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Marquee match ups, unorthodox picks, and North America's last hope.
This is Day 2 of the Season 2 World Championship Playoffs.
Let's take a look at the first three quarterfinal matches:
The quarterfinal round kicked off with Moscow Five, showing off their skills for the first time outside of Europe, taking on Invictus Gaming, who were impressive in yesterday's group play.
To the surprise of many, M5's Alex Ich selected Evelynn, who hasn't seen competitive play for a long, long time.
But Alex struggled in the landing phase, getting sniped early by Zzitai's Cassiopeia.
At 16 minutes, M5's Diamond swiped Dragon but the team was punished for it by Invictus in a 4-0 exchange which gave the Chinese team a 6-2 kill lead.
After several back and forth exchanges, M5 would wipe iG out, leading to a Baron.
With that they forced a surrender.
Alex Ich's gamble with Evelynn paid off in the end and he finished with 9 kills and 8 assists.
In Game 2, Invictus would start off strong once again, surprising Diamond and Darien with a counter-gank bottom lane, crafting a double kill for PDD and a 6-3 lead for Invictus.
But M5 proved why they are one of the favorites to be World Champions.
Like the previous game, when the 20 minute mark hit, they shifted into high gear, tearing through all five members of Invictus for an Ace, leading to another surrender.
With his Zilean play, Alex Ich once again showed the power of unconventional picks.
Match 2 featured Korean powerhouse Najin Sword, who dominated the group stage behind their superstar MakNoon.
But they were up against a team full of superstars from Southeast Asia...
Stanley, Mistake, and perhaps most importantly, Toyz.
The Assassins jumped out to an early lead when Toyz' Orianna secured first blood against Songs' Ryze.
Toyz would continue to steamroll Najin Sword using Shockwave to lock up priority targets while the rest of TPA finished them off.
On the back of Toyz, Taipei Assassins pushed their way to victory and took a 1-0 lead in the series.
Toyz was flawless on Orianna, picking up 6 kills and 5 assists, without dying once.
For the first time in these World Championship playoffs, Najin Sword looked vulnerable.
Would they be able to get back on track in a do-or-die Game 2?
Not if Mistake had anything to say about it.
The Assassin's Support was dead on with his Blitz hooks, pulling in as many players as he possibly could, even if they weren't the intended target.
LILBALLZ: "Mistake was actually not trying to grab MakNoon, he was trying to grab the junglier, but somehow MakNoon was in the way, every single time."
Taipei Assassins couldn't be stopped.
They shocked the world by knocking Najin Sword out of the World Championship.
Mistake wasn't the only superstar in this game.
Toyz had another perfect run, picking up 7 kills and 5 assists.
In the most anticipated match of the day, the best team from North America, Team Solo Mid, battled the best team from Korea, Azubu Frost.
Azubu Frost started strong when a top lane gank drew first blood on Dyrus.
But TSM responded with a 2-for-1 exchange in bottom lane.
Azubu Frost used a long-range poke composition to wear down the TSM lineup.
While TSM had a stronger team fight comp, Frost rarely gave them the chance to fight, chunking down their health bars and pushing objectives relentlessly, allowing them to run away with Game 1.
Shy's top lane presence was unmistakable as he shut Dyrus down early and rolled to a 7/4/4 KDA in Game 1.
Facing elimination, TSM came out swinging in the first 10 minutes, stealing a blue buff and taking first blood after a tense stand-off at their own blue.
But an explosive fight from Azubu Frost turned the tables as Woong refused to go down in a do-or-die duel against Chaox.
While Xpecial's Blitz hook was enough to save the Odd One, it wasn't enough to save TSM's tournament life...
Woong was unkillable in Frost's dismantling of TSM, picking up 5 kills and securing their spot in the semifinals.
Tomorrow starts the semifinal round, as the Taipei Assassins face off against Moscow Five.
But first, World Elite and CLG EU finish off the quarterfinal to see who will play Azubu Frost.
Don't miss these high-stakes matches that will decide which two teams will be moving on to the World Championship Final.