Shenzhen NINJAS IN PYJAMAS have taken the series. NIP beat WeiboGaming 2–1 in Week 4 of the LPL on August 13, and the deciding game was arguably the most one-sided of the three: 16 kills to 4, with a gold gap of more than 16,000 by the end.

WBG did force the decider. Their 30:39 win in game two was clean on paper, 16 kills to 6 and ten towers to three, with Elk's Lucian dealing 30,008 damage and Moham finishing 0/0/13 on Milio. Xiaohu led the team with seven kills on Locke. For one game, WBG looked like the sharper side.

Photic sets the standard

The bookends belonged to NIP, and to Photic in particular. Across the two wins he went 11/0/17, first on Jhin in a 51:37 opener and then on Ashe in the decider, where he took part in every one of his team's kills. His only deaths of the series came in the game NIP lost. Support fengyue was close behind on the assist sheet, posting 17 assists in game one and 14 in game three.

The opener was long, but the totals tell a lopsided story: NIP finished with 22 kills to WBG's 10, eleven towers to six and both barons. Guwon's 6/2/8 on Qiyana and Care's 6/3/9 on Ryze meant the damage was spread across the map rather than resting on one carry.

A strange decider for WBG

Game three is harder to read. WBG ended it with eight towers to NIP's three, an unusual line for a team that lost by 16,000 gold. The kill column explains more: four kills all game, with Xiaohu on Annie finishing 1/5/2 and Elk going without a kill on Mel. Zika's top lane was quiet throughout the series, too, with a combined 4/6/2 across the three games.

For NIP, a series win built on a carry who barely died is a solid foundation. For WBG, the question is what separated the team that won game two so comfortably from the one that managed four kills in the decider... and whether they can find that version again in the weeks ahead.