Team WE reverse swept former League of Legends world champions Invictus Gaming today to close out the second week of the 2021 LPL Spring Split.
Jungler Jiang “Beishang” Zhi-Peng was crucial in Team WE’s domination in the second and third games, popping off on Taliyah and Pantheon. His combined KDA in the winning games was 12/1/12, showing how strong he can become if he gets an early lead. His impressive performance earned him both MVP votes.
This series began with a dominant first game from the IG roster. By the 10th-minute mark, the team was ahead by 3,000 gold due to their early neutral objective control and four-kill lead. As the game went by, the pace slowed with teams looking for a more defensive playstyle. But one mid-game fight won by IG helped them secure the first win of the series with jungler Peng “XUN” Li-Xun receiving the MVP vote for his Lillia.
Following the loss in the first game, Team WE adjusted their composition, focusing on picking up the Taliyah jungle. Following her recent buffs, she became a priority pick in all regions due to how much pressure she can output combined with her high mobility.
Beishang used the champion perfectly, helping his team secure neutral objectives and slowly grow a gold lead. IG couldn’t stop the bleeding and were falling behind in gold and experience with time, which signaled their demise. While IG did try to fight for the fourth drake, they lost most members in the process, from which Team WE grew an unstoppable lead and equalized the series.
The third game draft was full of surprises with IG picking up Jayce top and Lucian for the bottom lane, two unconventional picks in the current meta. Team WE picked up Pantheon for Beishang, who proved that he can carry with strong junglers. He used the champion to camp TheShy in the top lane and by the 10-minute mark, TheShy had three deaths and fell behind.
With no pressure from enemy top lane, Team WE roamed around the map and picked up kills on other lanes alongside neutral objectives, before finishing the game and the series after a 24-minute teamfight.
Team WE climbed to first and is tied with RNG in the 2021 LPL Spring Split standings. They have two easy matchups next week in ThunderTalk Gaming and LNG Esports. Based on their current performance, Team WE should easily take both these down and cement their leader position in the standings.
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