MAD Lions axe Excel, consolidate their place at the top of the LEC Summer Split regular season

MAD Lions pick their sixth win in a row by cutting down Excel two weeks before the end of the LEC Summer Split regular season. The team consolidated their place at the top of the leaderboard with nine wins and only three losses under their name. Despite the uncertainties displayed during the mid-game, MAD Lions dominated the match.

Excel and MAD Lions are considered two of the best teams to watch this season, so even before the match started, League of Legends fans knew that it would be packed with action. And this was also confirmed a few moments before entering the Rift when MAD Lions picked Draven for Unf0rgiven. 

With both drafts laid out, it was clear that the early game was going to be filled with aggressive plays and proactive movements across the map. In fact, within two minutes from the start of the game, MAD Lions obtained first blood in the bot lane thanks to a level 2 gank from Elyoya. But Excel punched back, scoring a kill in their favor on the other side of the map. However it did not prevent Unvf0rgiven’s Draven from picking up a significant gold lead in the game’s first few minutes. 

The aggressive bot lane accumulated a lot of advantages for MAD Lions, which allowed the rest of the team to gain confidence in their plays and gave Elyoya a lot of liberty with his movements around the map. With Nisqy and Armut both obtaining solo kills on their own, it seemed like MAD Lions were the sole owner of the Rift, but Excel proved them wrong by winning a skirmish in front of the Herald’s pit and obtaining the neutral objective to push the side lanes.

Furthermore, MAD Lions’ overconfidence makes them take unnecessary risks, and Excel punishes them for over-extending too far on their side of the map. The early advantages obtained at the beginning of the game dispersed in the mid-game, so much so that even Armut, in the post-game interview, described their gameplay as “really bad” during that phase.

But the game changed direction again in favor of the MAD Lions in the 27th minute when the team obtained the Baron buff and increasingly included more and more Unf0rgiven’s Draven in teamfights. In fact, the AD carry could boast 6K gold more than his counterpart 30 minutes in the game. With the Baron buff on their side, MAD began besieging Excel’s base, and even if not immediately, the defenses crumbled under Armut and Unf0rgiven’s attacks. Even though Excel put up a fight to save their base, they could not stop MAD Lions from conquering their sixth win in a row during the LEC Summer Split regular season. 

The synergy between MAD Lions’ players and their jungle was the foundation for constructing a clear game plan that brought them to victory despite a faltering mid-game. MAD Lions have now consolidated their position as the first-placed team in the standings, but next week they will have to face Rogue, the team many considered the best Europe has to offer now. Similarly, Excel will take on the current LEC champions G2 Esports in a battle for third place on the leaderboard.