Insight Into Iceland is your daily recap of the 2021 Mid-Season Invitational.

Look below for Recaps and Takeaways from today’s games, or watch the video version of the Takeaways.

Recaps

You can also get these recaps live on Twitter.

Game 1: PGG vs. RNG – RNG win
PGG Sion Olaf Lee Sin Aphelios Lulu
RNG Jayce Udyr Sylas Kog’maw Karma

PGG lane swap, fun strat. RNG get well ahead on laning, PGG small wins though. RNG hard-force Baron; PGG win fight. RNG force mid 5v5; PGG win fight but RNG TPs catch them out.

Game 2: DK vs. C9 – DK win
DK Sion Rumble Syndra Senna Tahm Kench
C9 Karma Udyr Lucian Ashe Lulu

C9 nice early plan/pathing, Blaber way ahead, camps bot. Team fights v. close. C9 clutch secures on dragons 2+3. C9 get picks->Baron but poor setup for dragon 4, lose fight. DK outscale.

Game 3: MAD vs. RNG – RNG win
MAD Wukong Morgana Orianna Jinx Tahm Kench
RNG Gnar Olaf Twisted Fate Aphelios Thresh

RNG in early control, get FD+H1. Armut quadra in mid-game fight. RNG gutsy 21m Baron call, keep stacking Bs, backdoor inhibs. RNG get picks in sides, close out.

Game 4: C9 vs. PSG – PSG win
C9 Sett Udyr Viktor Kog’maw Lulu
PSG Lee Sin Morgana Akali Kai’sa Leona

PSG misplay early top prio, Blaber catches Hanabi for FB. Maple finds solo Ks. Blaber forces mid, PSG dogpile for ace->Baron. Fudge caught face-checking, PSG pincer fight to win.

Game 5: DK vs. PGG – DK win
PGG Gnar Rumble Lee Sin Xayah Alistar
DK Jayce Udyr Zoe Kai’sa Nautilus

Pabu has to execute to a DK turret at lvl 2 after trying to counterinvade bot. Game never gets better from there.

Game 6: MAD vs. PSG – MAD win
MAD Jayce Rumble Viktor Tristana Leona
PSG Gnar Morgana Galio Kai’sa Nautilus

Ganks traded early, back-and-forth game. MAD win no-kills fight for H2, grab lead. Some tense team fights, Carzzy 3k at drag 5 nets Baron too. Steady close-out from there.

Takeaways

EARNING A LITTLE EXTRA ON THE SIDE (LANES): Given the performances of all the teams at MSI so far, Royal Never Give Up vs. MAD Lions was a match of best vs. second-best. It was a very entertaining, close game, with RNG coming out ahead on the strength of their map play.

As Xiaohu said in a media scrum afterwards, their Gnar and Twisted Fate picks were “very good to put pressure on the side lanes,” and that’s exactly how they used them. It was impressive how RNG managed their movement around map and never allowed MAD’s 5v5 comp to come online with good setups or timings. That’s the key strength Kelsey Moser and others have been praising in RNG coming into the tournament, and this game was a good example of it.

DARK CLOUDS OVERHEAD: The Rumble Stage has been a bit of a disaster for Cloud9 so far. There were more positive moments today, but another pair of losses left them with a 0-4 record so far, under intense pressure if they even want to qualify into the Knockout Stage at all.

After the loss to PSG Talon, Fudge attributed Cloud9’s problems to “misplay or misexecution of our composition[s]”. The focus was on the mistakes that have been steadily appearing in every phase of play, “small things that really cost us the game.” There were plenty of those today, with Blaber and Fudge face checking or stepping too far forward, Zven overstaying in a side lane and giving up a free kill, or Perkz slightly mispositioning at the start of a team fight. It’s frustrating to watch, because C9 have done pretty positive things as a team in the stretches of play surrounding those mistakes. Their early pathing and lane management against both DK and PSG was good, and they were in position to win both games.

Losing from start to finish has to feel bad, but losing when you gave yourself a good shot to win has to feel even worse. I asked Fudge how the coaching staff is helping them stay focused and positive. He spoke about the ways the coaches sometimes try to take the blame on themselves to reduce the pressure on the players, but the more meaningful “tactic” he referenced was how the coaches focus the players on a plan of action and keep them looking forward to what they need to do next, rather than looking back at what has already happened. According to Fudge, that approach—having steps to take and a plan to follow—helps him feel much more “calm.” He and the rest of the team will need those steps, and a lot of calmness, if they want to salvage the next three days of play.

Photos courtesy Riot Games