As we know, the loss to OMG in the previous round put Suning Gaming in a tight spot, as they had to win all three remaining matches and hope for the teams above to falter. However, right at the first milestone of the “sprint”, SN fell early after losing to Dominus Esports with a score of 1-2.
DMO is not a particularly strong opponent, but this was a match where SN’s weaknesses were fully exposed. Playing under the pressure of needing to win caused young players like bin and huanfeng to truly struggle.
Especially for bin, he had a rather poor performance in the Top lane with the champion Ornn. Although he secured an advantage in the laning phase, the most important aspect of playing Ornn is contributing to team fights, which bin failed to execute well. Meanwhile, SofM’s jungle pick Sett no longer created any surprises.
The match situation became more favorable for SN in the second game, when they chose an “all-out attack” composition with Wukong, Jarvan IV, and Leona – champions that are capable of strong engagements and team fights.
This strategy paid off with early strikes against DMO, with SofM completely controlling the major objectives on the map and helping Suning equalize after a dominating game.
However, moving into the third game, SN’s hopes burst like a soap bubble after a “miscommunication” situation in the Bot lane. Aware that they were at a disadvantage, SofM and his teammates still tried to defend Tower 1, allowing DMO to invade the Stone Golem area and take down each member individually.
From here, the match was entirely in DMO’s hands, and this team even ignored two Elder Dragon buffs to focus on pushing directly into SN’s Nexus, eventually concluding the match with a 2-1 victory.
This loss also marks the end of SofM’s LPL Spring 2020 season, although Suning still has 2 matches left to play, the chance for playoffs has closed, and the remaining matches will only hold procedural significance.
Perhaps at this point, whether or not they make it to the playoffs doesn’t hold much significance, as it is clear that SN’s roster is unlikely to help them progress far in this tournament. However, if there are no plans to reinforce the roster for the summer split, SofM may soon bid farewell to his dreams of the World Championship.