LCS Friday Review: Hai and Dyrus Play and Dignitas Win – What Year is it, Again?

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The opening match was a callback to better days. (Image credit: Riot Games)

The opening day of LCS Week 5 was entertaining as we saw Dignitas get on the board with some inspired play and 100Thieves actually pull off an upset against FlyQuest, but it was Cloud9’s legacy team that stole the show.

Cloud9 Win Battle of the Ancients

Week 5 of the LCS Summer Split kicked off with a TSM vs Cloud 9 legacy exhibition match. It featured many of their original stars from way back when League was a young game, the LCS was a strange and interesting concept and Bjergsen was still a lanky young lad waiting to get old enough to play on Copenhagen Wolves.

The action started early on but very quickly the C9 squad got kills in all lanes and surged ahead, with only Joedat "Voyboy" Esfahani holding the front for TSM with 3 kills on his Vladimir. C9 faltered momentarily when a tower dive bot went wrong 9 minutes in and ended in a 3:1 for TSM.

However, Hai "Hai" Du Lam, Zachary "Sneaky" Scuderi and co were soon back on the offense. While TSM would find occasional kills, their opponents remained ahead in gold and executed better in the teamfights. They dominated the map and eventually yet another won skirmish would net them the Baron.

TSM would occasionally find picks, but in the big fights, C9 reigned supreme. Over the next few minutes, they would take all three inhibitors before a fight in the enemy base saw them take down the nexus for some well-deserved bragging rights.

Dignitas Rise Up

After that blast from the past, we were time-warped back to the 2020 LCS. In this timeline, another legacy organization – Dignitas – is in dire straits, standing at 0-8 before its match with an Immortals roster that had only marginally better record - 1:7. Both organizations had put several of their key members on the bench and played with substitutes from their academy teams, though Immortals did look somewhat better in recent games.

However, DIG were off to an impressive start with multiple successful ganks by Joshua "Dardoch" Hartnett, leaving them 3-0 in kills and 1.5K gold up in the first 10 minutes. The team kept finding advantageous fights as the mid-game started and eventually took a third drake just 17 minutes in, forcing their opponents to have to contest the next one despite the gold deficit or concede an early ocean soul buff.

When the dragon respawned, Immortals were out in force and an Aatrox flank gave them the advantage with a kill on Dardoch. However, Dignitas got a kill back and, when their jungler respawned, pushed back and secured the key buff, then caught the retreating Immortals for three kills.

Now with full control of the map, Dardoch and co. took an uncontested baron and pushed the bottom lane. Immortals’ desperate engage did not work and Dignitas took first the inhibitor and then the Nexus for a surprisingly clean win.

100 Thieves Sneak a Win Against FlyQuest

After their loss to Team Liquid last Sunday, FlyQuest should have had a somewhat easier opponent in the struggling 100 Thieves roster, but the thieves had other plans in mind. A Level 2 gank mid surprised Tristan "PowerOfEvil" Schrage on Orianna, and when Lucas "Santorin" Tao Kilmer Larsen tried to collapse on his opposite, he found himself watching the grey screen as well.

Despite this poor start, FlyQuest soon hit back and by the start of the midgame, things were mostly even except for 100T having the first two drakes. At 20 minutes in, however, the green team got a great fight and denied the third drake off a great Orianna shockwave.

FlyQuest looked set for success when they caught Tommy "Ryoma" Le and pushed mid, but the thieves pulled off a masterful flank, scattering them and getting two kills before a teleport by the respawned mid laner caught two more.

With four enemies down, 100T took both a baron and third drake to open the first gold lead of the game, then several minutes later secured the ocean soul after a close fight eventually went their way. Even then, FlyQuest tried to contest the second baron, but a catch on their mid laner resulted in an ace for 100T and they pushed in the enemy base to end the game.

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