This article is part of our LoL Recap series.
EDward Gaming dominated I May in a 2-0 series sweep Thursday to close out Week 2, Day 1 of the League of Legends Pro League in Shanghai.
I May (0-2, 1-4 match record) prioritized the Zac jungle pick in Game 1, drafting a slow-scaling team composition. EDG (2-1, 4-2 match record) tried to exploit I May's weak early game by invading the jungle in the first three minutes. However, that strategy backfired, giving up two kills, including first blood, to I May. The early kills didn't amount to much, as I May struggled in teamfights throughout the mid game, eventually seeing its middle-lane inhibitor exposed by the 19-minute mark. I May's chances at staying in the contest were quickly dashed as it continued to lose teamfights, never having enough time to gets their team composition to scale. EDG easily sieged its way to a Game 1 victory after a Baron power play knocked down the last of I May's inhibitors. Player of the game honors went to EDG's support Tian "Meiko" Ye, whose Bard set up a plethora of winning teamfights with Tempered Fates, earning a 2/0/10 KDA (kills/deaths/assists).
Both teams made slight adjustments in the Game 2 draft, but it became clear early on that I May didn't make enough changes to hang with EDG. The bottom lane was where all the early-game action took place, as EDG ran up a 6,000 gold lead in the first 15 minutes. I May continued to bleed objectives as it failed to coordinate a winning teamfight. EDG was working on a perfect game for the first 22 minutes of the contest, but a risky Baron call gave I May an opening to secure its first kills and turret of Game 2. That barely put a dent in I May's gold deficit however, and once EDG respawned it went back to dominating teamfights. I May was helpless, as its base was destroyed and EDG finished off its series sweep.
I May will take on the newcomers to the LPL, DAN Gaming, on Saturday at 2 a.m. ET while EDward Gaming clashes against Invictus Gaming later that day at 5 a.m. ET.
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DAN Gaming pulled off a series sweep against a struggling Snake Esports on Thursday to open Week 2, Day 1 of the League of Legends Pro League in Shanghai.
DAN Gaming (2-1, 4-2 match record) drafted a slow-scaling team composition in Game 1 leading to a rough early game. Thanks to some nifty ganks, Snake was quickly able to gain a kill advantage, but smart rotations from DAN made turret trades even and opened up the side lanes. Crossing into the midgame, Snake (0-2, 0-4 match record) began to build a gold advantage through kills and objectives, but DAN Gaming never let it get out of hand, catching Snake overextending a few times. The small victories helped DAN extend the game, fully scaling into its team composition and quickly evening out the turrets deficit thanks to its 4-1 split push. Snake had a tough time coordinating its defense, routinely fighting 5-vs-4 while DAN's top laner Guo "Lies" Hao-Tian's Shen split push into its base. DAN continued to exploit Snake's poor shotcalling, punishing a Baron attempt near the 50-minute-mark that resulted in a 3-1 teamfight victory and an opening to earn a Game 1 victory.
In Game 2, DAN opted for a different team composition, focusing on early game pressure as opposed to its scaling team composition in the previous game. It didn't take DAN long for it to make plays as an early rotation into bottom lane thwarted Snake's first gank with a first blood kill. Quickly losing pressure in the side lanes, Snake was forced to siphon all its pressure in the mid lane, whittling down objectives, but DAN kept finding picks and building on its gold lead. DAN methodically pushed its advantage, taking objectives thanks to some zoning Weaver's Walls by mid laner Yu "Ggoong" Byeong-jun's Taliyah. Snake had plenty of wave clear options in its team composition and managed to defend its inhibitor turrets for a while, but it didn't hold on much longer after DAN secured its second Baron kill. Quickly knocking down inhibitor after inhibitor, Snake struggled to stop DAN Gaming's push, closing with an ace to secure the Nexus for the the series sweep.
DAN Gaming will take to the Rift against I May on Saturday at 2 a.m. ET, while Snake Esports will look for its first win of the Summer Split against Team WE later that day at 8 a.m. ET.
