With the performance of Suning and EDward in the 2021 season, a defeat for the lion pride against EDG was perhaps a scenario anticipated by many viewers. Indeed, in the match between SN and EDG during week 3 of the LPL Summer 2021 group stage, the team, which is still the reigning world runner-up, was completely outmatched by their opponent, losing the match 0-2.
SN had a fairly good start in game 1, continuously securing kills through pick-off situations. However, the quality of personnel was still something that SN could not compare to their opponent. In the late game, the trio of Sett – Volibear – Sylas from Flandre, JieJie, and Scout on the EDG side executed excellent counterattacks, rendering all of SN’s efforts to initiate battles fruitless.
EDG’s steadily escalating power composition, along with having a solid frontline with Sett and Volibear, gradually put SN in a weak position, completely losing the advantages they had gained in the early game, ultimately watching their Nexus fall.
Moving to game 2, SN decided to go big by choosing a team composition with a strong skill orientation. Jax top lane, Viego jungle, LeBlanc mid lane, Ezreal and Karma bot lane. The prerequisite for this composition was to win lanes, even win them decisively if they wanted to secure victory. However, SN failed to execute this strategy, as their mid and bot lanes were still too inferior compared to their opponents. Left with a composition lacking any means to initiate fights, SN easily succumbed with a final score of 0-2.
There isn’t much to say about SN’s defeat against EDG. After all, considering the current performance, SN is not a match for EDG, and losing to this team is not surprising. The issue here may be that SN’s inherent weaknesses remain unresolved, and with this situation, the chance of returning to the World Championship with SofM and the team will indeed be very challenging.