The first match of the 2021 League of Legends Championship Series Summer Split was a rematch of the 2021 LCS Mid-Season Showdown semifinals between TSM and Team Liquid, but a few things were different this time around. TSM took the win over TL to open the Summer Split utilizing a teamfight composition that featured the very first Viego of the LCS in the hands of mid laner Tristan "PowerOfEvil" Schrage.

Since his release, Viego has not seen much professional play due to a myriad of bugs afflicting The Ruined King, and while some recent bugfixes came in too late for the 2021 Mid-Season Invitational, he's now been enabled globally and has seen play in Europe and now, North America. 

Fortunately, no bugs affected the performance of PowerOfEvil, who diverted from a damage-heavy build path for a more bruiser-focused, drain-tank style of play. It was a back-and-forth game, with TSM mitigating lane disadvantages to take over the mid game with teamfighting in trademark fashion. 

However, it was Team Liquid who began winning the fights in the late game after AD carry Edward "Tactical" Ra was able to scale to a point of power. When TSM was unable to get the first kill to start resetting cooldowns on Viego and the Tristana of AD carry Lawrence "Lost" Hui, Team Liquid battled back and managed to defend its base despite multiple Baron Nashor and Elder Dragons secured by TSM.

In the end, TSM was able to finally push TL over at 45 minutes to move into sole possession of 2nd place. In a post-match interview with Julian "Pastrytime" Carr, PowerOfEvil discussed the methodology behind how he wanted to play Viego in context of TSM's composition. "As you saw in top lane, once I get that one reset, you can just keep resetting," PowerOfEvil said, laughing. "He's like Katarina, but a little more fun." 

This won't be the last Viego we see in the LCS Summer Split, or even on the day. The Ruined King has competitive viability in top lane, jungle, and mid lane and his versatile build paths and unique abilities make him a primary pick in the current meta — as long as bugs don't sideline him again.