Schalke 04 vs SK Gaming

Schalke 04 ("S04") started off the weekend with a fairly clean win over SK Gaming ("SK"). Both teams utilized very different strategies, but in the end, S04 played much better to their 5v5 win condition. The match started off rough for them, with Crownshot killing Upset for First Blood and Selfmade ganking Odoamne to get a kill for Sacre. But Trick made some successful ganks in the top and mid lanes to even these plays out. On top of this, S04 took the Rift Herald and used it to take some tower plates and found multiple picks in the mid-game to further their lead.

At around the 20-minute mark, S04 started utilizing their composition's great engage tools. With them, they won team fights and picked off SK members to establish control over the map. At 21 minutes, S04 did this to kill two from SK and take their first Baron. This Baron did help knock down a couple of towers, but S04 couldn't crack the base yet. So they waited, and at 27 minutes they chose their moment. They caught out Selfmade and easily secured the second Baron. With this, they knocked down multiple towers and all three Inhibitors before sieging and destroying SK's Nexus.

QUICK STATS:

Time: 32:51

Kills: 11-5

Turrets: 11-5

Gold: 63.1k-55.8k

Dragons: 1-2

Barons: 2-0

Rogue vs Excel Esports

Excel Esports ("XL") pulled off a much-needed upset over Rogue ("RGE"). They were in the driver's seat for nearly the entire match, and though they tripped up a couple of times, their win was fairly convincing. They began by four-man diving RGE's bottom lane, where they picked up First Blood but traded a kill back. In the top lane, Expect was dominating Profit. Caedrel pushed this advantage by using his Rift Herald top, giving Expect tower plates and the First Tower bonus. At 14 minutes, XL found a massive team fight victory at the dragon pit, where they Ace'd RGE with no casualties.

XL was in a great position as they pushed further into RGE territory, but RGE showed a spark of hope. They engaged a team fight in the middle lane, layered their ultimates perfectly, and Larssen killed four from XL to secure the Quadra Kill. But XL was still ahead, and this manifested at 26 minutes. Here, XL started up the Baron and RGE contested. A team fight ensued and XL came out on top four-for-one in kills and with the Baron. This Baron allowed XL to take down the middle Inhibitor, kill four from RGE and finish off their Nexus.

QUICK STATS:

Time: 30:28

Kills: 7-16

Turrets: 1-9

Gold: 47.6k-61.0k

Dragons: 1-3

Barons: 0-1

Misfits Gaming vs Fnatic

Misfits Gaming ("MSF") did the unimaginable by defeating Fnatic ("FNC") with their Premier team. Honestly, it wasn't even close, as MSF dominated FNC at every point in the game. Kirei killed Broxah for First Blood and MSF continued to bully Broxah, killing him once more. Next, they turned towards the top lane, where they killed Bwipo and used the Rift Herald for plates. At 13 minutes, FNC did find a team fight win in the middle lane, but MSF took the First Tower bonus bottom and applied more pressure with their advantage.

MSF continued to choke FNC out in the mid-game by diving Bwipo and taking towers. Then, at 20 minutes, a team fight broke out at the Baron pit. MSF killed three FNC members here but didn't take the Baron yet. In the next few minutes, both teams found picks as they danced around the Baron. MSF ended up rushing it and securing it, taking a winning fight for it afterward too. MSF pushed this lead even farther and ended up destroying two Inhibitors in the next few minutes. Lider solo killed Nemesis in the top lane, which led to a full-blown team fight where MSF killed three. It took a mere minute after this for MSF to claim FNC's Nexus.

QUICK STATS:

Time: 31:14

Kills: 26-13

Turrets: 10-3

Gold: 65.0k-58.8k

Dragons: 1-1

Barons: 1-0

Splyce vs Vitality

This fourth game was an absolute slugfest, but Splyce ("SPY") defeated Vitality ("VIT") in the end. SPY accumulated an early gold lead by playing through their bottom lane, getting them kills and setting them up to take towers. They took the First Tower bonus and multiple dragons, and they had a decent lead, but then disaster struck. At 20 minutes, VIT won a team fight at the dragon pit four-for-one and secured their first Baron buff. With it, they destroyed all the towers outside of SPY's base and were solidly in the lead.

And they stayed in the lead for a while. VIT took the second Baron at 27 minutes after finding two picks, which they used to destroy two Inhibitors. But the game didn't end. A third Baron spawned, which VIT claimed once again. SPY asserted more pressure though and defended their base well, repelling VIT away. At 35 minutes, SPY killed the Elder Dragon but VIT took both of their Nexus towers. SPY maintained their strong defense as, at 40 minutes, the fourth Baron spawned. VIT rushed it and secured it, but SPY made great moves across the map to ultimately kill four VIT members. With this man advantage, SPY seized the opportunity to push straight through VIT's base and demolish their Nexus to finish this long, back-and-forth match.

QUICK STATS:

Time: 41:50

Kills: 19-18

Turrets: 8-11

Gold: 78.9k-80.5k

Dragons: 4-2

Barons: 0-4

G2 Esports vs Origen

The day finished off with G2 Esports ("G2") taking an easy win over Origen ("OG"). They played their fast-paced, aggressive style and absolutely crushed their opponents. Wunder started it off with a solo kill in the top lane on Alphair for First Blood. After that, Perkz got two kills against his lane opponents in two separate plays. Next, skirmishes broke out in the middle and top lanes, where G2 came out ahead in kills both times. OG desperately tried to make plays and counter G2's aggression but wasn't equipped to do so.

They secured the First Tower bonus in the bottom lane at 15 minutes, then moved around the map to take all of the outer towers. G2 never slowed down and read every move OG made. When OG tried to dive Wunder top, Caps Teleported in and killed Alphari and Kold. Meanwhile, his team dove and killed Patrik in the middle lane. This allowed them to easily secured the Baron buff. Empowered with this, G2 ran straight through the middle lane, smashed all the structures and found more kills. OG's Nexus fell swiftly after G2 decided to stop fountain diving their opponents.

QUICK STATS:

Time: 23:53

Kills: 18-5

Turrets: 7-1

Gold: 48.1k-35.7k

Dragons: 1-1

Barons: 1-0

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