For Day 2 of the 2021 LPL Summer Split, two teams from the top half of Spring Split faced off against two from the bottom half. In the first match, Rare Atom (RA) was up against Oh My God (OMG). Meanwhile, Edward Gaming (EDG), who went undefeated up until Week 6, and came third in Spring, fought Bilibili Gaming (BLG).
Viego goes 2-0 with Rare Atom
Considering OMG came 15th in Spring, RA was the favourite going into the series. RA even managed to knock out 2018 Worlds champions Invictus Gaming in Round 1 of playoffs. That being said, OMG made some roster changes before the split to try and find a better standing. Creme, formerly known as Crime, joined the roster, moving up from academy, as well as Able, formerly part of BLG Junior.
Sadly, it looked like these roster moves weren’t enough. Both games were close to even in the early game, save for Game 1, where RA had a lead in gold, and objectives. Once the mid-game hit, RA found multiple team fights which gave them even more advantages. Eventually, these advantages proved to be too much, as RA closed out both games with a victory.
Something to be noted in this game was Viego’s success with the team. With Viego being released from his chains for the upcoming splits, it’s no surprise teams are now picking him up. However, in this game, Viego saw success in two different roles. In-game 1, he was in the hands of Leyan, RA’s jungler. As for Game 2, he fell in the hands of Fofo, the team’s mid-laner. This just goes to show how flexible Viego can actually be when he’s played in the right hands.
BLG almost upsets EDG
As for the second match of Day 2 of the 2021 LPL Summer Split, it was almost a repeat of the IG vs SN series the day before. Emphasis on almost.
If you watch the LCS, you’ll notice a certain champion who played a big role in 100 Thieves’ win over both Cloud9 and Dignitas. Karma has been seeing more popularity, as a champion who could help buff her allies significantly. This same champion was a significant reason why BLG managed to pick up a win over the favourites, EDG. During the game, the casters commented how Serpents Fang should have been a must-build for the EDG AD Carry, Viper. Even after the game, they continued making such comments.
Game 1 was enough to merit an automatic ban to Karma for the next 2 games. But, just like it was mentioned above, the series was almost a repeat of the games just the day before. EDG, unhappy with the loss in Game 1, looked to win Games 2 and 3 as an answer. In Game 2, EDG did more than win, as they showed a dominant performance as if to vent their frustrations. They found kill after kill, objective after objective, ending the game with a 17-4 kill score.
Game 3 was, well, let’s just say there was a whole hour where no action happened. An issue about Hexflash was raised, and officials attempted to chronobreak the game. Sadly, it looked like the issue couldn’t be fixed, and the whole game was essentially remade, this time without Hexflash.
Now for real, Game 3 was even for most of it. Despite the dragon lead for EDG, gold was more or less even. However, BLG’s jungler, Weiwei, found a huge baron steal, and everybody escaped as well, save for Zeka, BLG’s mid-laner. Sadly, this only stalled the inevitable. One realm warm from Scout, EDG’s mid-laner, sealed the game for them, as they found 3 picks with it. While Flandre, EDG’s top-laner, stalled for time, the rest of the team pushed mid to end the game.
One massive takeaway isn’t from the games themselves, but from what occurred during the break. A lot of credit should be given to the team over to the LPL. While there were many breaks, which showed cinematics created by Riot, it also showed clips of LPL’s journey back to live event. Not only that, but credit should be given to Dagda, and Munchables. The two casters helped keep the stream entertaining, despite the roughly hour-long interruption.
