Gen.G, JD Gaming advance to playoffs in Mid-Season Cup

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The arenas might be empty, but the action was very much real. (Image credit: Riot Games)

A three-way tiebreaker for second place saw the LPL Champions and the LCK second seed make it out of Group B.

Strong start for the LCK teams

Gen.G started very strong against JD Gaming, getting an early advantage that only grew with time as Gwak "Bdd" Bo-seong had a standout performance on Azir.

A great ultimate demolished what had been a close teamfight and ended with a quadra kill for the Gen.G mid laner. JD Gaming never quite recovered all Gen.G needed was time.

DragonX faced Invictus Gaming in the second game. Even though the LPL representatives had the early advantage, DRX turned the game around with great focus on the top lane, where Choi "Doran" Hyeon-joon was on fire. The LCK team slowly extended their lead, eventually getting three kills leading to the Baron 29 minutes in, and Invictus had no answer to them.

Game 3 saw the two South Korean teams face off and with the winner all but assured of a playoff spot, the stakes were high. Gen.G had the early advantage, but a great teamfight for DRX near the dragon saw them equalize the game

DragonX had the better objective control, however, and even after a disastrous fight in the baron pit, they persevered. Several picks led to them taking over the map and eventually taking down their rivals.

JD Gaming turns the tide

In the clash of the LPL teams, JD Gaming once more proved that its domestic title was not a fluke as they secured two early kills and never let go of the game. The gold and kill difference would only grow and while Invictus had great waveclear that let them delay the game, they never really found an opportunity to take control away from their rivals in the nearly 40 minutes of play.

It was do or die for Invictus and Gen.G in Game 5 and while the LPL team took first blood, GenG’s mid laner would once more rise to the challenge. This time on Yasuo, Bdd stood at 6:1 just 15 minutes in. Gen.G had a huge throw 24 minutes in as they left a low-health Baron to engage on their opponents, only to get aced with a quadra kill for Ding "Puff" Wang’s Ezreal. However, the LCK team would recover, eventually securing the cloud soul and regaining control to win the game.

The final regular game between DragonX against JD Gaming saw the LCK team eventually come out with a minor gold lead and the early dragon control. In the mid game, however, JDG took several key fights to delay the ocean soul until 36 minutes in when the Chinese team denied a flank by the enemy Pyke and scored a 4:1 victory that let them take the win.

Going to overtime

After six games, the two Korean teams and the LPL champions all stood at 2:1 and this required two more games to be played. The first would be between Gen.G and DragonX for the top spot in the group. It would be a long game of cat and mouse with few kills and little action until 29 minutes in – and then, it ended in a flash after a clean ace in the mid lane. The LCK finalists swept into the enemy base to take the win.

This meant that DragonX would have to play a third consecutive game, this time against JD Gaming for the second playoff spot. The LCK third seed would have a flying start with 5 early kills, but they were unable to push their advantage. At 22 minutes in, they secured two early kills only to double down to kill the enemy Mordekaiser and lose three players instead. JD Gaming slowly took over and won confidently despite DRX securing the mountain soul.

The Mid-Season Cup continues over the weekend, with semifinals taking place on Saturday and the finals on Sunday. You can follow both as part of Riot Games’ Streamathon online event.

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