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: RNG vs. DK – RNG win
RNG Gnar Morgana Renekton Tristana Rell
DK Sion Udyr Viktor Kai’sa Nautilus

GALA Ming multiple Ks in lane. DK chain-dive Xiaohu. RNG pick Canyon post-dragon->Baron; DK contest, ace. DK fight to deny soul twice: lose inhib 1st time, lose game 2nd time.

Game 2: PGG vs. PSG – PSG win
PGG Gnar Udyr Viktor Xayah Braum
PSG Gangplank Rumble Renekton Kai’sa Leona

PSG get 2K in early bot skirmish, gank mid, dive mid, dive bot, steal H1. Paris Saint-Germain Talon reach mid game with an Eiffel Tower-sized lead. Baron pressure eventually ends the game.

Game 3: RNG vs. MAD – MAD win
RNG Gnar Morgana Viktor Varus Alistar
MAD Wukong Rumble Lucian Kai’sa Leona

Very skirmishy game. MAD drive aggressively; great tempo. Elyoya Humanoid Kaiser super map-active. Lead stalls in mid-game until RNG force Baron and MAD punish.

Game 4: PSG vs. C9 – PSG win
PSG Nocturne Rumble Qiyana Kai’sa Galio
C9 Aatrox Udyr Sylas Tristana Leona

Fights everywhere. Zven Vulcan bad dive feeds Doggo. PSG more Ks; C9 get drags. PSG win dragon fight->Baron, real lead now. Close Baron fight but PSG’s lead is just big enough.

Game 5: DK vs. PGG – DK win

DK Lee Sin Morgana Zoe Kai’sa Nautilus
PGG Gnar Udyr Viktor Lucian Braum

Some awkward bot skirmishes, kills traded, but DK solo lanes generate big leads, map plays, steadily rising gold lead.

Game 6: MAD vs. C9 – C9 win
MAD Jayce Rumble Lucian Xayah Rakan
C9 Irelia Morgana Kalista Kai’sa Alistar

MAD Lions :P
Cloud9 :’)

Takeaways

MAD SHOW THEIR PEAK: The MAD Lions’ takedown of Royal Never Give Up was an impressive display from the LEC representatives, a relentless barrage of tempo plays and map movement that officially only eliminated Cloud9 from the tournament. There has been plenty of inconsistency out of MAD at MSI—in fairness, every team at MSI has been inconsistent—but their ceiling is as high as anyone’s.

The sustained Rumble priority from Elyoya really paid off against RNG, as he carried and played at a high pace, using Rumble’s fast clear speed to lead MAD’s tempo game.

Carzzy has been receiving high praise throughout the event, and deservedly so. He’s posted a 5.3 KDA, +340 GXD10, and 594 DPM at MSI so far, mostly playing Kai’sa, Tristana, and Xayah. He and Carzzy have played aggressively in lane, with more good outcomes than bad ones (though they’ve also given up some kills), and there’s been plenty of team fight flashiness, too.

Carzzy and his teammates will face DWG KIA in the semifinals, and while they should be considered underdogs, this isn’t a big mismatch by any means.

SO LONG, FAREWELL: Today we say goodbye to Cloud9 and Pentanet.gg, who have been eliminated from MSI.

Cloud9 unfortunately weren’t able to make an attempt to win out and force a tiebreaker, and who knows how the games would have gone if MAD hadn’t beaten RNG to make it all irrelevant, but C9 didn’t play well enough against PSG Talon to provide confidence that they could’ve gotten the job done, and the win over MAD Lions in the final game felt very much like a game where both teams were playing at 70% effort level, from the Kalista mid and Irelia picks to a decent amount of limit-testing. I’ll be taking some time to put together my complete thoughts on C9’s MSI showing, but in general I think C9 have caught much more flak during this tournament than was necessary. While the end result hurts, and while there were many disappointing moments, there were also multiple big highs that C9 can hang their hats on, so there’s no need to NA to mope its way into the Summer Split.

Pentanet.GG enjoyed their Rumble Stage with plenty of memes and smiles on their faces, and they got to leave with an enormous feather in their cap after beating C9 and helping to seal their early exit from the tournament. Pabu was a breakout fan favourite with his engaging personality and green hair. The Oceanic region can be very proud of what they achieved and the way they handled themselves, though they could maybe chill out on the Twitter memes just a touch? ;)

LET’S BE REASONABLE: If I can be permitted to wear my No Fun Old Man Rant Hat for a moment:

Over the last few days of MSI, Fudge captured the imagination of the broadcast and the Twittersphere. From the level of praise he’s been receiving from casters and content creators, you’d think Fudge was 1v9ing every game.

I have a (relatively minor) axe to grind with this. By hyping Fudge so dramatically and somewhat unrealistically, you’re not only disregarding the strong play of his teammates (I still think Vulcan was better overall), you’re also setting Fudge up for a lot of flame this Summer by creating superstar-level expectations within the community.

In a postgame interview with Dash, Fudge said, “Even though I played a lot better than people would have expected, there’s still so much more I could’ve done.” He talked about many mistakes he still makes, and how much more room he has to improve. I hope Fudge is able to cling to that attitude and not let the hyperbolic praise he’s been receiving go to his head or hold him back, and I desperately hope that the LCS community will find a better balance point in their evaluation of him as a player.

Photos courtesy Riot Games