LNG Esports were coming off a big loss against Vici Gaming, where they won the first game of the series then were soundly defeated in the next two, denying them the chance at a positive win/loss record. They’re currently 4-5 for the season so far.
Dominus Gaming (DMO) has not had a great season so far, seeing themselves at the bottom three of the LPL table with a 2-7 record that placed them 16th in the league.
LNG were well-favored against DMO in the odds before the series started (1.28 vs 3.5) – but the question was whether or not they’d be able to live up to that, especially with their struggles to adjust that were exposed on Monday.
Game 1
DMO:
Natural: Sett
Xiaopeng: JarvanIV
xiye: Diana
GALA: Varus
Mark: Nautilus
LNG:
Flandre: Aatrox
Xx: Elise
Maple: Zoe
Asura: MissFortune
Iwandy: Taric
DMO took down the first kill of the game in the third minute, with Xiaopeng coming to the bottom lane to help GALA and and Mark take down Asura.
Flandre started the game ahead in the top lane fight, pushing Natural back with a large wave behind him ready to attack the T1 turret. Natural recovered well to push back the fight away from his turret, though.
A 4v3 broke out near the dragon in the fifth minute, which saw Iwandy go down, giving DMO a 2-0 kill lead. By the eight minute, DMO were looking at a 2K gold lead, as well.
LNG took advantage of some slow movement to take down the top T1 turret in the ninth minute. They quickly followed up by taking down the first dragon of the game.
DMO took down the T1 turret in the bot lane in the 12th minute, and pushed their gold lead to 3K.
The first big fight game in the 14th minute, a 4v5 battle that saw Maple and Iwandy go down for LNG, pushing DMO’s kill lead to 4-0 and the gold lead to 4K.
LNG looked out of sorts, making careless mistakes, and it seemed that they would need another big comeback like in the first game against Vici Gaming the other day.
Xiye continued his strong play for DMO in the 17th minute, taking out one of LNG’s top lane turrets.
The 20th minute saw another fight, seeing Xx and Xiaopeng trading deaths to push the score to 5-1. DMO followed this up with their second dragon of the
A huge fight broke out at the dragon in the 20th minute, too, which saw DMO take down four LNG players, leaving Maple as the only one left standing. DMO quickly took out the Baron after, choosing to leave LNG to take their second dragon of the game. The kill lead was pushed off to 9-1 and the gold lead was 7K.
LNG finally found that big fight that they wanted in the 22nd minute, taking out Natural Xiaopeng, and Gala while only losing Flandre to cut the kill lead to 10-4.
The 25th minute saw another big team fight in the mid lane, but DMO used a great flank to take out Flandre, Xx, and Asura for a 13-4 lead along with an 8K gold lead.
LNG were able to take their third dragon, but it game at a huge cost, again losing three players in Xx, Asura, and Iwandy while only taking out Xiye. That saw DMO with a 16-5 lead and a 9K gold lead, and also let them take out their second Baron.
The pressure was too much, and by the 29th minute DMO was pushing hard toward LNG’s base.
By the 30th minute, all of LNG’s turrets were on the way down. DMO finished the game with a 20-5 kill lead, finishing in great style. They also finished with 64.5K gold against LNG’s 48.4K.
GALA far outpaced everyone in damage, with over 30K. He had half of DMO’s kills with a phenomenal 10/1/9 record and 95% kill participation. He was the clear difference maker in game 1.
Iwandy, who replaced Duan for LNG today, had a rough first game, finishing 0/5/3.
Game 2
DMO:
Natural: Aatrox
Xiaopeng: RekSai
xiye: Diana
GALA: Varus
Mark: Thresh
LNG:
Flandre: Sett
Xx: JarvanIV
Maple: Zoe
Asura: MissFortune
Iwandy: Nautilus
LNG switched to the blue side in game 2, where they’re known to be strong.
LNG were the aggressors in the beginning, with Flandre bullying Natural up top, and Iwandy and Asura getting the best of Mark and GALA in their first skirmish.
There wasn’t too much action by the time the fifth minute was up. DMO caught out Iwandy near the dragon in the sixth minute, though, giving them the first kill of the game and also the first dragon.
Flandre and Xx attempted to gank Natural up top but were unsuccessful in the eighth minute. LNG managed to take an early rift herald in the ninth minute afterwards, though.
By the 10th minute, the gold lead was just under 1K for DMO and the kill lead was still 1-0.
LNG conceded the dragon in the 11th minute, giving DMO their second of the game. LNG took down the first turret of the game, dropping their rift herald and taking out the T1 turret up top.
A 5v3 broke out in the 14th minute in the fourth game, and DOM took out Asura and Iwandy for a 3-0 kill lead. They also took down the T1 turret in LNG’s bot lane.
The 15th minute saw another team fight, with DMO looking to stop LNG from taking a mid turret. More good positioning saw DMO own the next fight, taking out Iwandy, Asura, and Flandre – quickly following up with their third dragon of the game as well. It was a fantastic sequence that saw them push their kill lead to 6-0.
Natural fell in the 17th minute, and Flandre found himself on the wrong end of a 4v1 in the 18th that pushed DMO’s lead to 8-0.
LNG were falling apart at this point, and lost their T1 turrent in the top lane in the 19th minute.
A 4V1 broke out in the 20th minute in the mid lane, with Xx and Asura going down, with the rest of LNG barely making it out alive. A 10-0 lead and an uncontested Baron pushed DMO’s advantage even further, and their gold lead rocketed to 8K in by the 21st minute.
Flandre went down again in a big fight in the 22nd minute, with Asura, Flandre, and Iwandy AGAIN going down in a team fight.
DMO were completely dominating by this point. They grabbed their fourth dragon in the 22nd minute. They constantly caught out LNG and showed impeccable teamwork and movement.
By the 24th minute, they had a 10K gold lead and 13-0 kill lead. Things were dire for LNG, having lost all of their mid turrets. Xx got caught out by Natural outside, and the rest of DMO pushed hard and cleared both top and mid lane by the 25th minute.
DMO safely decided to pull out of the base first with their 15-0 kill lead, not wanting to risk their advantage. By the 27th minute, they wiped everyone on LNG at the base except for Xx. They finished game 2 off quickly after with a 19-0 kill lead and 52.8K to 39.3K gold lead.
The underdogs were in a class of their own today and deserved the beautiful 2-0 victory. For a team with a 37-minute win average, they showed another side today that gives them some hope of reaching the playoffs.
The damage was spread out a little more evenly in the second game for DMO, with Natural (8/0/2 and 17.4 K damage), xiye (3/0/11 and 15.1K damage), and GALA (5/0/7 and 12.2K damage) having strong games.
DMO pushed their record to 3-7, while LNG fell to 4-6.
