If you didn’t catch any of the MSI group stage matches the last four days, don’t fret. We’ve singled out the three most amazing matches and why you should at least catch these replays.
Why Korea shouldn’t Sona: IG versus SKT
When you have one of the best ADCs in the world in SKT’s Park ‘Teddy’ Jin-seong , do you really want to put him on Sona? After all, Sona is usually played as a support, so why risk it in a match against the 2018 World Champions Invictus Gaming (IG)?
After SKT locked in Sona and Taric for the bot lane, IG, in response, upped the tempo of their draft. Cheers were heard as the team last picked IG Gao “Ning” Zhen’s signature Camille which he earned a custom skin for after winning last year’s Worlds. Coupled with lane-dominant Draven, IG made early game dives onto Sona. A squishy support champion, she had no impact on the game after falling behind.
With their continued aggression, the LPL champions ended the game swiftly in 16 minutes and 1 second. It was the fastest game in the LoL competitive history and even broke a few of Riot Games’ tools.
Rampaging Buffaloes: PVB versus G2
Imagine being at the bottom of the table with a record of 0-4. Imagine playing on homeground, having the weight of the audience behind you and yet not winning a single game in three days.
That was Phong Vũ Buffalo (PVB).
That was also the same PVB that went up nine kills to zero; the same PVB who, for the first eleven minutes had a perfect record with a 4,300 gold lead over their opponents. Against G2 Esports, main jungler Hoàng “Meliodas” Tiến Nhật unleashed his full potential on the mainstage for the first time since Play-ins.
Ending the game with a KDA of 10/1/12, Meliodas was relentless on Rek’sai. PVB bulldozed over G2 in 31 minutes with 31 kills in typical, bloody Southeast Asian style.
For the first time since Group Stage begun, the Vietnam crowd could finally stand tall and be proud of their minor region team for crushing the European giants.
Happy go lucky: IG vs. FW
“When we play against [weaker teams], we try to play a… happier game… and play for fun a little more,” said IG’s Gao “Ning” Zhen in an interview with Riot Games before the group stages started.
And happy he was, pulling out the non-meta Ivern — the first ever at this MSI tournament.
Down 2,000 gold and seven kills, IG found themselves on the back foot against Flash Wolves. While Ning is usually the play-making jungler, Ivern changed the pace of the game for IG. Without early ganks and rotations on the map, Ivern functioned as a backline peeler for Xayah in team fights. However, the shields proved hardly enough against the wombo combo team composition that Flash Wolves had.
Just as we were wondering if IG was finally going to lose a game after an 8-0 run, Ivern’s ultimate skill was used, summoning Daisy, who then moves into the Baron pit one versus three. Stealing the buff, and killing two, Ivern’s Daisy secured the victory for IG . As a bonus, if you look closely, Ning had also bought a Mejai’s Soulstealer, which went up to almost full stacks after this hilarious play.
The Mid-Season Invitationals 2019 will return on May 17, with Invictus Gaming facing Team Liquid and SK Telecom T1 against G2 Esports on May 18.
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