MSI Claims its First Victim: GAM Eliminates FURIA

After both lost on Day 1 of MSI play-ins, GAM and FURIA fought for survival in the lower bracket, with the Vietnamese team barely making it through in a close five-game series.

GAM sends Home the LTA South Representative

Following the strong performance by FURIA against G2, there were high expectations for the series between GAM and FURIA. Needless to say, it delivered a close series between the two teams, proving that the international competition might not have as big of a gap as people might have thought coming into the tournament. And it became clear from the first game of the series.

Game 1 – A Bloodbath to Start Things Off

GAM has always been known for their early aggressiveness and overall proactivity around skirmishes, leveraging Levi’s strengths as a jungler. And the team just did that, drafting the Taliyah-Pantheon combo to dominate the map with global pressure. And for the most part, it worked: GAM often found early picks. However, the team often overstepped, giving FURIA the chance to punish multiple overstays and maintain the gold gap close.

In particular, mid laner Tutsz was popping off on Ahri, even managing to steal a Baron that almost turned the game around. But despite that, GAM found a good teamfight around Elder dragon, claiming the buff and closing out what might be one of the bloodiest games at this tournament with 46 total kills.

Game 2 – FURIA’s Draft Diff Pays Off

If game 1 came down to the players, FURIA’s bounce back in game 2 was driven by a major draft diff. With a strong teamfighting composition with heavy crowd control and Guigo as Jax on the counter matchup against Gwen, FURIA found good momentum, negating Levi’s early ganks, securing a 4k gold lead by 15 minutes, and methodically choking out GAM’s options. It was a one-sided game that ended in 27 minutes.

Game 3 – Early Game vs. Scaling

GAM tried to shake things up by swapping out their mid laner and bringing in Aress for Emo, and drafting a full early-game focused draft around Kalista-Neeko with Twisted Fate in the mid lane. While it paid off early on as expected, with Kiaya even solo killing Guigo, FURIA fought their way back in the game thanks to superior teamfighting. In less than five minutes, FURIA turned around the gold lead and close out the game with one Baron play.

Game 4 – GAM Strikes Back with their star player Levi

GAM found themselves with the back against the wall heading into Game 4, but it was down to the veteran Levi to even the odds. The Vietnamese jungler quickly took control of the game on his Viego, and even though GAM couldn’t open up a big enough lead, the big chance came around the 25-minute mark when FURIA’s support Jojo and jungler Tatu went in the top side river too early and got shut down. With a Baron in hand and Levi’s resetting left and right, GAM tied the series and brought out Silver Scrapes for the second consecutive day at MSI.

Game 5 – Anti-climatic Chronobreak

Levi was once again the protagonist in the series decider on Naafiri. Although the early game was relatively quiet, GAM slowly chipped away at FURIA with a few winning skirmishes, building a modest lead by the 15-minute mark.

That being said, FURIA had drafted for the late game with Kassadin in the hands of Tutsz, and things looked promising early as the mid laner managed to pick up a few kills and accelerate his scaling. GAM, however, didn’t let the game drift out of their control. The turning point came when Levi found a brilliant engage after stealing Atakhan, coordinating perfectly with Aress’ Orianna to land a multi-man Shockwave. The fight ended in a clean four-for-zero for GAM, effectively sealing FURIA’s fate.

Even though FURIA tried to hold the game in hopes that their Kassadin could turn the fights in their favor, GAM’s lead was simply too overwhelming. A late Chronobreak kind of ruined the party for GAM fans with a 30-minute pause, but the victory ultimately came, and GAM fans will now rejoice, as their qualification hopes remain alive. They will face the loser between G2 and BLG tomorrow.

For FURIA, it’s a bittersweet end, considering both series were lost at the very last hurdle. Nonetheless, the team showed great resilience in both series, and it has proven that the LTA South is not as weak as many would have thought.