Legacy simply couldn’t find a way back into their second outing in Worlds Play-Ins, as Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen and Team Liquid flexed their muscles late on Saturday night to knock the Oceanic champions to a split 1–1 record in Group A.
Coming into Day 2 at Worlds, emotions Down Under were running high. It had been a day of upsets on the international stage, with pre-qualifying faves MAD Lions and LGD Gaming both whacked with their second losses, and Oceanic fans began to believe.
Unfortunately, four-time LCS winners Liquid, led by Jensen on Orianna, had other plans on Day 2. The North American hopefuls took full advantage of Europe’s slip, blowing Legacy off Summoner’s Rift in a lopsided 16–1 contest.
The main battle was fought in the mid lane, as Mads “Broxah” Brock-Pedersen lurked around his Danish teammate from the opening minutes of the game.
James “Tally” Shute had promised “even more chaos” in Legacy’s qualifying games, but even he couldn’t have expected the level at which Broxah and Jensen would pile onto mid lane.
The pain started as Jensen chipped Tally out of lane, and Broxah invaded all the way to the Tier 2 turret to stop Tally’s back. Liquid’s jungler collected flash in the process, and set LGC’s mid laner — who was playing his first pro game of Lucian since Rift Rivals 2017 — far behind on creep score, valuable experience, and lane pressure.
Jensen and Broxah were able to spread their authority from there.
In the 8th minute, Liquid’s great Dane claimed two more kills, and added a second on Kim “Topoon” Ji-hoon (playing Sylas) moments later. Tally was able to grab one back against Jensen at Blue Sentinel, but he was made to pay by Broxah two minutes later.
No kap that was a mid gap
— Tally (@Tallywhacka) September 26, 2020
From there, the gold lead only grew. Liquid had claimed a 2k advantage following Broxah’s fifth kill. By the time Legacy’s Nexus was cracked open 29 minutes into the clash, the LCS representatives had stacked up a huge 13.3k gold lead.
Liquid now remains one of only two teams undefeated in Group A. Turkey’s SuperMassive Esports, who accounted for MAD and INTZ in their opening day, have stepped up as another potential threat for the Group A top spot.
The Oceanic champions now enjoy an evening off, while China’s LGD Gaming fight for their Worlds life against explosive Group B contenders Unicorns of Love, and new upset threat V3 Esports. Legacy will return to action on Monday evening.
First, the OCE heroes will face MAD Lions at 7pm AEST, following SuperMassive’s battle with Team Liquid to open the day. Legacy will round out Day 4 against TCL’s champions.
