In a back-and-forth series, Invictus Gaming ultimately came out on top with a 2-1 victory over Suning Gaming on Saturday in Week 4, Day 3 of the League of Legends Pro League in Shanghai.
Invictus (4-3, 9-9 match record) opted to open this series with a late game-focused team composition centered around the Kog'Maw, and it backfired in spectacular fashion. Suning grabbed the first blood with its own teamfight composition, and before you knew it, it had racked up five kills all across the map for a 4,000-gold lead by 15 minutes. Invictus had no answer whatsoever for Suning's blistering pace that led to a 7-to-2 kill advantage and 10,000-gold lead by 25 minutes, effectively destroying its late-game strategy. All it took at that point was a strong engagement a few minutes later that netted Suning three more kills and a path right into Invictus' base for the 28-minute Game 1 win.
While Suning (2-4, 8-10 match record) again opened up with another early first blood in Game 2, Invictus used its engagement-heavy composition to battle back in a major way. After a 2-for-2 fight across the map about 15 minutes in, Invictus found its moment to shine. It went into the Baron pit to bait Suning into a fight, and it worked perfectly. Invictus' composition was built for this fight, and it performed extremely well, with jungler Gao "Ning" Zhen Ning's Kha'Zix going off for four kills in the 4-for-1 teamfight that allowed it to also take the Baron. Invictus then went with the cautious approach and simply waited until the next Baron came up at the 36-minute mark before engaging in another teamfight win where Ning grab two more kills on his way to an MVP-garnering 8/0/2 KDA (kills/deaths/assists) that gave Suning the 36-minute win.
Suning went into the final game looking to do some major damage with a Kassadin pick for Chen "Fenfen" Huang, and it worked out well at first. Fenfen went 6/1/3 in the first 15 minutes to give his team an almost 4,000-gold lead before things went awry. Invictus demonstrated that the best things come to those who wait, as it simply bided its time until Suning pushed far too hard on a Baron secure 22 minutes in, which allowed Invictus to come up with four kills and a momentum shift. While Suning found a couple more kills soon after, Invictus had too much momentum and eventually found four more kills at 27 minutes for a gold lead that it never relinquished. Invictus then picked up the Baron and waltzed right into Suning's base to secure the 31-minute victory.
Invictus will next face Royal Never Give Up on Friday, July 14, at 5 a.m. ET, while Suning takes on DAN Gaming on Saturday, July 15, at 5 a.m. ET.