Suning has secured their 6th victory at LPL Summer 2020, and according to the calculation formula from previous seasons, they only need 3 more wins to secure a playoff spot. Of course, this is merely a theoretical calculation, but SN’s performance and their position on the leaderboard are demonstrating that this season offers them the clearest opportunity to compete for a spot in the knockout round.
The latest “victim” of SofM and his teammates is eStar – a team dubbed the “super rookie” of the LPL, having made it to the top of the spring split standings in their first tournament.
eStar is certainly not a weak opponent, and it’s not surprising that Suning struggled to defeat them. However, the way SofM and his teammates secured their victory is what’s noteworthy.
SN had an overwhelming first game against their opponents; however, as they moved into games 2 and 3, their “old illness” resurfaced. The confused movement of Bin and SwordArt in game 2 allowed SN to be equalized, while in game 3, maintaining a proper team formation and the shining moments from Fenfen and ShiauC on the eStar side nearly suffocated SN.
However, despite the movement errors, Suning clearly demonstrated their improvement. As for ES, they showed quite a bit of confidence by not banning Graves, allowing SofM to pick this champion in games 1 and 3 (in game 2, ES chose Graves).
Even without using his signature rank-climbing champion Graves with Ignite, SofM’s impact while wielding this marksman was still very evident. In the third game, SN struggled in the second half, constantly being harassed by Leblanc, while ShiauC’s Thresh had an extremely high hook accuracy, and Aphelios managed to farm nearly 600 minion kills.
With two “green as a banana leaf” damage dealers, eStar still struggled to control large objectives. The attempts to bait SN out for Baron were completely read by SofM and his teammates, with Graves building full cooldown reduction, repeatedly using his ultimate accurately to strip away Leblanc’s Crucible shield, while Huanfeng spammed Light Bow continuously to check vision.
Both sides “advanced one step and retreated one step” for the last 15 minutes of the game, and at this point, eStar’s power growth had reached its limit, while SN’s carries had completed the necessary items, and that was when SN’s high-damage formation launched a fierce counterattack and claimed victory.
In this match, once again, SofM showcased a unique playstyle, opting for a control-oriented Graves without upgrading his boots. But beyond SofM’s difference, the entire SN team proved their growth in competitive thinking; they no longer panicked when falling behind, and their Baron checks were extremely cautious, rendering eStar, despite having all the advantages, powerless to establish a decisive fight for the game.