While a few matches of week two haven’t been played yet, we are getting closer to Week 4, marking the halfway point of spring split. Today, there will be a look at the remaining matches of Week 3, as well as the first five days of Week 4.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Two teams with fairly opposite momentums will start off Saturday’s matches. It’s been struggle street for Dominus, with their most recent loss being a clean 0:2 loss to World Elite on Thursday. With one victory in the split, early on versus LGD, Dominus need to begin to make a stand if they want to remain close to the top teams. OMG, on the other hand, are sitting in a much better spot. After a rough start, they have been on fire, with a 3-1 record ever since the return of the LPL. Their latest victory was versus Bilibili on Monday, in a close 2:1 series.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
The opposite of OMG, Bilibili started the split off strong, but have fallen to the wayside. They are yet to win a game with the return of the LPL. They are 0 and 2 this week, losing to both OMG and JDG. On the other side of the rift, eStar did lose their first match of the split last week vs EDG, but have since recovered and crushed V5 on their Monday match. With BLG’s drafting being brought into question vs eStar’s seemingly much better drafting, on paper, this seems like a done deal. The question is, can eStar continue to show the same level of play, or will BLG rise to the occasion?
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Two teams that many pictured as favorites to win it all will do battle to wrap up Saturday’s matches. Invictus Gaming has been exactly that so far, Invictus. Having only dropped 3 games in 5 matches, Invictus Gaming seem to have returned to form. TOP, on the other hand, have tripped up quite a bit. Last Sunday, they fell to LGD, as were the first team to do so. This week, they won vs Vici, but it wasn’t a convincing victory. While the talent is there, it seems like the team hasn’t fully clicked as a single unit.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
To begin our Sunday matches, Rogue Warriors will face V5. Both teams are in dire need of wins. In fact, V5 remain the only team to not have won a single game yet this year. Their latest loss was vs LNG, and they did manage to take a game, which was their first game win of the split. RW, on the other hand, have looked a little bit better. After making IG’s life harder then it should last week, they took down EDG this week. In their last match, however, they got crushed again, this time by LNG. The Warriors need this win to try to not fall too far behind the middle of the pack teams, and V5 needs a win in general, and this might be their best shot.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
LGD and Suning will face off in a match between two teams that still need to find themselves. Suning have looked like a mixed bag this split so far. They win some convincing matches, then they suffer a heavy loss, and have been all over the place. LGD, on the other hand, started off very slowly. Being crushed in the first few matches, it wasn’t till last week when they came back online. Taking down TOP in a convincing 2:0, LGD got their first win of the split. This week, they lost to IG, but it was a much closer series then many would have predicted a week ago.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
In a rematch of Summer 2019, we close out Week 3 with FPX and RNG. Both teams lost their matches in Week 1, but have been on fire ever since the LPL came back. FPX have demolished every team they faced so far, with only JD Gaming being able to take a game win off of them. RNG also seemed to be firing on all cylinders. TOP, OMG and WE all fell to RNG after the break. It wasn’t until this Friday that RNG fell again, this time to Vici Gaming. While the loss could be credited to Vici playing much better then they did in recent times, a loss is a loss. With both teams being on the upswing, the prediction falls to the one who hasn’t lost yet.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
TOP Esports vs Dominus will be the first match of Week 4. TOP has been struggling a bit recently, having clunky games and making plenty of mistakes. Dominus has also been struggling, but in their case, its a synergy issue. Trying to fit in Xiye, the team seems to not know how to play around him. And while they do have Xiaowei, previously Twila, he isn’t as good as Xiye is and could end up being a liability. Both teams will be looking to take this match and hopefully use it as a springboard for momentum, moving forward in the split.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepdia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
In a rematch of the battle for third place in the Demacia Cup, Vici take on EDG. EDG are currently 3-3 and seem to win one match and lose the next. Their latest match was a 2:1 victory vs JDG, while the one before that was a 0:2 loss to Rogue Warriors. Vici, on the other hand, has been having an abysmal time since the return of the LPL. They lost all their matches since the return of the LPL, until Friday, where once again, Forge was able to play in the mid lane. With the young prodigy back on the roster, they were able to dismantle RNG, a team that looked almost unstoppable until Friday.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
In a top of the table match, IG will do battle with eStar to close out Monday’s matches. As previously mentioned, IG are yet to lose a match, and while eStar did lose one match versus EDG, they have been fairly consistent in their playstyle. With Wei and Crying as their main carries, they often leave Wink on clean up duty alongside ShiauC, who has remained a standout support so far this split. However, being up against IG is a different ball game. Rookie has been back on point this split, and Puff and Southwind have been arguably the best bot lane duo so far.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Suning take on LNG to kick off Tuesday’s matches. While Suning still seems to be lacking a team identity, possibly due to the number of new players, with many of them being green, young players, LNG has started to ramp up for the split. Currently sitting on a 3 game win streak, LNG has started to distance themselves from the bottom of the table teams. While the argument could be made that their opponents weren’t the most challenging teams, being Rogue Warriors, V5 and BLG, it’s still impressive a previously inconsistent team has managed to build up a winning streak.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Rogue Warriors will face World Elite on Tuesday. World Elite has been an interesting team to watch so far this split. If they are outclassed even if just a little, they fall apart completely, leading to a crushing loss. However, if they manage to muscle out their opponent, they crush them out instead. And that has been the story of WE so far, demolish or be demolished. Up against the might of WE, Rogue Warriors will have to pull out all the stops to not fall to World Elite, who has been crushing the lower half teams.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
