Royal Never Give Up and Rogue Warriors ruled both the East and West Regions respectively, but it was Invictus Gaming and EDward Gaming that stood tall at the end of Week 5 of the League of Legends Pro League in China.
Week 5 wasn't kind to either Rogue (7-2) or RNG (7-3), as the former leaders went a combined 1-3 during the week. Both teams suffered their first losses on Friday in a pair of 2-1 losses on each side. Rogue opened up the day by losing to JD Gaming (8-1) and RNG followed that up with a 2-1 loss to FunPlus Phoenix (3-6). The teams then took a day off before meeting head-to-head on Sunday morning where Rogue finally managed to show up, scoring a 2-0 victory. While both teams took losses this week, it's RNG that comes out looking worse for wear. The team might have been able to get through Week 4 without AD carry Jian "Uzi" Zi-Hao in the lineup, but this week was the roughest of all as the team slipped all the way down to third place. It's still got three games on the fourth place Suning Gaming (4-5), but with five weeks left to play and no return for Uzi in sight, it's not looking too good for the reigning LPL champions.
With Rogue and RNG faltering, the window for new top teams was wide open. In the East, it was Invictus (8-1) and JDG that answered the call to leapfrog RNG in the standings. Invictus was blessed with a pair of easy matchups against Team WE (1-8) and Topsports Gaming (3-6) and it capitalized on the opportunities with a pair of 2-1 wins that put in a tie for first place. Right on Invictus' tail is JDG who picked up two wins of its own this week. JDG first took out the struggling FunPlus before upsetting Rogue in a slugfest near the end of the week. With RNG seemingly without Uzi for the rest of the split, look for Invictus and JDG to jockey for position during these final five weeks.
In the West, things were a bit less topsy-turvy. While Rogue did slip in the standings, it only fell to second place by virtue of a two-way tie with a surging EDG (7-2). Playing in two series in Week 5, EDG had the cleanest week of all with a pair of 2-0 sweeps against Vici Gaming (1-8) and Suning Gaming. Its win over Suning was the most impressive, as the games only lasted a mere 50 minutes, with Game 1 lasting just 22 minutes. Time will tell if EDG can keep this up against the best that the LPL has to offer, but it's sitting pretty at the top of the standings.
As we enter the second half of the Summer Split, we'll be treated to some big matchups in Week 6. A mid-tier matchup with some possible playoff implications takes place on Tuesday when LGD Gaming and OMG face off, while the biggest match of the week comes on Saturday when Invictus takes on EDG.
--Rotowire