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In a series full of surprising champion picks, OMG took down Suning Gaming 2-1 to open up Week 2, Day 2 of the League of Legends Pro League on Friday in Shanghai.
In traditional OMG (3-0, 6-2 match record) fashion, mid laner Xie "Icon" Tian-Yu picked up an early first blood as Jayce, snowballing OMG's pick composition out of control. OMG accrued a 3,000-gold lead at 15 minutes, which ballooned to 5,000 gold after a 25-minute 5-for-3 ace featuring a triple kill from Icon. OMG threatened to immediately throw that lead, though, giving SNG a 5-for-2 ace shortly after and a Baron kill. After a long late game lull, OMG powered up enough to break open SNG's defenses after securing a 36-minute Baron kill, taking an Elder Dragon at 41 minutes and a 5-for-0 ace in SNG's base to close out Game 1 in 43 minutes.
After taking Game 1, OMG apparently felt like trolling in Game 2 as AD carry Han "Smlz" Jin took Corki into the bottom lane, drafting a poorly built pick composition. Suning Gaming (0-2, 2-4 match record) responded by drafting a late-game focused pick comp of its own, which got ahead early thanks to brilliance from jungler Yang "H4cker" Zhi-Hao's Elise. Hitting a gorgeous Flash-Cocoon in the top lane for first blood at three minutes, H4cker was a dominant force all over the map, putting SNG ahead. With a 6,000-gold lead at 17 minutes, it seemed impossible for OMG to come back, especially with Smlz choosing to build crit rather than a traditional Triforce, effectively rendering him useless. Meanwhile, SNG AD carry Lee "Fury" Jin-yong landed several Enchanted Crystal Arrows as Ashe and finished with a game-high 20,900 damage dealt to enemy champions as a 28-minute Baron led to a Game 2 win for SNG in 34 minutes.
While the series had been sloppy up through Game 3, Icon went full solo-queue by picking Yasuo in the mid lane. Surprisingly, the move worked wonders. Gifted first blood at eight minutes, Icon quickly burst ahead of his SNG counterpart, building a massive lead for himself. In a low-kill farm fest, featuring only five kills by 30 minutes, OMG couldn't get anything done without Icon while he split pushed in side lanes. Once Icon grouped with the team, though, the effects were devastating, hitting big Last Breaths and giving Smlz's Caitlyn room to wreak havoc. As a result, Smlz dealt a game-high 23,200 damage to enemy champions and picked up a pair of triple kills at 30 and 37 minutes. Coupled with Icon's 4/0/6 KDA (kills/deaths/assists) for 83 percent kill participation, OMG took a final 5-for-2 ace at 37 minutes before flooding into SNG's base for the 39-minute win.
OMG now prepare for a Sunday matchup vs. LGD Gaming at 2 a.m. ET, while Suning Gaming will take on JD Gaming at 8 a.m. ET on Sunday.
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In an action-packed series to close out Week 2, Day 2 of the League of Legends Pro League, Newbee took a 2-1 win over JD Gaming on Friday in Shanghai.
Newbee (2-0, 4-2 match record) drafted Lucian for top laner Bao "V" Bo, using everyone's favorite meme pick to great success. While JD Gaming secured first blood, it couldn't use its high damage pick composition effectively in the mid game, allowing Newbee to crawl back into the game after a 4-for-1 teamfight win near the Dragon Pit.
Newbee snowballed from there, earning a 6,000-gold lead by the 31-minute mark. Newbee's ferocious teamfighting composition was led by mid laner Lei "Corn" Wen's Orianna, who landed big-time Command: Shockwaves en route to a flawless 4/0/8 KDA (kills/deaths/assists). With no way to start a fight without losing all of its members, JDG could do little but watch as Newbee took Game 1 in 35 minutes.
Not showing any fear after its Game 1 loss, JD Gaming (0-3, 2-6 match record) drafted an aggressive, all-AD composition against Newbee's late-game teamfighting comp, looking to snowball early. JDG got its wish at eight minutes as a three-man dive in the top lane gave mid laner Kim "doinb" Tae-sang's Lucian first blood, jumping out to an early lead.
