The 2018 League of Legends Spring split had some of the most chaotic final numbers of any split ever. Competition was incredibly fierce, but as the season came to end it became clear that the teams that would stand above the rest were those with members who could perform above the rest. It wasn’t map objectives or drafting that decided the day for the Thieves. It was the fact that they simply out-played Echo Fox at almost every single turn. This is what lead to their win and tiebreaker match, and it’s what led to a phenomenal second game from the team.

It’s hard to say if going into the draft, the Thieves knew that their team would synergize this well, or if luck and skill joined together to create a monster. Either way, Braum, Orne and Jhin turned out to be a sickeningly deadly trio. Orne is naturally a CC monster with his kit, but Aphromoo and Ssumday were on point this entire game with their abilities but especially with their ulties. If Braum was ulting, Orne’s would be soon to follow, and the reverse was just as true. Every time Echo Fox was hit with one hard CC, they would then be smashed with another. While this was happening, Cody Sun would retreat to safety and ult. With Braum and Orne effectively halting Fox completely, there was no need to protect or peel.

This wasn’t just the effort of three people, though. Meteos pressured lanes from the very start, and his gank botlane with Ssumday fed an early kill and first turret to Cody Sun which allowed them to swap lanes and continue their pressure.

The epitome of how well the Thieves played is in this clip though. Lots of teams try risking flanks – Darshan tried it this weekend with Gnar and ended up dead – but the Thieves pulled it off to such insane beauty. Despite Aphromoo going down early in the fight, he can be heard updating the team and commanding them. What seemed like a hot pursuit of the Thieves was quickly turned on them when Cody Sun took a very early flash into baron just as Ssumday TPed in. It looked like suicide, but as Ryu came from the bottom, Orne came from the right, and Cody Sun ulted from the left, it became obvious that it was a trap.

Following this, Ryu quickly used Realm Warp to deliver his team to the stumbling survivors of the battle and finish them off. It was brutal, beautiful, and the sign of a team playing at their absolute best.