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Newbee swept LGD Gaming to close out Week 9, Day 1 League of Legends Pro League action on Thursday in Shanghai.
Newbee (8-6, 19-17 match record) and LGD Gaming (6-7, 15-17 match record) sit third and fourth in the Group B standings of the LPL, but it didn't seem as so in the beginning of the series. Game 1 quickly built up to be one-sided in favor of Newbee, thanks to fantastic laning and jungling. What shaped up to be a close match early on turned into a complete stomp, forcing LGD against the wall as its playoff bid grows to be uncertain. Newbee jungler Baek "Swift" Dae Hoon showed off great prowess with his Sejuani in the game, tallying a MVP-garnering 2/0/25 KDA (kills/deaths/assists) in the game.
Game 2 went back and forth with neither team being able to hold a lead or win back-to-back teamfights. LGD showed some signs of improvement, demonstrating better target prioritization and objective focus, but inconsistency across the board prevented the team from coming out with a game victory. Swift was again at the forefront, proving that his Sejauni might deserve a ban in the future with another stellar showing, this time at a 3/4/17 KDA.
With this loss, LGD only has a one series lead over Suning Gaming (6-8, 16-21 match record) in the standings with another week and a half of LPL play left to go. LGD does maintain the head-to-head lead over Suning, but Suning has been on the rise while LGD has been sliding of late. On the other hand, Newbee has shown marked improvements after a winless week and is looking to get into playoff form at just the right time.