JDG's control over the game was by no means absolute, as sloppy teamfighting and macro plays gave away kills, but a 23-minute Baron buff helped JDG finally break free. Methodically pushing into Newbee's base on the back of doinb, who dealt a game-high 26,400 damage to enemy champions while picking up a 6/0/8 KDA, JDG finished Game 2 in 32 minutes to force Game 3.
JD Gaming came into Game 3 with vigor and life, but it was quickly crushed when Newbee's late-game composition took a 3-for-1 skirmish at just four minutes. As if that wasn't bad enough, Newbee AD carry Lin "Lwx" Wei-Xiang's Vayne picked up solo first tower gold along with several waves of farm, putting him too far ahead for JDG to deal with.
Exposing JDG's mid lane inhibitor by 19 minutes, NB had complete control of the game, led by Corn's Orianna, who had another spectacular performance. With a 4/0/9 KDA and player of the game honors, Corn and company stormed into JD Gaming's base, taking Game 3 in under 26 minutes to close out the 2-1 series win. Newbee will next face Royal Never Give Up at 5 a.m. ET Sunday; JD Gaming prepares to take on SN Gaming at 8 a.m. ET Sunday.
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DAN Gaming took a clean 2-0 sweep over I May to kick off Week 2, Day 3 of the League of Legends Pro League on Saturday in Shanghai.
Tensions were high early in Game 1, with DAN AD carry Zhang "QiuQiu" Ming's Kalista breaking the stalemate with first blood in a duo lane outplay at 10 minutes. While I May (0-2, 1-4 match record) stayed even in kills with its teamfighting composition, DAN's high-powered pick composition held a gold lead of about 1,400 gold at 19 minutes, thanks to objective control and superior farm. DAN wasted little time in snowballing its lead, taking a Baron kill as soon as it spawned at 20 minutes at the cost of two members and subsequently used that buff to push into I May's base in the top lane. After going back to shop for the final time, DAN grouped up and forced its way through the bottom lane, taking a 4-for-3 teamfight and finishing off I May in a blazing fast 26 minutes.
DAN Gaming (2-1, 4-2 match record) had another strong start in Game 2 coming out of the bottom lane as support Wu "Cat" Yao's Tahm Kench picked up a double kill in a 2-for-1 duo lane fight at six minutes. Despite the early kill lead, DAN struggled with I May's powerful splitpushing/pick composition, allowing IM to grab a small gold lead. Not to be deterred, DAN Gaming's pick/teamfighting composition got online thanks to the work of jungler Jeong "Karin" Soo-jong's Kha'Zix, who stole several neutral objectives with Smite. Securing a staggering three Infernal Drakes to fire up its high-powered attack, DAN Gaming took control at the 29-minute mark with a Baron kill, using the buff to open up I May's base and even take a Nexus tower. Between mid laner Yu "Ggoong" Byeong-jun's Viktor and QiuQiu's Jhin dealing a whopping 28,600 and 26,800 damage to enemy champions, respectively, as well as QiuQiu's 7/1/5 KDA (kills/deaths/assists), DAN had more than enough fuel to take a second Baron kill at 36 minutes, closing out the game a short while later to wrap up the 2-0 sweep.
I May will kick off next week with a series vs defending champions Team WE on Thursday at 5 a.m. ET, while DAN Gaming will have to wait until next Saturday to face Invictus Gaming at 2 a.m. ET.
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EDward Gaming took a commanding 2-0 sweep of Invictus Gaming on Saturday during Week 2, Day 3 of the League of Legends Pro League in Shanghai.
