JD Gaming kicked off their ninth series of the 2021 LPL Spring Split with a strong 2-0 victory over LNG Esports today.
JDG showed a lot of confidence in both draft phases, taking comfort picks for their players rather than using champs dictated by the current League of Legends meta.
JDG top laner Zoom picked Nocturne in the first game and quickly snowballed. LNG top laner M1kuya was put behind and couldn’t find his way back into the game, while Kanavi had the opportunity to focus solely on the bot side of the Rift.
This resulted in a dominant win for JDG where all three lanes were ahead and they secured every objective on the map. Zoom was voted the MVP of the first game.
The second game was hardly any different. JDG’s bot lane chose comfort picks. Bot laner LokeN unexpectedly picked the first Caitlyn of the split, even though Jinx was already out on the other side, and LvMao picked his signature Bard.
Though they didn’t exactly pop off on those champions, their performance was good enough to get an edge over their opponents while Kanavi rolled through both his and the enemy’s jungle.
JDG’s star jungler was put in the spotlight once again in this series due to his proactivity and dominance, which also earned him the MVP title in the second game. He boasted 95-percent kill participation on Udyr.
JDG (10-4) are now on an eight-game win streak, winning their last four series 2-0. Although they didn’t play up to many fans’ expectations at the start of the split, they’re starting to look like a solid contender for the 2021 LPL Spring Split playoffs.
But they have yet to earn their postseason spot and the race looks tight in the league. There’s only a one-win difference between the top seven teams in the LPL standings, which means almost any of these squads could still take the first seed in the playoffs with crucial wins over the two last weeks of Spring Split regular season.
JDG will have a chance to extend their win streak in their next matchup against LGD Gaming on Sunday, March 21 at 3am CT.
LNG’s (7-7) chances of making the playoffs don’t look as promising after this loss. They’ll try to bounce back when they face off against Rogue Warriors on Thursday, March 25 at 3am CT.
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