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Team WE battles back against Newbee in final LPL week

The League of Legends crowd makes some noise with thunder sticks. Provided by Riot Games

The closing series of Week 10, Day 2 in the League of Legends Pro League started off ugly, but Team WE (11-4, 23-12 match record) pulled itself together to pick up a 2-1 series win over Newbee (5-10, 16-23 match record) on Friday in Shanghai.

Newbee had a strong start to Game 1 when jungler Baek "Swift" Da-hoon's Lee Sin picked up two kills within nine minutes. Team WE responded shortly after that, taking control through mid laner Su "xiye" Han-Wei's Taliyah, who carried teamfights with great Weaver's Walls and massive combos. After a lull in action, Newbee took a Baron at 32 minutes, but a big 5-for-2 ace for WE swung control away from Newbee. In a painfully slow hyper-late game, Newbee took its third Elder Dragon at 58 minutes, putting itself comfortably in the driver's seat. With AD carry Lin "Lwx" Wei-Xiang's Caitlyn dealing massive late game damage en route to a game-high 40,000 damage dealt, WE had no chance as Newbee took a 64-minute Baron before a Lwx quadra kill and 5-for-2 ace sealed the longest game of the split for Newbee in a whopping 67 minutes.

Perhaps embarrassed with its Game 1 performance, Team WE came storming back in Game 2, with jungler Xiang "Condi" Ren-Jie's Rengar picking up first blood in the mid lane. Condi was a monster throughout the early game, earning kill participation in every lane before a four-man dive gave Team WE a double kill for AD carry Jin "Mystic" Seong-jun's Ashe, first tower gold, and an Infernal Drake. WE continued the snowball by annihilating Newbee towers; the scattered kills NB picked up in response were not enough to overcome a steadily growing gold deficit. Taking a Baron shortly after it spawned at the 20-minute mark, WE were in complete control, with Condi finishing with a 6/2/10 KDA (kills/deaths/assists) for 76 percent kill participation. Team WE made short work of Newbee's base, finishing the game with a near 17,200-gold lead at just under 24 minutes.

Newbee had a dream start to a crucial Game 3 as mid laner Yu "Cool" Jia-Jun's LeBlanc picked up first blood at five minutes, leading to a 6-to-0 kill lead for NB at 13 minutes. But that dream start soon paved way to a nightmarish conclusion as Condi's Lee Sin picked up a kill off a risky Infernal Drake attempt by Newbee, turning the tides for good. WE began picking up fight wins across the map, with consecutive 3-for-1 teamfight wins at 19 and 21 minutes, respectively. A 26-minute Baron for WE laid out Newbee's fate, as Condi was a monster throughout the game, securing the Baron kill alongside a 5/1/10 KDA for 83 percent kill participation. A 4-for-0 teamfight in Newbee's base was all Team WE needed to close out a series it should've dominated from the get go, taking Game 3 in just under 28 minutes of action.

Team WE ends its Spring Split with a matchup with Vici Gaming on Sunday at 4 a.m. ET, while Newbee hits the Rift one last time to face Game Talents Sunday at 1 a.m. ET.