While Invictus Gaming (1-2, 3-6 match record) jumped ahead early in Game 1 with first blood and a 1,000-gold lead at nine minutes, EDward Gaming stayed within striking distance. IG's pick composition did what it could to take out EDG mid laner Lee "Scout" Ye-chan's Taliyah, but clutch roams from support Tian "Meiko" Ye's Tahm Kench saved Scout several times, leading to EDG kills. EDG's late-game teamfighting/pick composition shined as things progressed, picking up a 4-for-1 at 20 minutes to secure the first Baron of the series. Using the buff to build up a 5,500-gold lead at 25 minutes, EDG looked unstoppable as it took a second Baron kill at 29 minutes, dominating the neutral objectives with an additional three Elemental Drakes throughout the game. Scout was a monster late in the game, from using the Weaver's Wall to give EDG positional advantages to dealing a game-high 26,900 damage to enemy champions en route to a perfect 3/0/12 KDA (kills/deaths/assists) for 100 percent kill participation. Using the second Baron buff, EDG strolled into IG's base and took Game 1 in 34 minutes.
Invictus Gaming subbed in flashy top laner Kang "TheShy" Dong-geun and gave him a comfort pick in Fiora, but EDward Gaming (2-1, 4-2 match record) was simply too good for IG. Jungler Ming "Clearlove" Kai's Kha'Zix popped off early on, securing multiple kills as EDG jumped out to a 1,300-gold lead at 12 minutes. EDG looked unstoppable with a strong pick composition in the mid game, grouping up to slaughter Invictus Gaming while IG struggled with a split-push heavy composition. EDG was threatening to take a perfect game after a 4-for-0 teamfight at 18 minutes and taking down IG's mid lane inhibitor, but TheShy saved IG from humiliation by securing a tower to prevent the perfect game. Still, EDG marched into IG's base after a 3-for-2 teamfight and 24-minute Baron, padding its stats before closing out Game 2 in under 28 minutes.
Invictus Gaming will next take to the Rift against Snake Esports on Thursday at 8 a.m. ET, while EDward Gaming prepares for a monumental clash against Team WE next Saturday at 8 a.m. ET.
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Snake Esports closed out Week 2, Day 3 of the League of Legends Pro League in Shanghai with a shocking 2-1 upset win over Team WE on Saturday.
Snake Esports (1-1, 2-3 match record) took an early lead in Game 1 as top laner Li "Flandre" Xuan-Jun's Rumble picked up first blood in a four-man dive to take the first tower. Snake used its pick composition to earn a modest gold lead in the midgame, but couldn't break away from WE. Despite picking up a Baron at 30 minutes to go over by over 5,000, Snake started to lose ground once WE's late game composition started to come online. With AD carry Jin "Mystic" Seong-jun's Kog'Maw pumping out massive damage, WE took a 2-for-1 teamfight at 38 minutes that allowed it to secure a Baron and an Elder Dragon kill around 42 minutes, using the buffs to shred through Snake's defenses. While Flandre finished with a game-high 31,700 damage dealt, Mystic was unstoppable in the late game, dealing 29,000 damage to go with a 5/2/6 KDA (kills/deaths/assists) for 100 percent kill participation as WE came back to take Game 1 in just under 50 minutes.
Team WE (2-1, 5-3 match record) took a pick composition into Game 2, but neither team found early kills, instead trading objectives with a flurry of rotations. Once Snake followed Flandre's Kled into a mid lane teamfight, securing first blood in a 5-for-1 ace, Snake rocketed ahead to a 5,000-gold lead at 19 minutes. Snowballing thanks to its siege/teamfighting composition, a 22-minute Baron kill increased Snake's lead to 9,000 gold, putting Snake too far ahead for WE to fight back, despite jungler Le "SofM" Quang Duy trolling by building an Athene's Unholy Grail on Gragas. While one can argue the synergies of that item and the Stoneborn Pact keystone, what was undeniable was Snake's domination of Game 2, with a 11,000-gold lead at 28 minutes giving way to a 32-minute win.
