MSI Day 3: Surprises in Shanghai
Day 3 of the 2016 Mid-Season Invitational had so many surprises! See some highlights below, head to Lolesports for more, and let us know about your favorite #MSI2016 moments on Twitter!
China's dragons reign supreme at MSI
If you were wondering what it means to have the home crowd advantage here at the 2016 Mid-Season Invitational, you’d do well to ask China’s Royal Never Give Up. They've comprehensively told every challenger in the tournament to sit back down.
It was only fitting that their first round sweep culminated in a match against the Flash Wolves of the LMS. Both teams looked exceptional in victories over Korean powerhouse SKTelecom T1 on Day 2, and were eager to carry their momentum into Day 3 for their top of the table clash.
In the end, it was RNG’s better team composition and ability to weather Flash Wolves’ early pressure that led to their 5-0 here in Shanghai.
But it wasn’t all smooth sailing for RNG. They lost tempo in the lane swap, which enabled an early roam from Karsa's Nidalee and SwordArt's Thresh. Xiahou didn’t stand a chance on a low mobility champion like Ryze, and he gave up First Blood to Karsa.
Flash Wolves were looking great -- but a clock was ticking. They’d drafted themselves into a corner where their one win condition was snowball the hell out of the game. Yes, they were winning, but was it by enough?
RNG kept their cool and pulled their way back into the game with some clutch team fights around Dragon. Slowly but surely, the incremental lead that the Flash Wolves had acquired early game was stripped back.
From there it was only a matter of time. Xiaohu's Ryze came online and Looper’s Poppy turned into an immovable rock at the front of the team. They used their advantages and superior team fighting to stomp Flash Wolves out of the game and stamp their authority on the competition.
So what’s next for RNG?
Or, more appropriately, what’s next for the rest of the competition?
The closest RNG have looked to losing here in Shanghai was against Counter Logic Gaming in their opening match -- though we'll scratch that off to perhaps not understanding the Aurelion Sol matchup. For now, it’s not about RNG. It’s about who in the competition can step up to take a game off them.
The Counter Logic victories keep coming
Well, that was truly counter logic.
One day you drop a game to SuperMassive of Turkey. The next day you’re taking a game off Korea’s SKTelecom T1. Such has been the story of the 2016 Mid-Season Invitational here at Shanghai. We could talk about how this is such an incredible shock and how no one could have predicted that something like this might happen.
But what’s the point?
If MSI has taught us anything thus far, it’s to expect the unexpected and that nothing is set in stone. Fates can change in the blink of an eye as Counter Logic Gaming have now experienced firsthand.
Losing to a Wildcard team is a tough thing to bounce back from. As Dumbledoge of SuperMassive told us yesterday, Turkey has nothing to lose. No one expects them to win. For Counter Logic Gaming it’s the complete opposite, and they’ve got the weight of North America on their shoulders.
“The most frustrating thing about the loss against SuperMassive is we knew exactly what they were going to do and we set up a plan to counter that. Then we just didn’t execute the plan," explains CLG's top laner Darshan. "We also messed up our picks and bans, so both of those things combined were a pretty hard thing to deal with. So we reset, went into the next day with a calm mindset, and didn’t let the loss from yesterday affect us.”
The calm mindset clearly paid off. Though, for a brief moment, it looked like their matchup against SKT was going to play out exactly how everyone would have predicted. Darshan gave away consecutive kills in top lane on Poppy and SKT were using their superior mechanical skills to squeeze advantages all across the map.
Yes, things looked like they were all going according to plan for SKT -- but that was when the counter logic kicked in. A team fight at Baron looked like CLG’s downfall, when Stixxay dove in like the hero North America needed. But he ended up nabbing a triple kill and stuffing any opportunity that SKT had to complete the Baron.
“I was pretty happy about that. After Xmithie got caught out and died, that fight happened, and then [Stixxay] got the triple kill which stopped them from doing Baron. If they would have got that Baron they would have won the game," says Darshan.
"So basically, Stixxay saved the game," he continued.
The game devolved into a battle between Stixxay and Faker. One, the "Unkillable Demon King" and two-time World Champion -- on one of his favorite champions, LeBlanc. The other, a rookie from Gilbert, Arizona who just finished his first competitive Split. Who would you put your money on?
That’s probably a matter of faith.
CLG were doing everything in their power to peel and keep Stixxay alive, even if it meant sacrificing themselves -- something indicative of CLG’s overall mentality.
In the end it was a poorly timed Baron from SKT that gave CLG the game winning team fight that they needed. Xmithie’s Nidalee chased down and cleaned up the fleeing members of SKT and CLG stormed the base for the win.
“It is something that we’ve started growing -- understanding what your role is in the game. We need to sacrifice ourselves so our carries can do damage, but sometimes you can sacrifice too much," says Darshan.
He continues, "It’s about finding that balance -- where you’re actually working together as a team, sacrificing at the rights times for the common goal of winning.”
Excited to see if the counter logic continues here at MSI? Stay tuned to Lolesports and hit us up on Twitter with the #MSI2016.
Europe's G2 Esports get on the MSI 2016 board
It took them until Day 3 of the 2016 Mid-Season Invitational, but Europe have finally done it.
With G2 Esports' win over SuperMassive of Turkey, Europe are finally not the only region without a win on the MSI board. Welcome to the club!
Coming into the match, it wasn’t exactly clear who the favorite was. SuperMassive had just defeated North America's Counter Logic Gaming and G2 were showing none of the form that saw them take home the 2016 EU LCS Spring Split.
Against SuperMassive, G2 finally managed to stop holding themselves back on the Rift. It was a scrappy game, with each team trading blow for blow, objective for objective. At times, SuperMassive looked in control. Then G2 would claw it right back. It wasn’t pretty -- but then bottom of the table clashes rarely are.
It was the team fighting comp that G2 put together that kept them in the game and helped them secure their first win of the tournament. The relief to finally get a win must have been total, and going into their matchup against Royal Never Give Up they were looking better than they had all tournament.
The match was close. Fans in Europe were holding their breath -- maybe, this could be the upset they had been waiting for? Unfortunately for G2, after a few late game misplays, it became apparent that it was not meant to be. G2 loss their 2nd game of Day 3 and their momentum was shot down.
The road doesn’t get any easier for G2 as they step into the second Round Robin. They still have a long way to go if they want to earn back Europe’s pride and secure a top four seed at Worlds for their region. But right now, Korea's SKTelecom T1 is (surprisingly) hovering right above them and the top 3 are pulling away from the rest of the pack
Though, if MSI 2016 has taught us anything, it’s to expect the unexpected. Just look at SKT. Show me a person who predicted SKT would be 2-4 at this point in the tournament and I’ll show you a liar.
If MSI can be turned on its head as much as it has, then surely there is a possibility that it can turn in the other direction. We'll find out what happens when the tournament continues returns for Day 4 tomorrow!
Enjoying MSI? Stay tuned at Lolesports and hit us up on Twitter with #MSI2016 to show your regional pride.
