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LGD predictably took care of business against I May in a 2-0 sweep Saturday to kick off Week 5, Day 3 of the League of Legends Pro League in Shanghai.
Game 1 of the series quickly devolved, but LGD (5-3, 12-9 match record) managed to stumble fewer times than its opponent. I May (1-7, 4-15 match record) once again was extremely disorganized, leading to a predictably disjointed macro game. The one thing I May wanted to do was contest neutral objectives with all-in fights, however by the mid game the team was extremely underpowered, which made winning teamfights virtually impossible. That led to a solid lead for LGD by the 20-minute mark, but the game for another 20 minutes, which almost allowed I May to claw its way back into the contest. The game breaker for LGD was mid laner Yu "Cool" Jia-Jun on Orianna, who never wasted a shockwave ultimate and pretty much single handedly assured his team would not lose teamfights.
LGD finally put IM out of its misery after scoring an ace near the 40-minute mark and cleaning up the Nexus soon after.
When the teams loaded onto the Rift for the second time, it seemed LGD had shaken the indecisiveness that slowed it during Game 1. Not five minutes into the contest, LGD was already ahead in each lane, even before jungler Xie "Eimy" Dan, on Zac, could make his first gank. LGD broke the game open with a heady maneuver on the back of a lane swap. Instead of sending its bottom lane to the top, LGD instead surprised I May's mid laner, Ha-woon "Athena" Kang, with a four-man collapse for first turret.
With the core of the map opened, LGD was able to control neutral objectives and successfully took the match's first two drakes as well as Rift Herald. When Baron entered the Rift, LGD would quickly ace I May before running off with the buff, then rushed down the rest of I May's base in a decisive 27-minute victory.
I May will attempt to earn its second victory of the Summer Split against SN Gaming next Friday at 5 a.m. ET, while LGD will look to continue its climb towards a playoff spot against struggling Snake Esports next Saturday at 2 a.m. ET.