2022 LEC Summer W2D1: Astralis Trounce SK Gaming In a Full Team Effort

Astralis are showing no signs of stopping for now as they trounce SK Gaming in a full team effort, owing to an MVP performance out of Xerxe.

Well they did labor a bit to close out against SK Gaming, but man do Astralis look really good to start off the summer split! The biggest improvements to the roster have been JeongHoon, even taking into consideration that promisq had arguably his best split in spring, and Dajor, who looks like an early candidate for Most Improved Player of the Split.

His clutch Orianna ultimates, especially the one in the last fight, were pivotal in notching the win for Astralis off the back of JeongHoon’s excellent Rakan engages. He had some solid potential in his debut split, but he  played with much more poise and patience this time around, and I was happy to see him perform well in these teamfights.

Kobbe looks revitalized being surrounded with his old teammates; while they weren’t always the smartest play, I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen the Astralis bot laner flashing forward and playing so aggressively in a very long time. It is a welcome change for sure.

That being said, I would narrowly have to give my MVP to Xerxe this game for being omnipresent on the Volibear, thoroughly jungle gapping Gilius with his proactivity. Not only did he make his presence known in side lanes, he prevented some narrow would-be objective steals from Gilius in the mid game.

I was also impressed with his use of stasis to bait SK members into a compromised position, allowing his backline to rain down hellfire and turn crucial teamfights that eventually snowballed into an Astralis victory.

Even though they are perennially the laughing stock of the LEC, the old Splyce boys combined with the exciting new addition of JeongHoon and the remarkable improvement from Dajor, Astralis are looking like an early playoff contender as they push forward to 3-1.

MVP: Xerxe (1)