MVP Phoenix gone head to head with OG in the first round of the losers bracket at the Starladder i-league Invitational and was cleaned up by OG after a dominating 2-0 performance reminiscent of their victory late last year at the Frankfurt Major.??
Game one kicked off dramatically, with 21 kills on the board by fifteen minutes, OG held the kill lead by seven kills but MVP fought back in the mid-game, achieving some successful team fights. MVP.P was, however, unable to take full control of the match. Thirty minutes into the game, OG were able to take a dominant 4-0 team fight in the middle lane which immediately transitioned into a successful Rosh attempt. From this point on, the game was firmly in OG’s hands, taking a 5-0 team wipe in the bottom lane before moving mid to close out the match.
Game two started in a similar style to game one, with massive aggression coming out from both teams, putting nine kills on the board before the match timer hit five minutes. Both teams began rotating around the map, but OG got the better trades, giving them a 10-4 kill score against MVP. This allowed OG to rotate into the Rosh pit at the ten-minute mark, securing themselves an Aegis. OG then moved towards mid and took a 4-0 fight against MVP as they attempted to farm their ancients. With their chances of victory sliding away, MVP attempted to take the momentum from OG with a fight in top lane but simply were not able to secure any kills; MVP's top tier two fell after the lost team fight. OG then rotated to the bottom lane and quickly took down MVP’s tier three before switching over to the Rosh pit; MVP smoked up and pursued, managing to deter OG from a potential over-extension at Roshan. OG then responded with a counter-smoke and took a 3-0 fight against MVP in the radiant jungle. However, MVP were able to hold their high ground against OG’s inevitable push. OG took the mid Rax but were pushed back at the bottom lane, losing several heroes in the process. Sensing that MVP.P was on the brink of defeat, OG regrouped and pushed bottom lane again, easily securing the bottom set of Rax before falling back towards their base as MVP smoked towards the Rosh pit and Sun 'QO' Kim's Medusa’s picked up a Divine Rapier.
The gamble did not pay off.
OG immediately smoked up and rotated towards MVP in the Rosh pit, quickly dispatching their opponents and picking up QO’s Rapier onto Amer 'Miracle' Barqawi's spirit bear before pushing down middle lane and forcing the GG.
