LPL dark horse Rare Atom beat V5, push toward top of 2021 Spring Split standings

The team is currently on a eight game win streak.
Screengrab via Riot Games

While some teams like Top Esports, Suning, and JD Gaming are struggling to find their 2020 form this year, other squads have thrived. Rare Atoms, for example, are the latest dark horse in the LPL, making a claim for being one of the best teams this split after another convincing 2-0 win over Victory Five today.

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RA started the split shakily, winning only one out of their first four games. But since then, they’ve become one of the most fearsome teams in the LPL. Today’s League of Legends showdown highlighted their strong mental fortitude that allows them to stay calm in losing situations and find a way to climb back.

The MVP votes today were picked up by two rising stars, Leyan and iBoy. Eighteen-year-old jungler Leyan had a monstrous performance on Nidalee, dominating the early game and being present in nine out of the 10 kills his team had throughout the match. RA’s ADC, on the other hand, used Tristana to get ahead in the second game and keep his team afloat in what looked to be a sinking ship. His swift movements and mechanics helped RA come back from a 6,800 gold deficit.

This matchup between RA and V5 began with a dominant performance led by Leyan. His Nidalee outplays helped his team build a huge lead, which they converted into objectives, before finishing the game in 28 minutes.

In the second game, though, Leyan’s Nidalee was banned. Both teams completely changed their draft and V5 looked better this time around. They were able to trade blow for blow early on and then built a huge lead after a couple of successful teamfights. But iBoy stepped it up in the late game and carried his team with his marvelous Tristana performance, securing the clean sweep over V5.

Rare Atom, formerly known as Vici Gaming, had mediocre performances over the last two years, finishing in the middle or bottom of the standings each split. Following their rebranding, something seems to have clicked for the players, who are looking much better this split. While they weren’t widely expected to be one of the teams to make a claim for the title this split, they’ve slowly climbed up the standings win after win.

Following this victory, RA (9-3) are up to third in the 2021 LPL Spring Split standings. They’ll be back on the Rift on Saturday, March 13 with a match against the 2018 world champions, Invictus Gaming.


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