For complete League of Legends recaps, standings and stats, click here.
Snake Esports continued its ascent in the League of Legends Pro League on Thursday with a 2-0 sweep of Invictus Gaming to close out the first day of Week 8 in Shanghai.
Snake Esports (3-9, 9-21 match record) probably didn't expect to clean sweep Invictus Gaming (6-6, 14-16 match record), but IG's form in this series was a far cry from normal. Snake earned a Game 1 win, no doubt about it, as it drafted a teamfighting composition with a late-game edge against a very passive IG lineup.
Invictus struggled to make the correct calls in just about every stage of the game throughout the series. The team looked helpless when behind and unsure when ahead. That's not to say that Snake thoroughly outplayed Invictus, since IG held a massive lead in the midgame of Game 2, but its failure to capitalize on early momentum against a team currently ranked last in its group can't feel good.
Snake was carried by mid laner Liu "Zz1tai" Zhi-Hao. Zz1tai had an amazing statistical night as he carved IG apart and out-carried IG star mid laner Song "Rookie" Eui-jin with consistent ease. Zz1tai's Orianna in Game 1 landed crucial Command: Shockwaves to win fights for Snake, and he posted a flawless 5/0/6 KDA (kills/deaths/assists) for 85 percent kill participation.
Zz1tai's Viktor was especially crucial to Snake's Game 2 win, as Zz1tai's ability to safely clear waves bought Snake enough time to scale up and wait for Invictus to make a mistake. Snake managed to stall the game out to 50 minutes, but Zz1tai still earned 100 percent kill participation with his 12/6/4 KDA alongside a whopping 55,800-damage dealt to enemy champions.
Zz1tai wasn't the sole carry of Snake, clearly, but Snake's history of completely dropping the ball makes a 2-0 win a sight to behold. It's possible that this marks the beginning of Snake's resurgence. It's also equally possible that this fiesta of a series was a fluke and that IG and Snake's relative skill level are what the current standings would indicate. That's the beauty of the LPL, really: Anyone can pick up a series win on any given night. Invictus might have a better record in the end, but Thursday belonged to Snake Esports.
Snake Esports will face DAN Gaming at 5 a.m. ET on Saturday, while Invictus Gaming next steps on the Rift when it clashes with Team WE at 8 a.m. ET that same day.