The first day of MSI 2018 is now in the books. All four teams in Group A squared off against each other on Thursday, and Gambit eSports currently sits at the top of the standings. After going 0-4 at Worlds 2017, they have shined in Berlin. With only one team advancing to the next round of MSI, everyone else is playing catch-up.
Gambit eSports 3-0
Coming into MSI 2018, Gambit was the second favorite in the group behind Rainbow7. Oddsmaker BetDSI had them at +250 to win Group A, while Rainbow7 was -160. I thought that there was great value in them to win the group though and said so on Twitter.
Some thoughts about #MSI Group A. KLG might be the weakest team in the group and Ascension is the biggest unknown. I'm not entirely sold on Rainbow7 with WhiteLotus just coming back into the lineup either. I'm going to back @GambitEsports to win Group A.
— Three Guys (@healerdowncrew) May 3, 2018
Gambit started the day with a victory over Kaos Latin Gamers. They were able to draft a much stronger team composition than their opponents, grabbing numerous S-Tier champions. The lover’s bottom lane carried the day for Gambit with Xayah and Rakan punishing a bottom lane of Jhin and Leona for KLG en route to a relatively quick victory.
In their next match, they faced Ascension Gaming. This was a very bloody match with the two sides skirmishing often in the early game. Gambit and Ascension combined to average nearly a kill a minute, but in the end Gambit pulled out the win. Once Kai’Sa came online, it was all over as the OP champion continually picked apart Ascension’s team.
We figured that Gambit had something up their sleeves in their last match of the day. They allowed Rainbow7 to grab both Caitlyn and Morgana in the first draft phase, two champions that form an S-Tier bottom lane. Gambit did not disappoint by selecting Nocturne and Karthus in the second phase of the draft. They were able to combine their ultimates together with Jhin’s Curtain Call to get ahead of Rainbow7’s bottom lane and took over in the mid game.
Gambit looked incredibly strong on the first day. They were very smart in the draft phase and were consistently punishing opponents’ bottom lanes. Diamondprox performed very well out of the jungle, and Kira was able to do what he needed to in the mid lane. Lodik and Edward will get a lot of the credit for their strong numbers in the bottom lane, but it was a team effort to get them ahead.
KLG shrugged off a loss to Gambit in the first game to win their next two and stay in contention.
In their second game, KLG faced off against Latin American rivals Rainbow7. Both teams were extremely aggressive even though there were not a lot of early kills. The game was relatively even for much of the way, but KLG’s team composition was too strong. Swain was able to take over in the mid game and that turned the tide in some key fights.
They finished the day with a relatively easy win over Ascension Gaming. Kai’Sa was left open by Ascension Gaming and KLG’s Fix punished them for it. He racked up 15 kills in just over 27 minutes to lead his team to a 2-1 record.
Tierwulf was a difference maker in the jungle. He came up big in a couple different smite fights throughout the day, especially against Rainbow7. His performance was crucial to the team’s good start.
Rainbow7 1-2
It was a very disappointing performance from Rainbow7 today. They nearly blew an early lead against Ascension Gaming in the first game of the day and things only got worse from there.
Let’s start with the good. Seiya was fantastic all day long. Rainbow7’s mid laner looked like he was the best in the group by a decent margin. Other teams were wary of his power, and they mostly played around him.
Now for the bad. Oddie’s Kha’Zix wasn’t able to get much done. The champion has not been a priority this year, and he looked at a loss against more meta junglers. Rainbow7 will likely change that up on Saturday.
The more pressing concern is what to do about WhiteLotus. The team’s star AD Carry just recently returned from a six-month suspension two weeks ago. He had been practicing with the team, but this is the first time we have seen him at competitions since last year. He has been getting harassed by opponents and the team may want to make a change.
Ascension Gaming 0-3
For whatever reason, Ascension Gaming missed the memo about banning Kai’Sa. They allowed her to go through the ban phase in their last two matches and were punished for it. The champion racked up double-digit kills against Ascension in their last two matches, and they looked unable to stop her power.
Opponents have been focusing in on Rockky. Ascension’s top laner has been a great carry for the team this season. The other teams in Group A are now allowing him to get on the power champions he wants in order to lead Ascension to victory. It will be interesting to see what Ascension does to counter this on Saturday.
