Day 1 of the highly anticipated Tyler1 Championship Series did not disappoint. Group A consisted of eight teams boasting some of League’s most infamous solo queue players. At the end of the day, one team emerged victorious. Fan-favorites, the Stream Dream Team (SDT), rampaged through their bracket. In that blaze of glory, some players stood out above the rest. Here are three players from Day 1 of the TCS that brought the flames.

Dhokla Slices and Dices

No Clue (NC) opened the tournament with a near perfect victory against Super Nova Esports (SN), dropping only a single tower. Much of the team’s success came on consistent play from top-laner Niship “Dhokla” Doshi. His constant pressure in a side lane really opened up the map for his team. And while his “Maokai” play was definitively solid, Dhokla flipped a switch against R U RDY FOR TRANCE (RDY?). Dhokla blind-picked “Renekton” and dared Skaarlet Kledder to match him.

The match-up was Dhokla‘s “Renekton” against Skaarlet‘s “Sion.” Dhokla abused “Renekton’s” natural lane dominance, forcing multiple early backs from his lane opponent. This early pressure gave the “Renekton” room to earn early split-push priority and a massive 60 CS lead at 20 minutes. Because of this pressure, Dhokla drew heavy jungle attention from RDY?’s NJP. Despite attention from the enemy “Rek’Sai,” Dhokla gave viewers a clutch 1v2 outplay in the bottom lane. After forcing Skaarlet‘s flash, Dhokla had to flash defensively before re-engaging the fight. One versus two, Dhokla managed to secure a kill onto Skaarlet with only a “Black Cleaver” in his inventory. Dhokla remained an unstoppable teamfight menace, mowing down the RDY? team and leading his team to a 24 minute win.

Scarra Unbenches the Kench

Formerly the jungler of Delta Fox (DFX), William “Scarra” Li boasts a 100% win-rate on “Tahm Kench” at the Tyler1 Championship Series. In two of their three matches on the day, Scarra pulled out the River King as his support of choice. Against their first opponents of the day, Gweiss eSports (GWE), Scarra flexed the pick with his top-laner, Joedat “Voyboy” Esfahani, on “Karma.” Along with Michael “Imaqtpie” Santana, the SDT bottom lane rendered the opposing AD-carry near useless in teamfights.

But the heat did not stop there. Scarra‘s “Tahm Kench” made a repeat appearance in the quarterfinals match against Team Brickz (TBZ). His aggressive plays, often flashing onto enemy champions to secure a “Devour” earned his team some crucial kills. Scarra‘s synergy with mid-laner Danny “Shiphtur” Le was on full display, when the duo clutched a kill onto W0WFIXZ‘s “Syndra.” When Voyboy dove deep into Team Brickz’s back-line, it was Scarra who saved his teammate with slivers of health to spare.

In their semifinals game against No Clue, Scarra opted into “Sona” as a counter to “Karma.” Unlike his previous performances, Scarra was not as ‘unstoppable’ on the “Sona” pick. Even in SDT’s voice-comms, Scarra expressed some discomfort on the champion. Is Scarra a “Tahm Kench” one-trick now? Will his limited champion pool be SDT’s undoing? All jokes aside, Scarra put up a great show. But, it was his teammate Shiphtur who had arguably the best performance on the day.

Shiphtur’s Kassawin

With a massive 13.0 KDA and only a single death in three games, Shiphtur rocked Group A. Despite the memes surrounding the re-branded Delta Fox squad, these boys came to play. In his first game against Gweiss eSports, Shiphtur on “Taliyah” dominated his lane opponent, GL IM ZWAG, earning himself a solo kill under the enemy tower. But the plays did not stop there for the former Dignitas (DIG) mid-laner; Shiphtur‘s use of the “Weaver’s Wall” secured objective after objective for the Stream Dream Team. With Shiphtur‘s push priority in lane, Marcus “Dyrus” Hill invaded the enemy jungle, able to push Shiphtur‘s mid-pressure throughout the entire map.

Game 2 against Team Brickz was more of the same story. Rather than banning Shiphtur‘s “Taliyah,” TBZ let the pick go through and paid the price. Shiphtur forced his opponent, Scouting Grounds candidate “W0WFIXZ,” to stay chained to the mid-outer tower. While his opponent perpetually farmed, Shiphtur earned multiple kills using “Weaver’s Wall” to deliver himself onto the enemy “Gangplank” and to cut off the escape for the opposing bottom lane.

In the semifinal game, No Clue finally banned Shiphtur‘s “Taliyah,” hoping to force him onto a less comfortable pick. But Shiphtur had other plans in mind. After locking in “Kassadin” to face off against Peridot‘s “Malzahar,” Shiphtur entered the game in full carry mode. Patiently, Shiphtur and his teammates scaled into the late game, taking advantages when possible. Often, Shiphtur found himself matching Dhokla‘s “Ornn” in a split push. His pressure bottom lane earned his team two towers and a level 16 “Kassadin.” Shiphtur was unstoppable. All his team had to do was kite out teamfights while Shiphtur chased down and culled any remaining stragglers.

Honorable Mentions

Voyboy‘s “Vladimir” was fantastic to watch. On the day, Voyboy opted into mage top-laners, a style that has recently fallen out of favor. His “Vladimir” became monstrous in late teamfights. The kid took on Team Brickz’s entire back line while his team mowed down the tanks. The crucial seconds that he bought in those late-game fights earned his team huge advantages that won them the game. Faith in Myself‘s “Bard” game against Team FWII was absolutely disgusting. His roaming opened room for his AD-carry, Value, to earn solo-experience while he snowballed advantages for his mid-lane. Clutch “Cosmic Bindings” and “Tempered Fates” won his team multiple teamfights throughout the game against FWII. Faith buried the enemy “Malzahar” who ended the game 0/7/3. This was one merciless “Bard” and the playmaking from Faith was hype to watch. W0WFIXZ‘s “Viktor” in Team Brickz’s game against DreamerZ Challenger showed why the man is going to the 2017 Scouting Grounds. After the enemy “Orianna” used “Shockwave” to catch the “Viktor” unaware, W0WFIXZ proceeded to solo kill his lane opponent under tower. For the rest of the game, W0WFIXZ‘s “Viktor” unloaded on the DreamerZ squad. Teamfights were downright unfair as the “Chaos Storm” shredded through DreamerZ health bars. Although his team fell today, it will be exciting to see W0WFIXZ at this year’s Scouting Grounds event.

Featured Image: LoL Esports Flickr

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