Pentanet.GG Secures Their First Win of MSI Rumble Stage

The 2021 Mid Season Invitational is close to closing the Rumble Stage, with six teams duking it out to advance to semifinals. Only four teams get to move on, while two will go home. Coming into Day 4, Pentanet.GG and Cloud9 occupied those bottom two spots with 0-6 and 1-5 scorelines, respectively. Coincidentally, the two organizations were billed to face each other as the final match of Day 4.

As the day went on, fans grew anxious that the LCS representatives would continue to disappoint. With Royal Never Give Up and DWG KIA winning over PSG Talon and MAD Lions in the first two games, Cloud9 had less ground to cover to catch up to the third and fourth place teams. In Game 3 of the day, Cloud9 then secured the win over RNG. This was a huge win, giving North Americans hope that C9 might go the distance.

Playing Spoiler

However, Pentanet.GG was quick to kill that hope. They came into the Mid Season Invitational as ultimate underdogs–Riot literally dissolved Oceania’s pro league at the end of last year. They got placed into a group with China, Vietnam and the CIS region’s best teams, an uphill battle for an emerging emerging region.

But the stars aligned, as the VCS had to sit out the event altogether, Riot kept the group with only three teams, and Pentanet.GG defeated Unicorns of Love to make it out of Group A. The Rumble Stage was looking like even more of a slaughterhouse for PGG, only facing the number one seeds from the best regions around the world. The first few days were rough, but this C9 matchup on Day 4 couldn’t have been any better.

Game Recap

First Blood occurred at the Rift Herald around 10 minutes. C9 started up the objective, but PGG burned down Blaber’s Lillia enough for Preadyth to snipe him across the map with Senna. C9 was still able to secure the first two dragons, but fell behind roughly 2,000 gold by time the turret plating fell. At the third dragon, BioPanther soloed down the Rift Herald, which they forced mid lane. C9 engaged onto them, but PGG instantly killed Perkz and Vulcan. PGG turned to take dragon and ballooned their lead to 3,000 gold.

The first big teamfight broke out in mid lane, as PGG continued pressuring the tier two turret. C9 engaged onto Chazz’s Viktor, who was Devoured by Decoy and ulted by Praedyth’s Senna to survive. The teams went one-for-one and PGG took down the turret. All of PGG’s control earned them another Infernal Drake.

The next big fight happened in mid lane, as well. C9 thought they caught Praedyth and Decoy out on their own, but an expertly timed Devour denied the engage. Fudge flanked with Unstoppable Onslaught, but BioPanther body-blocked. He turned onto the carries and PGG killed three members for zero. PGG turned onto the Baron, split up the map and pulled off a 1,600 Baron power play before securing their third Infernal Drake.

The game ended after C9 approached Pentanet.GG as they started Baron. Both teams threw everything at each other, but no one went down. PGG recalled with low health bars then returned to gain mid control. C9 started Baron themselves, secured it and got out with only Fudge falling. PGG took Infernal Soul and reset. As C9 pushed with Baron buff, PGG caught Blaber, Zven and Vulcan in the bottom lane, forcing Perkz and Fudge to channel Teleports. PGG killed three and had enough to end the game.

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