For complete League of Legends recaps, standings and stats, click here.
EDG kicked off Week 8, Day 4 of the League of Legends Pro League in Shanghai in style, dropping Game 1 to Newbee before smashing the series 2-1 on Sunday.
Newbee (5-9, 16-20 match record) had a great start to Game 1 despite losing first blood, picking up a 3-for-1 skirmish after jungler Baek "Swift" Da-hoon's Rengar initiated to begin a Newbee gold swing. Newbee were dominant throughout the mid game, taking an early Baron kill at 21 minutes. Newbee struggled to push into EDward Gaming's base, however, getting repeatedly stalled and requiring a second Baron buff at 29 minutes to break through. EDward Gaming started to flirt with the idea of making a comeback by trading kills in the late game, but a third Baron kill for Newbee all but dashed those hopes. With mid laner Yu "Cool" Jia-Jun's Taliyah playing immaculately in the late game, separating EDG with great Weaver's Walls and dealing a team-high 41,300 damage, Newbee finally took a Game 1 win in just over 43 minutes.
EDward Gaming, perhaps incensed by Newbee's confidence in Game 1, came storming back in Game 2, taking a nearly perfect game over Newbee. Beginning when jungler Zhao "Fireloli" Zhi-Ming's Lee Sin picked up first blood at six minutes, EDward Gaming (10-4, 22-14 match record) repeatedly found kills in the early game, holding a 11-to-0 kill lead around 20 minutes. While Newbee eventually found a kill of its own at 27 minutes, it came far too late as EDG's 26-minute Baron kill gave it all the tools it needed to break into Newbee's base. A 4-for-1 teamfight win for EDG just a few minutes later, and it was all over for Game 2 as EDG closed out the decisive win in just over 30 minutes.
Fireloli's Lee Sin once again kicked off the early game for EDG by picking up first blood around six minutes, beginning what was another dominant showing for EDG. After finding kills early on, EDG took a Baron buff on spawn at 20 minutes, blasting through Newbee's outer turrets thanks to the pressure coming from mid laner Lee "Scout" Ye-chan's Syndra, who was massive throughout the game. While NB managed to take a 3-for-1 fight at 28 minutes to prevent a Baron attempt from EDG, EDG's two Infernal Drakes, Ocean Drake and Mountain Drake gave it all the buffs it needed to repeatedly bait the Baron attempt to pick up more kills. A 3-for-0 teamfight after a second EDG Baron kill on the back of Scout's game-high 17,600 damage and 6/2/5 KDA (kills/deaths/assists) for 79 percent kill participation was all that EDG needed to finally lock up the 2-1 series win in just over 33 minutes.
Newbee will next take to the Rift to face Vici Gaming on Saturday at 4 a.m ET, followed by EDward Gaming's crucial battle against Group B leaders Team WE at 7 a.m ET on Saturday.