It is inexorably approaching its conclusion the Mid-Season Invitationalthe 2nd most important international event of the year of League of Legends. This not only establishes the division between spring split and summer split, but will also come to elect the strongest mid-season team among all the champions of the 4 major leagues and 7 minor leagues (LCL was barred from participating).
And finally the day came, the decisive one, the one in which one of the most competitive rumble stages of recent years will come to an end and the 4 teams that will participate in the playoffs of the Mid-Season Invitational 2022 will be chosen. Undoubtedly, day 10 further shuffled the cards on the table and currently only one team is really out of the game. A team that hasn’t lost its fighting spirit in the slightest, on the contrary! Who will be able to advance in the end?
League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational 2022 – Day 11
G2 Esports (4-4) vs SaiGon Buffalo (1-7)
At this point I doubt I’ll see G2 in the playoffs. I’m sorry to say, but it is clear that it is not a problem related to the skills of individual players. Ok, the draft wasn’t wonderful, I didn’t really get that Anivia and Caps paid the dividends, but here we saw the G2 botlane collapse under the weight of inexperience. Flakked and Targamas are young, they are not used to these scenarios and they still don’t have the mental strength to get up from what they are suffering. In this game they have not played at all and I do not see how they can resurrect because BB, Jankos and Caps have given it all (oh my, the last no, but it was relatively his fault).
However I don’t want to focus too much on the elephant in the room because in fact the SGB deserve a comment on this further recovery. Ever since they got rid of the stress of having to qualify, they’ve become monsters. The game played here by Shogun / Taki and Beanj was masterful and to this must be added a Hasmed who on Aatrox awakens the worst nightmares of the European fans of League of Legends. There is also one thing that is not said enough about these SGBs and it is that they are the 2nd seed of the VCS. The GAMs slaughtered them in the home league. The GAM now scare me very much in view of the World Cup.
Evil Geniuses (4-4) vs PSG Talon (3-5)
Interesting draft for EG, with that Samira for Danny, but PSG are no less. They put Ornn on Hanabi, put Vex on Bay, and put Kai’sa on Unified. We’ve already seen what these two champions can do together and they have a huge wall to defend and climb behind. Qhis is a key clash for these two teams, but also for the G2 who are cheering very strongly on EG (it would be a practically guaranteed qualification for them). Well, I think EG actually stole something from G2 because these are the most G2 EGs I’ve ever seen. Beanj manages to do a little bit at first and then the EGs say stop.
A simply phenomenal performance by Impact, Inspired and jojopyun completely devastates PSG who do not know which fish to take. The keystone, however, is the absurd botlane fielded by Danny and Vulcan. Those anchors of the second were heat seeking, I have no other explanation. With such high-performance support alongside, Danny soon finds the necessary resources to wreak havoc with Samira and her infernal trigger on every single teamfight. EGs qualify for the playoffs and they do it in an absolutely dominant way!
SaiGon Buffalo (2-7) vs T1 (5-3)
This match has no actual ranking value (although the SGB could force a play-off between T1 and EG), but we have already seen how the SGB do not want to go to the bottom without making their opponents bleed profusely. Opponents who field a respectable draft with an Oner who wants to show Jankos how to play Poppy. But these SGBs have unlocked the third eye, it is evident. Beanj is a devastating beast and makes T1s bleed profusely who try to play by putting resources on Zeus and Faker, but without finding the desired success. However, the T1s are not the G2s and above all they do not have a tilted bottomlane.
They close in shell around a phenomenal Gumayusi and, in an attempt to reach it, the GBS overextend by falling repeatedly prey to Zeus, Oner and Faker. This allows T1s to regain lost resources, turn the game over to their opponents and put themselves in a position that is an understatement to define comfortable. Keria in all this proves once again how monstrous she is and phenomenal engagement after phenomenal engagement leads her team to triumph. A very convincing win in view of T1, but we can safely say that these SGBs have left the stage with their heads high.
PSG Talon (3-6) vs Royal Never GiveUp (7-1)
Another vital match to say the least. A PSG defeat here, the most anticipated result, automatically qualifies G2 Esports to the playoffs and eliminates the same PSGs. This could lead us to think that PSG will be more motivated than RNG, but it is a vision to be recalibrated. C.n the previous T1 win, a defeat of the RNGs here would put their top position at great risk. Undoubtedly the LPL representatives do not want to take this risk. The tension is felt as Ming chooses Karma to answer Kaiwing’s Renata. Bay also has his own Vex, but the RNGs don’t want to leave prisoners today.
Wei brings out a simply absurd performance and in midgame it is joined by Xiaohu’s wombo-combo potential on Galio. In all of this GALA scales and even when PSGs start looking for timid answers, the gap generated by the RNGs just seems too much.. PSG are desperate, but they simply can’t do anything. Summoner’s Rift belongs to the LPL representatives who achieve a victory that is an understatement to call it overwhelming. A scorching defeat instead for PSG who are seen snatching the playoffs from hand by a whisker!
Evil Geniuses (5-4) vs G2 Esports (4-5)
The G2s breathe a big sigh of relief now. The defeat of PSG made them qualify automatically and it is a nice weight to take off their shoulders. This match is only partially of value to them. On the other hand it has a lot of value for EGs who if they win here and after T1 lose, could force a tiebreak for 2nd place. A tiebreak that would surprisingly see them as favorites. Their problem is that the EGs are a bit of a comfort zone for the G2s who have already beaten them a thing like 7 times? Of the G2 who now, playing more carefree, could recover that mental so long pursued.
The draft certainly rides expectations with a Tryndamere mid for jojopyun and a Galio support for Vulcan to which the G2 respond with BB’s Jax (swapped with Caps on Gwen) and the duo Kai’sa / Pyke for Flakked and Targamas. EGs play really well with a phenomenal early for Inspired, but the problem is that Flakked and Targamas get online and when this bottom lane grinds, there is no room for anyone.
In all of this G2 exploit EG’s trickery in draft in their favor, using Caps and Jax as a double push on sidelane while Jankos and Flakked create global pressure. A strategy that pays off in midgame where a Caps 0/4 finds a shutdown on an Inspired 4/1, something that shouldn’t happen. The EGs try the baron of despair and here Flakked finds the quadrakill that gives the G2 a very convincing victory. Welcome back G2!
T1 (6-3) vs Royal Never GiveUp (8-1)
One final rumble stage fight that could be a spoiler and a preview of the final of the Mid-Season Invitational 2022. It is useless to deny it. The T1s and the RNGs are the favorites to lift that cup, especially the seconds that, after that one defeat, have devastated every single opponent they have faced. The T1s are here called to prove that they can make them bleedAnd. Faker gets his hands on his Ahri, but that’s Gangplank it’s Bin and GALA has his Aphelios, promptly stolen from Gumayusi’s hands. Pure chaos versus the ability to dispel it.
Wei and Xiaohu come up with a good early, but Oner, Faker and Gumayusi respond in kindthanks to a fantastic pressure on the Summoner’s Rift ed a Keria who continues to be inhumane on Nautilus. The challenge soon becomes as exciting as it is uncertain, not a game that disappoints expectations. However, the engagements of Oner and Keria are absolutely surgical and allow T1s to take control of a fabulous match thus sealing with a baron and a carnage that are worth the victory of revenge! What an absolutely sensational performance by the T1s! These playoffs will be pure fire!