Is Invictus Gaming going to be able to secure their 3rd spot and take away the money and the points for the qualification tournament for worlds 2015? Perhaps Snake has recovered from their average performances the last couple of weeks and are ready to show China and the world one more time this split why they are one of the most feared teams in China.

Game 1 Picks and bans

The early game was quite even, the lanes were farming up evenly and not a lot of action was going on, except for a few ganks coming through from both junglers.

We were shown a few previews on teamfights, with kills going over to both teams while ramping up for the incoming 3rd dragon fight.

Snake their bad vision/objective control left Invictus Gaming to pick up 2 free early dragons and only contested the 3rd dragon for the first time this game.

Even this dragonfight was poorly prepared from the side of Snake that went in almost blind as IG was in position to answer their engage. A 4-0 win for IG that totally blew up the frontline from Snake gave them a 4K gold lead their 3rd drake and the remaining outer turret.

As IG continued to apply pressure with wards, they managed to get a pick off on Baka in the midlane. His death lead to a middle inhibitor as IG with the Jinx/Janna combo ran through the remaining 2 turrets in the midlane as Zzitai delayed the recalls from Krystal and Ella that were in the toplane. 3 Snake members were send to the afterlife as IG put a baronbuff ontop of that fast push in the midlane.

Snake who managed to pick up their first drake during the recalls coming out of IG was not able to withstand the siege that came out of IG. Clearing all outer turrets and eventually 2 inhibitors was too much for Snake.

They did fight back 1 more time, as they caught IG offguard, taking a 5-2 victory and the second baron spawn but it wasn’t enough.

Invictus gaming went back to Snake’s base and a desperate try to stall the game by Snake got turned into a 4-0 victory for IG that forced out the surrender.

Game 2 Picks and bans

Snake learned from their first game mistakes and pick up the first dragon early around the 5 minute mark, this was their only victory in the early game as Kakao was active and effective with 2 ganks onto Krystal’s Draven and a top gank forcing Flandre away from the turret to give Zzitai the free farm that he needed.

After 5 IG members committed to the botlane, a double kill secured their first dragon of the game, but the real fight came when the 3rd drake spawned.Bad vision control by IG ends up giving Snake the drake and as a bonus IG gives them 3 kills because they overstayed and got Snake back into the game by this point, since all Snake their lanes were losing in CS.

IG wouldn’t have too much of it, a out of position Baka get’s caught again in the midlane which was the first of 3 kills in the midlane that lead to a double turret in favor of IG and a 4k gold lead with a 4-1 turret score.

The fight was on for the 4th drake spawn as IG amazes friends and foe with their teamfighting skills this game, a clean ace with all 5 kills giving Kid the first pentakill of the Spring Split playoffs 2015!

IG moved towards the baron after taking their second drake of the game and outrotated Snake by taking down all the outer turrets and eventually the bottom inhibitor turret. Snake interrupted IG after losing 2 members with the bottom inhibitor open to hit the surrender vote and taking a 0-2 deficit.

Game 3 Picks and bans

Snake not being able to answer IG’s early aggression, taking 2 fast drakes and the sidelane outer turrets to get a decent lead in this 3rd match.
Snake recuperated by answering back with a turret and taking their first drake in exchange for their T2 outer turret. IG’s lack of vision is questionable especially with the double sightstone on their side, giving away a free dragon.

Finally a teamfight occurs when the 4th drake spawns, as Snake makes their composition work. A beautiful 4 men Glacial Prison is followed up with a huge shockwave coming out of Baka to give Snake a 4-0 win, the drake and the baron to equal the turrets 5-5 and taking a 5k gold lead.

Another teamfight happend as the 5th drake spawned, without any hesitation Snake mops it up 5-1 , dropping only Ella to IG(which was IG’s only kill in the entire game). The remaining botlane turrets goes down and so does the inhibitor and it’s protector to get Snake even further ahead as they pick up their second drake.

A final fight occured when the second baron spawned, great zoning by Flandre and a impressive follow up by the baron buffed Snake seals IG’s faith with a 5-0 victory and a surrender, forcing a 4th game in this series.

Game 4 Picks and bans

A misplayed towerdive coming out of IG forces them to trade kills and not get the wanted result. As both teams trade turrets in the top against the bottom side Rookie picks up a solo kill onto Baka.

As both teams farmed up, trading turrets and had a drake each, the 3rd drake spawn promised to give us a teamfight. A well timed teleport coming out of Zzitai that follows up Kitties his ultimate on the kennen gives IG the right amount of chaos and mops up Snake 5-0 taking their second drake of the game and a 6k gold lead.

IG kept outrotating Snake as they did in their previous victories, giving them a 4-2 turret lead and a 9k gold lead at the 20 minute mark.

Where the 3rd drake was picked up as Zzitai sacrificed himself for it, the last teamfight was closer then we had hoped for.

As IG set up for the baron with proper ward coverage, Snake wanted to atleast fight them of fit. The crowd control coming out of IG was just unmatched and nothing could stop the Explosive Cask displacing the entire Snake team who got killed 1 by 1 as IG aces Snake once more this series and pick up the Baron and a 12.7k gold lead.

The team without a profile continues to rotate, taking out all the outer turrets, leaving them at the top inhibitor. As Kakao engaged with his ultimate onto Baka, a couple of Snake members fell to IG’s demise and surrendered for the last time this split.

Round-up

Invictus Gaming were the favorites going into this series as their performances were more impressive than Snake’s. Unfortunately this series couldn’t go to a fifth game because Snake was unable to answer IG’s rotations and the power coming out of Kakao and Zzitai.

Despite IG’s questionable warding that gave up several dragons, they still managed to force the skirmishes where needed and outplayed Snake at their own game, teamfighting.

Kakao and Zzitai were the big winners this series, their dominating pressence in teamfights and overal on the map secured their team the advantage that was needed to secure their 3rd place in the LPL Spring split.

Congratulations to both teams, Snake ending 4th in their first split ever in the LPL is a most impressive result.