS match between Flyquest and 100 Thieves ended in one of the most exciting ways possible, a base race. This was one of the closest base races that we have seen in competitive League of Legends. 100 Thieves had only 1 or 2 more auto attacks to land on the Nexus in order to win the game, however, Flyquest was ever so slightly faster and thus took the victory home.
Despite the incredible ending to the game, the game itself was not close at all. It was completely onesided with 100 Thieves clearly outclassing Flyquest in every sense of the word. 100 Thieves had two successful early game ganks in the top lane which meant that 100 Thieves’ top laner Ssumday got so far ahead that he took over his entire lane. 100 Thieves also had some successful rotations that netted them a few kills early in the game, increasing their lead even further. 26 minutes into the game, 100 Thieves had taken 2 inhibitors and a baron, which made it seem like Flyquest had absolutely no chance of coming back.
However, Flyquest managed to hold on to their base despite the continuous siege of 100 Thieves. Flyquest managed to create some small victories where they would take down one or two members of 100 Thieves which bought them more time in the game. After failing to break the base multiple times, 100 Thieves decided they would try a 1-3-1 strategy, where you have 3 champions in the mid lane with two champions split-pushing. However, this backfired completely when Flyquest just pushed down mid with all 5 members as a desperation play.
100 Thieves decided to opt into the base race as they probably thought that they would win it, ultimately resulting in their defeat. From a tactical standpoint, it was probably not the smartest decision that the team has ever made, however, it definitely made for an extremely entertaining ending to an otherwise very one-sided game.
The results of the game bring Flyquest and 100 Thieves to a tie, with both teams having a score of 6-4. They are now tied together with Echo Fox and Team Liquid in a 4-way tie for first place.
