Invictus Gaming beat Victory Five today in a convincing 2-0 series to stop their recent losing streak in the 2021 LPL Summer Split.
The 2018 League of Legends world champions had lost their three previous matches and looked shaky against teams at the bottom of the standings. With only three weeks left in the split, this win was crucial for IG to remain in the battle for a playoff spot. They were knocked out in the first round of the Spring Split playoffs and have no championship points compared to other teams. If they fail to make it to the playoffs this summer, they’re going to miss this year’s World Championship.
The MVP votes for today’s games were picked up by IG’s solo laners, Rookie and TheShy. Both players showed up in a big way today and carried the series. The mid laner used LeBlanc in the first game to stomp his laning opponent before roaming around the map and picking up easy kills, while also snowballing his allies. The top laner used Gwen in the second match to perfection, picking up kills in lane and then becoming a huge splitpush threat throughout the entire game.
In both matches, IG were methodical and didn’t go for a lot of aggressive plays that might have cost them later on. Instead, they focused on farming up for their core items before starting their rampage against V5, who were inferior in terms of mechanics and teamfight prowess today. Even if IG engaged in a situation where they were outnumbered, they always managed to come out ahead due to their veteran experience. It seemed like they were in total control of both matches and IG picked up a clean series win to bounce back from their recent losing streak.
Related: Here are the 2021 LPL Summer Split standings
IG (4-7) climbed to 13th place with this victory and are still on the brink of missing the playoffs. With the fierce competition during this split of the LPL, IG have a difficult path ahead if they want to make it to the playoffs and have a chance at qualifying for this year’s World Championship.
V5 (0-11), on the other hand, have been eliminated from playoff and Worlds contention after a disastrous split. They’ve managed to win a single game throughout the split, but they weren’t able to transition that into a series victory. Thus, V5 are winless and in the last place in the 2021 LPL Summer Split standings. Going into next year, it’s unlikely that we’ll see the same V5 roster compete.
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