In Day 1 of MSI Group Stage action, the six representing teams completed their first two games in the beginning of a five day double round robin. 

After being dealt a stinging defeat by the GIGABYTE Marines, Team SoloMid was able to bounce back to defeat Team WE 1-0 in the last game of the day.

​​The Draft

Following a failed attempt at an AD carry protection comp in their game against GIGABYTE Marines earlier in the day, TSM found success in their draft against WE. 

Team WE targeted Søren "Bjergsen" Bjerg with Syndra, Ryze, and Orianna bans. They then countered with a first pick Karma which was flexed to mid lane, while Nami was drafted last and played as support. WE's composition ended up favoring pick/protection as they proceeded to pick Ashe, Elise, and Jayce.

TSM target banned WE's top laner Ke "957" Changyu after his amazing 7/0/4 Kled game against Flash Wolves in their first game. Banning Fizz, Kled, and Aatrox, TSM was able to put 957 on Jayce, which he was less comfortable playing. 

TSM drafted a standard composition with a combination of damage, pick potential, and utility. Their drafted ended up winning because of WE's lack of front line to protect against TSM's picks and damage as the game went on. 

Top Lane Mismatch

TSM's Kevin "Hauntzer" Yarnell was able to bully 957 throughout lane and it made the difference in the game. 

On Kennen, Hauntzer maintained a substantial creep score lead on 957's Jayce, and the lane was eventually broken open by a Lee Sin Flash ultimate gank by TSM jungler Dennis "Svenskeren" Johnsen. Hauntzer finished the game with a score of 6/0/3 and was the primary contributor in team fights.

Though 957 had a similar all-star performance on Kled just one match earlier, he wasn't able to match Hauntzer in the top lane and it cost WE the game. 

Lane Focus

This match was decided by TSM's bot lane versus WE's top lane. 

While WE took a strong dive focus on TSM's bot lane to force them behind, TSM focused WE's top lane on accomplishing the same goal. Whichever lane could escape pressure more consistently would end up winning, and TSM's bot lane edged out WE in the end.

The match started with two dive plays from WE's jungler Xiang "Condi" Ren-Jie, each resulting in one kill. Eventually, WE blew their early lead because of their over-focus on TSM's bot lane while their other lanes needed jungler attention.

While WE was able to shut down TSM's Ad carry Jason "WildTurtle" Tran, TSM shut down 957 even harder. WildTurtle finished 1/3/5 on Ezreal while 957 scored a miserable 0/6/1 on Jayce.

Final Thoughts

Team WE came out with a game plan to take advantage of TSM's weak bot lane and succeeded for the first 8-10 minutes. However, TSM's draft and comfortable team comp ended up being too tough for WE to handle.

Both teams finish the day at 1-1, and will continue to MSI Day 2 with challenging schedules. These teams meet again on Day 3, and WE will no doubt be looking to turn the game in their favor.

Results:

Team WE 0:1 Team SoloMid

Cover courtesy of @lolesports

Photo courtesy of splitpush