Both teams utilized aggressive teamfighting compositions with late-game AD carries for Game 3, where the action began early on with a level three gank from SofM's Lee Sin to secure first blood in the mid lane. While Mystic's Kalista managed to pick up a triple kill in the bottom lane at six minutes, he was powerless against Snake mid laner Liu "Zz1tai" Zhi-Hao on LeBlanc, who came up big with a triple kill at 17 minutes in a 4-for-1 teamfight for Snake. With Zz1tai killing everyone with ease, Snake took full control of the game after a clean 5-for-0 ace saw Zz1tai pick up another triple kill, giving Snake an uncontested Baron. Using the buff to great effect, Snake crushed teamfights with ease, including a 3-for-0 that started with a perfect five-man Cataclysm from Flandre's Jarvan IV, taking all of WE's structures before finishing the game with a 4-for-2 teamfight at 33 minutes.
Team WE look to recover next week against I May on Thursday at 5 a.m. ET, followed by Snake Esports taking on Invictus Gaming at 8 a.m. ET on Thursday.
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OMG made short work of LGD Gaming with a 2-0 sweep on Sunday to kick off Week 2, Day 4 of the League of Legends Pro League in Shanghai.
In a rather standard draft phase, LGD Gaming (1-2, 3-4 match record) forced OMG top laner Hu "Xiyang" Bin onto Gragas while building a heavy push composition with strong crowd control. Getting counter-picks in the majority of the lanes, LGD was set up for a strong early game with the potential to snowball. However, after picking up first blood thanks to a nice gank from jungler Xie "Eimy" Dan's Elise, the team faltered. OMG's strong bottom lane, with AD carry Han "Smlz" Jin on Caitlyn and support Liu "Five" Shi-Yu on Lulu, lead to a midgame lead for OMG, pushing ahead of LGD through sheer mechanical skill. With four bans thrown the way of Xiyang and him still performing, LGD's strategy crumbled. Smlz shined in the Game 1 win, finishing with a perfect 7/0/3 KDA (kills/deaths/assists) as OMG went up 1-0 with a 34-minute victory.
In Game 2, LGD opted for a scaling composition while a confident OMG (3-0, 6-1 match record) placed its eggs in a mid-game teamfighting basket. Things got out of control for LGD quickly once again as OMG jungler Huang "Jiekou" Zi Xiang picked up an early first blood as Kha'Zix, snowballing out of control. After falling behind, LGD's only hope was AD carry Gu "Imp" Seung-bin on Kog'Maw, but Imp couldn't do much in the face of OMG mid laner Xie "Icon" Tian-Yu's surprise Lulu pick. While Lulu isn't exactly thought of as a high-damage mid laner, Icon used the Fae Sorceress to great effect, picking up a couple of solo kills on LGD mid laner Yu "Cool" Jia-Jun's LeBlanc and shutting down LGD's pick potential. LGD showed signs of life later on, winning a fight at 22 minutes, but was ultimately unable to claw its way back into the game. Firing on all cylinders, OMG took Game 2 around the 30-minute mark, securing the 2-0 series sweep.
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Royal Never Give Up overcame a weak start to take a commanding 2-1 series win over Newbee on Sunday during Week 2, Day 4 of the League of Legends Pro League in Shanghai.
Despite picking up first blood to kick off Game 1, Newbee (2-1, 5-2 match record) fell behind early as RNG's teamfighting composition held a minor lead through objective control. Everything changed when Newbee's top laner Bao "V" Bo's Fiora picked up a quadra kill at 26 minutes after RNG tried to get away with a sneaky Baron kill. Newbee's composition struggled late despite a massive lead, trying to play both a split-push and "protect the Kog'Maw" style with both suffering as the action slowed down. Still, AD carry Lin "Lwx" Wei-Xiang was a monster on the Kog'Maw, dishing out a game-high 31,300 damage to enemy champions and Newbee eventually took a 3-for-0 teamfight, closing out Game 1 in 45 minutes.
