Dutch League Week 5 Recap & Highlights

The first match of the evening was the one between Team THRLL and Defusekids. Team THRLL managed to win against mCon esports last week and looked strong, while Defusekids struggles to find its form. It was Defusekids that held the (gold) lead for most of the game due to their good macro play, but as time went on they began to falter and Team THRLL took over thanks to strong teamfighting. After a fight around Elder Dragon THRLL managed to close out the game and they pick up their second victory. Defusekids has to find its identity again and will have to look to their jungle and mid lane positions to do it, as Hades and Chapapi both underperformed while Goose still put in a great performance in the bot lane on Aphelios.

Dynasty looked to continue its winning streak against a struggling mCon esports in the second match of the evening. Things already look bleak for mCon as they drafted a full late-game composition, which Dynasty was able to counter with picks such as Lee Sin for RedNosePanda and Ezreal for Aldwar. Dynasty quickly took control of the game thanks to great jungling by RedNosePanda and found themselves with the Mountain Soul after only 23 minutes. They calmly played their advantage, secured another victory and are now firmly in second place.

Team THRLL tried to repeat its upset against the number one ranked team PSV Esports, but to no avail. PSV Esports opted for a poke composition, utilizing an Ezreal-Yuumi bot lane and a Zoe mid lane, facilitated by an Olaf in the jungle and Sett in the top lane. THRLL managed to find an early kill on Furuy, but the game very gradually slipped through their fingers in an interesting and exciting match. PSV Esports remains top of the table, but THRLL showed great improvement and made PSV Esports work for their victory.

To close out the day Echo Zulu took on mCon esports, as both teams were in dire need of a victory with the play-off spots in mind. What we got was an incredibly messy game, where Echo Zulu opted for more poke and mCon esports focused on healing composition-wise. The game eventually took 50 minutes and ended with an mCon esports victory, despite Echo Zulu almost destroying their Nexus. Both teams will have to improve if they want a play-off spot however, because Dynasty’s and Team THRLL’s recent performances looked very strong.