Cloud9 learned just how quickly a tournament can turn in one match on Saturday, and it was a painful lesson.
In a matchup of teams that went unbeaten through the first three weeks of the League of Legends Championship of The Americas North Split 3 in Los Angeles, Shopify Rebellion edged Cloud9 3-2 to advance to the upper bracket final — and sit just one win from the grand final.
Cloud9, on the other hand, will next play in the lower bracket quarterfinals, meaning they will need to three straight matches without a loss to get to the grand final.
The LTA North 2025 Split 3 is the third Americas North League of Legends split under the LTA banner, with eight Americas North teams competing for the Americas title.
The first three weeks were single-match formats, with all matches best-of-three. This week and next are the elimination matches, with each contest in a best-of-five format.
Weeks 6-7 are also best-of-five, with the four lower bracket teams eliminated with a loss. Two teams will qualify for the upper bracket final with the loser falling to the lower bracket. The top three teams qualify for the LTA Championship, and the winner qualifies for the 2025 World Championship.
On Saturday, Cloud9 got on the board first with a 33-minute win on blue but Shopify countered with 40- and 35-minute wins on red. Cloud9 survived with a 28-minute win on blue but Shopify took the winner-take-all map in 40 minutes on blue.
South Korea’s Ju “Bvoy” Yeong-hoon led Shopify with 27 kills, 11 deaths and 32 assists.
The third unbeaten team entering the playoffs, FlyQuest, will face Team Liquid in the other upper bracket semi on Sunday. Next weekend, Disguised will face Dignitas and LYON plays 100 Thieves in the lower bracket first round.
–Field Level Media
