The Third Day of the 2018 Mid-Season Invitational
The third day of the 2018 Mid-Season Invitational was focused on determining the best seeds for the knockout round.
Flash Wolves remained undefeated and defeated LCK champions KINGZONE DragonX, showing their strength. KINGZONE, needing a win to secure second place, gave their best in the last match against Team Liquid.
Liquid had gained some hope by defeating Royal Never Give Up earlier in the day, which lifted their spirits. ADC Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng expressed his relief and belief in momentum shifting in their favor after the win against RNG.
Liquid showed improvement in their second match, but they were facing KINGZONE, a team of high caliber and motivation following their recent loss.
KINGZONE got back on track by picking Camille for their top laner Kim “Khan” Dong-ha. Khan’s performance on tanks had been unusual, and it was good to see him return to his comfort zone with a splitpusher.
In the game, KINGZONE’s focus was to shut down Liquid’s bot lane, which had performed well against RNG. Jungler Han “Peanut” Wang-ho spent a significant amount of time trying to gain an advantage on the bot side. Despite surviving early ganks, Liquid couldn’t handle the overwhelming pressure.
From there, the South Koreans played a slow, patient game. They denied Liquid any opportunities to engage with Ornn’s ultimate ability and exploit Kog’Maw’s damage. Every objective taken by KINGZONE was uncontested, and Liquid underestimated their opponents’ semi-global positioning tools. By the time they had to defend their base, Liquid was too far behind and surrendered without a fight.
KINGZONE now holds second place, while Royal and Fnatic are tied for third place. Liquid is tied for last with EVOS Esports. The path ahead is tough for Liquid, as they have only four games left to make up a two-game deficit. Even if they tie for fourth, they will likely need tiebreaker games to reach the semifinals.
In their next games, KINGZONE will face Royal, and Liquid will take on EVOS.