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: PSG vs. RNG – RNG win
PSG Jayce Rumble Zoe Xayah Leona
RNG Lee Sin Lillia Twisted Fate Kai’sa Nautilus

Xiaohu bullies top, FT. PSG get drakes. Kaiwing creates picks; River’s fed. PSG want Baron, can’t. Xiaohu manufactures big fight->Baron. PSG try for catch mid, get aced.

Game 2: MAD vs. DK – DK win
MAD Lee Sin Rumble Viktor Xayah Rakan
DK Aatrox Udyr Zoe Kai’sa Nautilus

Armut misplays river skirmish; DK vault into lead. DK H1 breaks mid. Canyon’s everywhere. DK play map until they win a mid 5v5, Baron. MAD defend nexus well but DK lead too big.

Game 3: C9 vs. RNG – C9 win
C9 Lee Sin Volibear Zoe Kai’sa Leona
RNG Jayce Rumble Twisted Fate Xayah Nautilus

Blaber ganks top-mid-mid, 3 C9 Ks. Xiaohu still stomps lane. C9 good drag2 w/ Fudge TP. Ks going both ways. C9 win fight for soul, force Baron->inhib, siege to win.

Game 4: PGG vs. MAD – MAD win
PGG Sion Rumble Qiyana Aphelios Thresh
MAD Jayce Volibear Lissandra Kai’sa Leona

MAD attack Rumble lvl 1, win bot skirmish using Humanoid’s TP, get more Ks on invades and dives. PGG get a few mid-game kills. Lissandra was fun.

Game 5: DK vs. PSG – DK win
DK Gnar Rumble Zoe Kai’sa Nautilus
PSG Lee Sin Morgana Sylas Xayah Rakan

Khan weakside; DK get FD and bot skirmish w/ ShowMaker TP. A 4v4 for first Herald goes ShowMaker’s way: he’s super fed. DK get a 4v5 ace at dragon. Dominant game from DWG KIA.

Game 6: PGG vs. C9 – PGG win
PGG Sett Udyr Viktor Senna Tahm Kench
C9 Sion Lillia Tristana Kai’sa Nautilus

C9 play to bot side, early dragons. PGG get H1+FT. C9 force fights repeatedly, PGG punish, Baron. Tense Baron standoffs. C9 get B, PGG inf soul. PGG catch C9 in bot lane, end.

Takeaways

THE MOST NORTH AMERICAN OF TIMELINES:

Here’s what I wrote after the C9 vs. RNG game:

Cloud9‘s win over Royal Never Give Up today was an enormous relief for the organization, and for North American fans, not only because it kept their chances of reaching the Knockout Stage alive but also because it was a return to form for Blaber on an off-pace Volibear pick.

Fudge has been receiving a lot of well-deserved attention for his mid/late team fighting plays, including some big Lee Sin moments against RNG today, but Blaber was the real story of the upset win today, and Vulcan has been the most impressive, consistent member of C9 in the tournament overall.

Here’s what I wrote after the C9 vs. PGG game:

Life is pain.

I need an emotional support koala.

DK TRENDING UP; RNG TRENDING DOWN: After the Group Stage and the first round robin of the Rumble Stage, I had lost some faith in DWG KIA and was starting to buy in to the hype around RNG (aside from Cryin’s weak individual play). But the second round robin is swinging back more in the direction of my pre-tournament expectations.

DK are really rounding into form thanks to pop-off games from ShowMaker and Canyon and the engage-readiness of BeryL (who always seems to be willing to die for a play and doesn’t seem to care if it sometimes fails and draws disproportionate caster and community criticism, like a Korean Hylissang).

On the other side, RNG played another close game against PSG Talon today but managed to edge this one out, before falling to C9 to take their second loss of the Rumble Stage. To RNG’s credit, the C9 game was more about C9 playing well than it was about RNG playing poorly, but there are some concerns in their usage of Twisted Fate, which no one else is playing, and their reliance on Xiaohu’s laning and playmaking to keep them in games when the team as a whole is falling behind and playing from poor footings.

Photos courtesy Riot Games