Invictus Gaming bounce back in third week of 2021 LPL Spring Split, sweep eStar Gaming

The recent additions to the roster helped IG secure this clean sweep.
Photo via Riot Games

Invictus Gaming beat eStar Gaming 2-0 today in the third week of the 2021 LPL Spring Split following a devastating loss to Team WE last week.

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The entire roster looked much better today with TheShy playing meta champions in the top lane instead of his unorthodox comfort picks. This helped IG funnel resources into other lanes instead of having to focus on protecting TheShy’s aggressive plays.

The MVP votes for this League of Legends series went to the recent additions to IG: ADC Zhang “Wink” Rui and jungler Peng “XUN” Li-Xun. Wink played Miss Fortune during the first game, finishing with a 4/0/7 KDA and 78 percent kill participation, while XUN played Pantheon in the second game and produced an 11/2/5 scoreline.

IG put a lot of priority on picks with global ultimates, such as Pantheon and Twisted Fate, in the draft. ES responded with Galio to try to counter that tactic. While ES managed to shut down the TF and Pantheon, Wink was taking over the bottom lane on Miss Fortune. He had a 30 CS difference by 10 minutes against the opposing ADC, who was forced to sit under his tower to avoid dying.

With a fed ADC on the team, IG changed their plan and started grouping up instead of using a splitpush tactic with two global ultimates. They kept picking up dragons one by one before securing the Ocean Dragon Soul at the 31-minute mark. ES forced a teamfight after that, but due to an item difference and the power of the Dragon Soul, they lost the fight and game.

Screengrab via LPL

In the second game, IG put a lot of priority on Pantheon once again, which allowed them to dismantle the demoralized ES squad. XUN exerted a lot of pressure, securing four kills by six minutes. Once he got level six, he used his ultimate to gank the weakened lanes to extend IG’s advantage. ES slowly bled out and lost the second game in 23 minutes.

This win helped IG (2-2) climb up the 2021 LPL Spring Split standings to seventh place. They still have a long way to go before reaching the top of the ladder, but if they can continue to perform like they did today, IG could get there in a matter of weeks.

IG will be back on the Rift next week with two matches against Rogue Warriors and FunPlus Phoenix. While RW have looked lackluster and should be an easy win for IG, FPX have played well in their past few games with Nuguri leading his team to victory.


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Finance expert by the day, cooking enthusiast by the night. Found a passion for writing about video games last year.