After losing to Team WE in their opening match of the summer in Week 2, Invictus Gaming picked themselves up in Week 3 with victories over Rogue Warriors and Edward Gaming.

With coach Siu “Chris” Keung returning to IG after three years, the team is already starting to look a little different this summer — in a good way.

Top Esports retain possession of the number one spot as they stretched their perfect streak to four.


Week 3 results

  • eStar 1 – 2 Bilibili Gaming
  • Vici Gaming 0 – 2 Team WE
  • LGD Gaming 2 – 0 Dominus Esports
  • Top Esports 2 – 1 Oh My God
  • Rogue Warriors 0 – 2 Invictus Gaming
  • Edward Gaming 2 – 1 Suning
  • Victory Five 2 – 1 Bilibili Gaming
  • Royal Never Give Up 2 – 1 JD Gaming
  • LNG Esports 0 – 2 eStar
  • Team WE 1 – 2 FunPlus Phoenix
  • Oh My God 2 – 0 Dominus Esports
  • Top Esports 2 – 0 LGD Gaming
  • Suning 2 – 0 Rogue Warriors
  • Edward Gaming 1 – 2 Invictus Gaming

Match of the week: Edward Gaming vs Invictus Gaming

Both EDG and IG had lost to Team WE, and were each other’s toughest opponents going into Week 3.

IG put on the same lackluster performance they did in the LPL Spring playoffs and MSC in game one. The team fell in all lanes, even when Kang “TheShy” Seung-lok got camped top and switched lanes with Song “Rookie” Eui-ji, while EDG continued to ramp up their kill count.

Lee “Scout” Ye-chan on Twisted Fate was very effective against IG’s aggressive solo laners, who tend to move up to pressure their opponents.

Even though individual mistakes plagued IG in the early game, they still secured the first two dragons and the first Baron 23 minutes in.

With the Baron buff, they broke EDG’s bot lane base turret, but continued to trail in kills. With more map control, EDG took three cloud dragons to tie it up with IG, with both teams at Soul Point.

A late Baron by IG past 40 minutes into the game helped them to push into EDG’s base once again.

However, Zhao “Aodi” Ao-Di wanted none of that. A great initiator for EDG, he jumped in on Camille and completely split IG. This allowed Wang “Hope” Jie on Ezreal to reach the back line and, with the help of Yuumi, score a triple kill.

Riding on the momentum, EDG secured Cloud Soul and one last Baron, before crashing into IG’s base for a long, hard fought win.

Screenshot by Amanda Tan/ONE Esports

Recognizing the strength of Scout’s Twisted Fate, IG banned him in game two. In response, EDG banned Ezreal, Trundle and Varus on red side, which meant that Syndra was open for IG to first pick — a decision EDG would later regret.

Quiet for the first eight minutes of the game, EDG collapsed onto IG after Ning secured Rift Herald. Unfortunately, their initiation was flashed away by IG, who instead turned onto them in the pit.

Snowballing from this early lead, IG was in firm control of the game. Even when Aodi and jungler Yu “JunJia” Chun-Chia grouped up against Rookie in the top lane, Flash and Scatter the Weak bought enough time for Ning to arrive and help him out.

IG straight up won brawls in the mid game against EDG’s late game team composition. After picking off two and securing Baron, IG went on to close out game two in 24 minutes — a total contrast from game one.



Tied at 1-1, IG was on the red side for game three, which meant they could gain an edge through the last pick.

Screenshot by Amanda Tan/ONE Esports

Falling back to what worked in game one, EDG went for the Ezreal-Yuumi combo again. They also prioritized Zoe for Scout for more poke power. On the other side, IG got their hands on Aphelios for Ding “Puff” Wang, LeBlanc for Rookie, and Kayle for TheShy to go up against Ornn at top.

How game three played out was simple: EDG camped top and killed Kayle three times in 12 minutes, all while IG focused bot and secured dragons.

From then on, it was all about Rookie’s LeBlanc instantly nuking Hope’s Ezreal.

Patiently camping in unwarded brushes, Rookie repeated this strategy over and over again. Giving his team an advantageous 4v5, IG held onto their gold lead.

Securing Ocean Soul, IG also took three EDG members down with them, and pushed in for the series win.


Player of the week: Gao “Ning” Zhen-Ning

LPL fans had so many questions after finding out that former IG jungler Lu “Leyan” Jue left for Vici Gaming, and that no one was going to replace him.

This meant that IG was solely relying on Ning, who did not see much play time in Spring.

Surprising us all, Ning has been a lot more controlled in the opening weeks of Summer. Focusing on dragon and Herald as objectives, he has been playing towards mid and bot lane a lot more.

Against Rogue Warriors, he scored both MVPs in the 2-0 win. Against EDG, he was awarded for his performance in game two on Lee Sin, a signature champion he’s proven to excel on.

How far can IG go this year with Ning in top condition?


Standings

1. Top Esports (4 -0)
2. Victory Five (3-1)
3. Invictus Gaming (3-1)
3. Royal Never Give Up (3-1)
5. LGD Gaming (3-1)
6. Team WE (3-2)
7. FunPlus Phoenix (2-1)
8. Suning (3-3)
9. eStar (2-2)
10. Edward Gaming (2-2)
11. LNG Esports (2-2)
12. JD Gaming (1-2)
13. Vici Gaming (1-2)
14. Bilibili Gaming (1-3)
15. Oh My God (1-4)
16. Rogue Warriors (0-3)
17. Dominus Esports (0-4)

READ MORE: LPL Summer Week 2: Top Esports take the lead