Oh My God vs Thunder Talk Gaming

The Tencent League of Legends Pro League (LPL) in China started in earnest last night. LPL Season 12 officially began with a series between Oh My God and ThunderTalk Gaming. Many believed this series to be not as exciting, but both OMG and TT disagree. This series saw many firsts, not counting the Demacia Cup that concluded a couple weeks ago.

OMG vs TT Game 1

Game 1 of this series had ThunderTalk mid laner Luo “Captain” Fei-yang on Vex. As a newly released champion, Vex was deactivated in all professional play until today. Captain's bot laner, Ding “Puff” Wang left fans scratching heads with an unconventional rune choice. Puff played Aphelios with Press The Attack, different from the current best choice for most AD Carries, Lethal Tempo. His Aphelios, with the aid of Su “Southwind” Zhi-Lin's Thresh, proved critics wrong. The bot lane duo earned themselves First Blood, unfortunately the rest of the team could not follow suit. OMG top laner Deng “shanji” Zi-Jian on Gwen created enough space after surviving the onslaught of three TT members. This space created by shanji allowed the rest of the OMG squad to claim two top side towers, and the gold lead. OMG snowball off of this, with bot laner Dai “Able” Zhi-Chun on Jinx at the helm. The game quickly concludes in OMG's favor after winning two team fights decisively and claiming Baron Nashor. The game ended 12-5 for OMG.

Game Summary of OMG vs TT Game 1

OMG vs TT Game 2

In Game 2, Oh My God seemed to ride the momentum they gained from the Game 1 victory. Their draft, with Rumble, Corki, and Rakan, was good at doing one thing – winning team fights. And win team fights they did. OMG jungler Mao “AKi” An on Xin Zhao claimed 3 kills for himself in the first four minutes, and became an absolute terror for TT. In the next three minutes, his mid laner Lin “Creme” Jian also got three kills on Corki. Throughout the game, OMG put up what the casters called “schoolyard bullying” on top side, slaying the old OMG top laner Tian “New” Zhi-Peng a total of eight times. The rest of ThunderTalk had no room to play, and Game 2 ends in a dominant OMG win after the squad get the Baron buff. The final score line was 22-8 for OMG.

Game Summary of OMG vs TT Game 1

shanji earned both MVP awards in this series for his performance.

FunPlus Phoenix vs Royal Never Give Up

LPL Season 12 continues with series number 2. This series was the one fans have been waiting for. Fans of Royal Never Give Up were eager to see previously top laner Li “Xiaohu” Yuan-Hao role swap back to mid lane. Moreover, both FunPlus Phoenix and Royal Never Give Up are quite decorated teams, so this series was guaranteed to be a banger.

FPX vs RNG Game 1

Both FPX and RNG draft for skirmishes and random fights. This pays off more for RNG in the early game, with Xiaohu on Viktor feeling at home in mid lane and getting an early solo first blood on Kim “gori” Tae-woo's Corki. This game was overall a slow one, with the score line being at 2-0 in the favor of RNG at ten minutes. FPX bot laner Lin “Lwx” Wei-Xiang evens this out after a double kill in the bottom side. FPX recognize their strength in Lwx's, and funnel resources onto his jinx. With the aid of the Infernal soul and a victory push led by Lwx ends the game at 31 minutes. An exceptional game from Lwx, ending with 50% of his team's kills, at a 6/0/4 score line.

FPX vs RNG Game 2

RNG did not seem too pleased with their performance in Game 1, and aimed for redemption in Game 2. Jungler Yan “Wei” Yang-Wei was at the right place at the right time, getting him and the rest of his RNG squad ahead. They earn the mountain soul early on in the game, but FPX was not down for the count. A heroic smite from FPX jungler Yang “Beichuan” Ling steals Baron away and FPX once again show signs of life.

From this, FPX claims some towers with impressive macro calls. RNG answer back by slaying the Elder Dragon and left the FPX base in tatters. Then, in textbook League of Legends fashion, they move up to slay Baron Nashor in exchange for a mid lane tower. Objective bounties avoided RNG from growing a sizeable gold lead and FPX repel their baron-enhanced victory push. RNG pick up Elder #2 and took no prisoners. With a 16-3 score line, RNG claim Game 2.

FPX vs RNG Game 3

Another case of “schoolyard bullying” as the casters put it, with gori getting dived in the mid lane twice in the first four minutes. Both dives resulted in his death, putting him significantly behind his lane opponent. RNG support Shi “Ming” Sen-Ming makes full use of his Predator Boots on Thresh to further cement RNG's lead. After a perfect dive in the bottom lane by RNG, the game at this point looks done and dusted. Ping “xiaolaohu” Xiao-Hu had different ideas, however, as he power slams his way back into the game.

The FPX squad manage a sneaky Baron take, but RNG did not intend to let their opponents leave peacefully. Both AD Carries show their mechanical prowess and it ends in a 2 for 2 trade. After a few back and forth fights, FPX take Baron once again and gori expodes the RNG squad.

FPX win the series, 2-1.

The rest of LPL Season 12 games are broadcasted on the official Twitch channel. Want something to look forward to? Here's how EDG bolstered their roster for this season.