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Suning Gaming continued its playoff push by taking down OMG 2-1 to kick off Week 9, Day 1 of League of Legends Pro League on Thursday in Shanghai.
Suning Gaming (6-8, 16-21 match record) has spent a majority of the split as a middle-of-the-pack team, but it definitely didn't look like it Wednesday. Despite OMG (9-4, 10-11 match record) being at the top of the standings in Group B of the LPL, Suning proved to be a tough opponent.
Game 1 was close affair, with neither team gaining any sizable leads throughout the 40-minute brawl. On the back of superior late game teamfighting, Suning managed to shock OMG to go up 1-0 in the series.
Strong laning and jungling paved the way for an OMG victory in Game 2, forcing a series-deciding Game 3 with Suning's playoff hopes on the line. Suning has shocked the LPL before, taking down the domestic titan EDward Gaming (9-3, 19-6 match record) in a convincing sweep in Week 6, so a win here was realistic for the team.
Suning took Game 3 through methodical mid and late game macro play, while OMG spent the game playing on its back foot and simply reacting to the plays Suning was making. Suning's route to the playoffs from here isn't terribly hard, and if it plays like it did during this series against OMG, then it wouldn't be far-fetched for the team to slip in as the fourth seed.
That being said, OMG did expose Suning's weak laning phase in the early game and used that flaw to take the Game 2 victory. Still, Suning managed to take down the first seed in Group B, and it could use this momentum to push for the playoffs.
Suning Gaming will return to the Rift on Saturday to take on Newbee at 2 a.m. ET, while OMG will play its next domestic game later that day against Royal Never Give Up at 8 a.m. ET.