Perhaps it was the way Newbee took Game 1, or the fact that Newbee dared to challenge Royal Never Give Up (2-1, 4-3 match record) in the first place, but RNG came into Game 2 with fury and focus. Utilizing its early game pick/teamfighting composition, a three-minute first blood for AD carry Wang "y4" Nong-Mo's Jhin led to a 2,000-gold lead for RNG by 10 minutes, which only grew once mid laner Li "Xiaohu" Yuan-Hao's Taliyah got involved. After increasing its lead on the back of strong objective control and teamfight after teamfight win, RNG secured a 26-minute Baron, cracking open a stunned Newbee's base. Xiaohu was relentless in the 32-minute win, dealing a game-high 32,400 damage while posting a ridiculous 8/1/13 KDA (kills/deaths/assists) in a clinical RNG stomp.
RNG continued to bring the heat in Game 3, with a surprise flex pick that gave Gragas to support Shi "Ming" Sen-Ming. RNG capitalized on its early teamfighting composition with a 4-vs-4 skirmish in the bottom lane that went 3-for-0 in RNG's favor at eight minutes, handing Xiaohu's Orianna first blood and two assists. Newbee's pick composition got flattened by RNG's pressure, finally finding a kill at 23 minutes after RNG had built a 6-to-1 tower lead and an 8,000-gold lead. RNG's decisive objective control was crucial to all of its wins, shown here with a great Baron rush at 28 minutes, thanks to two Mountain Drakes and superior vision control. A 13,000-gold lead at 30 minutes might've made other teams cocky, but RNG remained vigilant late, waiting until Xiaohu's Orianna picked up a triple kill on the back of a great initiation from Ming, who finished with a 1/0/12 KDA, to take a 5-for-0 ace and a 34-minute Game 3 win.
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In a battle to keep out of the bottom of the table in Group B of the League of Legends Pro League, Suning Gaming took an action-packed 2-1 series over JD Gaming on Sunday in Shanghai.
JD Gaming (0-4, 3-8 match record) had a slow start to Game 1, but recovered beautifully with a 3-for-0 teamfight at 16 minutes. JDG's late game teamfighting composition ensured that it merely had to wait until AD carry Xu "Barrett" Qiu-Bin's Kalista got a couple of items before taking over the game, but that happened much earlier than anticipated. Suning Gaming (1-2, 3-5 match record) got demolished in a 4-for-0 fight at 28 minutes, giving a Baron over to JDG and putting crucial gold in Barrett's pocket. Ten minutes later, Barrett realized his destructive potential with the LPL's first pentakill of the year, finishing with a 10/1/3 KDA (kills/deaths/assists) as JDG took Game 1.
After looking lifeless in Game 1, Suning Gaming subbed in jungler Yang "H4cker" Zhi-Hao and drafted a 1-3-1 split pushing composition that worked wonders in Game 2. SNG took full control after an 11-minute 3-for-0 fight in mid gave it first tower gold, leading to a roughly 4,500-gold lead at 26 minutes. Despite being a bit afraid to commit to major objectives due to JDG's late game teamfighting composition, SNG still took a drake to give it the edge needed in the late game. With an Infernal, Cloud, and two Mountain Drakes, SNG finally took down its first Baron at 29 minutes, followed by a 39-minute Baron that all but sealed the deal. In a final desperation teamfight, substitute mid laner Dong "fenfen" Wei came up huge as Ekko, picking up a quadrakill to close out a 5-for-2 ace and a 40-minute SNG win.
Both teams drafted high damage compositions in Game 3, trading early kills in an even early game. SNG's pick composition started to pull ahead of JDG's pure damage composition as the game went on, though, thanks in large part to top laner Xie "XiaoAL" Zhen-Ying's Jarvan IV and support Kim "Yoon" Byung-yoon's Rakan, the two of which combined to initiate devastating teamfights for SNG. After jumping ahead at 17 minutes, Yoon showed how Rakan was meant to be played by dancing in and out of a 23-minute teamfight, helping SNG pick up a 5-for-1 ace. A short while later, XiaoAL landed a huge Cataclysm to give SNG a 4-for-0 teamfight while en route to a 5/1/15 KDA, allowing SNG to secure a Baron at 26 minutes. From there, Suning just pushed down the mid lane, killing JDG members on its way to JDG's Nexus and a sudden 29-minute win.
