MAD Lions took the inch they were given in the bottom lane and ran miles around Team Vitality, slaughtering their opponents en route to MAD’s seventh win of the split.
Looking at just the names of the teams and players that squared off in this match, one could be forgiven for thinking this would be a high-level, even bout between two of Europe’s best League of Legends squads. What transpired was nothing even close to that.
MAD Lions started the game off with a two-on-two kill in the bottom lane for UNF0RGIVEN’s comfort pick Draven. From there, the team (rightly) felt that the texture of the game shifted dramatically in their favor.
“When [UNF0RGIVEN] got a kill on Draven, I knew the game was—not really over… but I knew it would be really easy to win,” mid laner Nisqy told Dot Esports through a smile that betrayed his euphemistic response.
The mid laner also praised his young AD carry’s growth this split, emphasizing that his understanding of how to play the mid game specifically had improved significantly.
Nisqy and jungler Elyoya hummed through the early game like the engine of this team that they are, accruing a 6,000-gold lead by the 14-minute mark, and ended the game 10 minutes later in one of the most one-sided games of the split. UNF0RGIVEN finished with a 7/1/6 scoreline, while Vitality ADC Carzzy racked up seven deaths and no kills.
MAD Lions have continued their transformation under Nisqy, playing a much cleaner early and mid game, facilitated by Nisqy and Elyoya. The storied mid laner has played this sort of role on most of the teams in his career, from Cloud9 to Fnatic and beyond. Champions like the Taliyah he piloted in Friday’s victory only highlight those strengths of his as a leader on the Rift.
Meanwhile, it’s more of the same for a frustrating, inconsistent Vitality “super-roster” that came into the year with astronomical expectations. Despite occasional inspiring individual performances from Perkz and Alphari, Vitality continued to disappoint relative to the bar that was set for them.
One of the most exciting regular splits in recent memory in the LEC continues on Saturday as MAD Lions face a surging SK Gaming at 11am CT, while Vitality look to bounce back against Misfits at noon.
