World Elite seem to be in tip top shape once again after an early slump left them performing less than ideal at the end of the Spring Split.

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OMG vs. RC

As any team facing off against a well-played Nunu, OMG would suffer a rough start and LoveLin would cause terror to OMG's jungle and bottom lane. After stealing away LoveLin's red buff without a fight, Nunu headed straight for San and Pomelo, acquiring kills for both players in the bottom lane, and unfortunate circumstance against a late game Vayne which normally suffers in the laning phase.

OMG would soon find their revenge by collapsing on Lucky's Ryze in the midlane to kill some prey of their own. While Wh1t3zZ would try to rush down and assist, the power of the jungler and two solo laners would crush Lucky without much of a fight. Meanwhile, Uzi and Tabe would push their advantage bottom and shoving the the lane to OMG's tower, utilizing the early double Doran's Blades and punishing the more gold starved bottom lane of OMG. After shoving the dragon and abusing Nunu's double smite, Royal Club found themselves a free dragon, putting them 1.4k gold in the lead at 7 minutes.



An early dragon for free was acquired by Royal Club. ​

While Royal Club continued to focus on bottom lane, OMG would give RC's Karthus a living hell, continuously collapsing onto him and shoving the middle lane. However, OMG's bottom lane would finally find revenge after a narrowly landed hook onto Fiddlesticks would bring him to his demise. Despite Royal Club's early destruction onto bottom and into the jungle, OMG found their way back into the game. Playing the kitewar allowed OMG to take a dragon and acquire an overwhelming successful result in their teamfight on dragon respawn.

Ultimately, OMG would show much stronger prowess and map control near the endgame. Though the scaling of Royal Club's composition was arguably greater, OMG's execution was a lot more solid and ended up taking a decisive advantage over Royal Club as the game panned out. The well played beginning of the 2nd week of the LPL came to a close with OMG showing their superiority in closing games out over Royal Club.

​ VOD (click for full-screen)

PE vs. LMQ

Positve Energy vs LMQ started off with LMQ making an aggressive play into Positive Energy's red buff, only managing to place a ward at red due to PE's anticipation of their antics. The game started with a slow level 1 and Elise starting red buff to avoid counter jungling later on in the game. The traditional solo queue method of laning would occur in this game with 1v1 top and 2v2 bottom. Despite Draven's dominant early game, Namei was getting outfarmed by almost double that of his counterpart on Tristana.

Several skirmishes would go off in various points of the map with both junglers trying their best to apply pressure, but everyone was simply weakened early on. It wasn't until Ryze braved the attempt to kill the much higher-farmed Kennen on PE that first blood was drawn in favor of LMQ. LMQ's aggression wouldn't end there as Tristana would leap on Namei's Draven and Sicca's Zyra both, goomba stomping them to their death and kicking the game off 3-0 for them.



Ah, the classic Tristana goomba stomp... ​

Relentless blow after relentless blow, PE would find themselves unsafe under their very own towers before the 10 minute mark with mid also being assaulted by Lee Sin and Zed. Though Positive Energy found themselves a couple kills, their composition was largely AP based which made it very easy for LMQ to itemize against them; Merc Treads and Hexdrinkers were being purchased against the board rendering PE's damage potential minimal. LMQ walked all over the jungle of PE, taking towers and roaming freely in their jungle.

A bit overzealous with their lead, LMQ would find themselves being picked off in the red side of their jungle, but even off the lead surmounted by the pickoffs, PE was only just then able to narrowly take down the middle outer turret. LMQ would continue to show where they don't belong and cause a lot of trouble for themselves, and you'd frequently see them getting caught in PE's jungle. After itemizing so much magic resist, Draven ended crawling back up with several kills, allowing them to make a massive comeback outside their base. Eventually, PE's utilized their diving potential to close the game out, despite the deficit.

​ VOD (click for full-screen)

iG vs. YG

The legacy between IG and their B team would kick off for the first time in the LPL with several comfort picks being locked in, including Pdd's top lane Zac. While Young Glory tunneled in on the early potential kill on Pdd in the top lane, Invictus Gaming went for a more objective focus by rushing straight to YG's blue buff to secure a very early and effortless steal, forcing a red start for Syz's Nautilus. They would then drive this advantage for a further early game lead.

Just 5 minutes into the game, iG would secure themselves 2 kills with the help of Illusion's infamous Elise play. The bottom kills were converted into an early tower advantage and thus a significant early gold lead for iG. This would only further be amplified by the free dragon they were able to take due to the pushed up lanes. With lanes as shoved as they were, YG had to send solo laners to split push and keep the minions at bay, which allowed Invictus Gaming to continue their assault on Young Glory's turrets.



A hopeful teamfight gone wrong for Young Glory. ​

In what would look like a comeback opportunity for Young Glory, Invictus Gaming quickly turned around the fight over the freshly spawned dragon buff, abusing their strength in long term kite fights that end up dragged out with Kid already having his iceborne gauntlet on Ezreal. The lead would advance to 23k to 17k in gold, putting Young Glory in a rough spot. Shen's split pushing wasn't put to much use either under the constant sieging of Invictus Gaming.

If any team knows how to properly close out a game, it's IG. Their towerdiving in this game was a great example to their confidence in having a lead and were able to tear apart YG even under the protection of their inhibitor towers. Taking it slow and steady and not being too overconfident, IG very cleanly took a win against their little brother team in a steady and relaxed pace, securing small objectives and being careful not to get caught out.

​ VOD (click for full-screen)

WE vs. EP

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To close out the night, Energy Pacemaker would show that even though they aren't doing so hot in the standings they would not shy away from making plays and being aggressive. With an excellent Thresh hook onto CaomEi, World Elite almost suffered an extremely early First Blood, but alas, only some summoner spells would be exchanged from both teams. World Elite countered this early aggression by rushing to EP's blue buff and taking it right off the bat, leaving World Elite actually ahead in the exchange.

The game would shift towards a Korean playstyle with both teams hard pushing the side lanes and going deep into the inner turret territory. Vision would once again be in favor for World Elite as they acquired a 5 minute dragon without suffering any casualties. They did, however, sacrifice mid turret for it as LaoPi roamed down from top after having his own opponent's tower destroyed.



An impressive Thresh hook almost left World Elite feeling sorry. ​

As the game progressed, Misaya's impeccable finesse would shine through following up with Troll's aggressive dives. Meanwhile, Energy Pacemaker would show some aggression of their own by diving Caomei on top lane and even sustaining a turret lead all the way up until this point. The first 5v5 encounter would happen in WE's red-side jungle where a 4 for 2 trade would go off with Weixiao's amazing blind Trueshot Barrage and kiting skills.

Eventually, World Elite's lead would steadily rise, but EP held on strong to their towers while sieging themselves. World Elite's strong poke and CC composition was becoming an increasingly painful problem for Energy Pacemaker, though. Able to poke EP to oblivion allowed WE to acquire free objective control and even a baron, which sealed the deal and allowed them to keep their advantage. Slowly but surely, World Elite would finish tearing Energy Pacemaker apart.

VOD (click for full-screen)

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RESULTS