Written by Don Tam

If you missed our preview of the tournament, check it out here. 

If there were any doubts that VG’s legendary deathball of mass destruction is here to stay, day 1 of The Summit 3 laid them all to rest. It took them just a combined 82:28 to dispatch their opponents in four one-sided games. Their victims were Rave, who have an unenviable task of staying alive versus EG on day 3, and C9, who also dispatched EG in 2 games with relative ease.

The winner’s match between VG and C9 decided who went through to the playoff brackets, and it was never in doubt which team was stronger. Game 2 in particular seemed little better than a default win for the Chinese team as they picked on a weak Lone Druid trilane with an equally rare Pugna pick. Despite that, C9’s EternalEnvy did have the best play of the day in game 1 versus EG, as shown here:

All six games invoked a dreadful feeling among viewers that the game may be returning to what made the TI4 finals so awful: An all-in deathball push style that decided games within 20 minutes. Some of the games could be attributed to heavy outdrafting, but clearly that was not the case for all the games. Although it is still too early in the patch to make such a gloomy conclusion, the formula does seem to be to get an early lead in the laning phase and then snowball the advantage to a quick win. With new items like Glimmer Cape to ensure a team won’t relinquish its lead, it remains to be seen whether any team can come back from an early deficit this tournament.

Day 2 could do a lot to dispel these worries when Group B gets into action with championship contenders Team Secret, iG, and LGD taking the stage alongside South American underdogs NoT Today. The remainder of Group A will return on day 3 with the Loser’s Bracket to determine the second team that will join VG in the playoffs.

Watch day 2 starting May 14th 09:00 PDT at http://twitch.tv/beyondthesummit