Group B took a back seat going into MSI 2018 yesterday, but today it was their turn to take center stage. Coming into the day, BAU SuperMassive were the odds-on favorite to win the group. They looked the part in a dominant performance over the other three teams Group B. After such an impressive display, it’s tough to see any other team advancing into the next round. Yet we are still just halfway through pool play, so both Dire Wolves and KaBuM are still in contention.
BAU SuperMassive 3-0
The Turkish champions put on an incredible performance today. They left few people doubting their pre-tournament status as the favorites to come out of the group stage.
The toughest test for SuperMassive came in the first game. Dire Wolves picked up an early first blood and hung close with the team for about 25 minutes. However, SuperMassive was able to win a team fight and turned that into Baron shortly afterwards. That helped them unlock the map and they made quick work of the Oceania champions from there.
SuperMassive left no doubt that they were the better team in their next two matches. They crushed Pentagram in less than 29 minutes in their second match and annihilated KaBuM in record time in the last match of the day. They averaged a kill a minute and closed out the Brazilian champs in under 22 minutes.
It’s hard to imagine any other team advancing out of Group B at this point. KaBuM were supposed to be SuperMassive’s toughest opponent, but instead they put up no challenge. SuperMassive summed up the day echoing that sentiment on Twitter.
— 은총알 (@svbullet_) May 4, 2018
Dire Wolves 2-1
The Dire Wolves are the surprise team of MSI thus far. Oddsmaker BetDSI listed them at 15-1 to win their group at the start of the tournament, but they are currently in second place behind SuperMassive.
Dire Wolves were the one team to give SuperMassive a good game, and they played great in their upset of KaBuM. The star of the game was top laner Chippys for his performance on Irelia. Chippys was able to control his lane and take over in the mid game, leading Dire Wolves to the win.
KaBuM! eSports 1-2
Many analysts, including myself, believed that KaBuM had the best chance to knock off SuperMassive. This team has some young, talented players, and they performed very well in leading the team to the CBLOL title this year.
However, KaBuM’s inexperience has shown thus far. In their losses to Dire Wolves and SuperMassive, they started to force things when they got behind. Rather than wait for an opportunity, they were quick to initiate and it led to opponents widening their lead.
Pentagram 0-3
This was always going to be an uphill battle for Pentagram. Japanese teams have never fared well in international events as opponents take advantage of their passive early game. That was the case in all three of Pentagram’s games. Their lanes were consistently getting harassed by the enemy jungler, and they had no response. This team will be fortunate to win a game on Sunday.
