Despite the hype surrounding CLG’s miracle run – the big news out of this weekend was in 100 Thieves and in the massive four way tie that took place for the third place spot. While everyone was busy predicting what stars had to align to get CLG into the playoffs, teams were busy making stars align to get a four-way tie. This was along with 100 Thieves beating Echo Fox to tie them for first place and be forced into a tie-breaker match. This doubled the normal amount of  games on Sunday, forcing many teams into marathon matches.

If any team was happy coming out of this weekend, it was 100 Thieves. The Thieves are finishing the split on a six game winning streak and in first place. While this doesn’t guarantee their success going into the playoffs, as Aphromoo said after their matches, it certainly gives the team more confidence going into a best of fives scenario. This might be one of the biggest factors separating the Thieves from other teams; they are looking at the big picture.

Echo Fox may not have much to celebrate after being dethroned, but C9 has even less to be happy about. This week saw C9 losing game after game after game. C9 did manage to beat out Clutch Gaming in their final game – securing a fifth place spot – but this was after a four game losing streak. Even after their win against Cluch, C9’s performances have been downright awful. Smoothie’s roaming days were put to an end as teams realized they could easily catch out his other teammates when he roams too far, and this had an additional effect of causing the team in general to play poorly.

Meanwhile, TSM could not be happier with their third place spot. They started off the split among the worst teams, and while they have faltered, and continue to stumble every now and then, the teamwork and strategy that has made them legendary has survived the day.

The playoffs will be rounded out with Clutch Gaming and Team Liquid. Clutch continues to play well but slow and incredibly boring. They win matches, but not entirely through huge playmaking, and their sixth place spot supports this. Liquid has managed to hold a fourth place spot, but this seems just as tenuous. The magic of Olleh and Doublelift may have run out, but the team as a whole is operating much better, especially Pobelter who has stepped up on champions like Swain.

The most disappointing news was definitely in CLG. Everyone understood that the miracle run would be a difficult task, but everyone also hoped it would end in a climatic showdown. Because TL and TSM had to lose both their games of the weekend, the odds were stacked against them, but after TL took a surprising win on C9 – they simply read Smoothie’s roams better – and TSM flattened the Golden Guardians, the miracle run was dead before it could even get started. It didn’t help that CLG had to play last on Saturday, so that by the time their match came around, their spirits were already shattered.

Darshan was up 50 CS on OpTic’s Dhokla at 15 minutes, but reckless team fights and poor positioning first fed OpTic three kills and then a baron. After that, the fire that had been in CLG was simply out, and the run fizzled before it could ever pop.