OMG have been on fire so far. After being destroyed by JD Gaming in week 1, they came back with a vengeance from the break, and have been on a rampage ever since. With Icon returning to form, alongside H4cker and Smlz looking alive again after the past few splits, OMG seem like a top tier team. Victory Five, on the other hand, have been at the bottom of the barrel. With the entire roster seemingly underperforming, it will take a miracle and a half to take down OMG.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
JD Gaming will face TOP in the second match of Wednesday’s games. If this match was coming into Week 2, it would have been insanely hype, with both teams having an amazing Week 1 performance. However, coming into Week 4, this match has lost a lot of its shine. With TOP stumbling and tripping over teams they shouldn’t, this match is a must-win to prove that they are back on track. JDG, on the other hand, hasn’t been performing the best either, with close wins over bottom of the table teams, and a loss to EDG.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
In what seems to be a match between two opposite teams, BLG will face FPX. BLG have been on a downward slope, losing all of the matches since the return of the LPL. FPX, on the opposite side, have crushed every team since the return of the LPL. Both teams also had opposite starts, with BLG starting out the LPL 2 and 0, while FPX started out 0 and 2. The skill is there for BLG, they have excellent players, each with name and potential to that name. The synergy is where it seems to be falling apart. Can they regroup in time to take down FPX?
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
To start off Thursday’s matches, Rogue Warriors will take on Dominus. This game, more than any of the games that either of these teams play above, is crucial. As mentioned before, both of these teams seem to be bottom of the table teams. That said, one of them will have to win this series, and the team that does will have a much better chance of making it into playoffs. Not to mention, in a long and rough league, emotional momentum can carry a team forward. So this match is arguably the most important match that either these teams have played so far.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
To cement themselves as a top tier team, World Elite must take down Suning. Since the return, World Elite has suffered defeat at the hands of two teams, RNG and FPX, both being top tier and respectable teams. With JD Gaming, TOP and other teams that did well early struggling, it’s WE big chance to distance themselves from the other teams sitting at the top of the league. Against them, Suning will be looking to use their individual talent, which has carried them to victory in the past, to carry them to victory once again. While the synergy may not be there, Suning has some incredible talent, that shouldn’t be overlooked.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
A year ago, this match would have been written off as a joke. Both teams looked terrible in 2019, finishing the year with less than 15 wins combined in both summer and spring splits. That being said, both teams are looking renewed in 2020. The start of the split was rough, but both teams seem to be crawling back, hoping to start a winning streak before it’s too late for playoffs. LGD got their first win off TOP, and Vici broke their losing streak vs RNG. With only a half a split to go, the time is now to start the climb to the top.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
In a match featuring two of the hottest teams right now, FPX and OMG will kick off Friday’s games. With both teams quickly gaining ground after a poor start, this top of the table clash should be a good one. With similar hero pools but opposite playstyles, DoinB vs Icon has been a rivalry that has lasted many years now. At the peak of his career so far, Icon was known as “The Hitman” due to his solo kills on every Chinese mid laner, except for DoinB. DoinB managed to escape his wrath, due to him often not playing in lane, and preference for roaming.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
In another upper table clash, LNG will face eStar. Prior to the start of the split, many had both teams as bottom of the table teams. Well, as the league currently stands, both teams will be finishing the first half of the LPL 2020 Spring Split in the top half of the league. Both even managed to build up respectable win streaks, with eStar being the team that held on to a 100% win rate the longest, other than IG. Xx and Maple seem to form a formidable jungle/mid duo, for the side of LNG. Maple is no stranger to having an aggressive jungler at his side, and after a rough 2019, 2020 seems to be the year he returns to glory.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
In the last match that will be mentioned today, RNG and JDG play for all the marbles. RNG returned to the LPL with a vengeance, having suffered a 2:1 loss in Week 1 to BLG. They wiped the floor with WE and TOP, and while OMG did put up a fight, they still took them down. It was Vici, the previously 1-4 team at the bottom of the table, that broke RNG’s back, ending their win streak. JDG, had a good start to spring, but fell to FPX on return, and have looked inconsistent ever since. With ups and downs and thrown games, JDG have begun to see the top teams drift further and further away from them.
And with that, the look at the end of Week 3 and the start of Week 4 is concluded. Come back next Friday to read about the end of Week 4 and start of Week 5.
You can ‘Like’ The Game Haus on Facebook and ‘Follow’ us on Twitter for more sports and esports articles from other great TGH writers.
Follow JJ on Twitter: @NeonColouredJay.
