Invictus Gaming vs Team Liquid

For our fifth match of the day (the fourth day of the Group Stage, if you've lost count) we have an exciting clash between the tournament favorites Invictus Gaming and the North American champions Team Liquid.

Now, frankly, this isn't an exciting match if you're a North American spectators. That's for sure. The only way this match could unfold in actuality is a rather one-sided beating from Invictus Gaming, and anything other than that would veer into the realm of fiction and absurdity.

We're not saying that Liquid is a bad team here -- not in the slightest. But they are, however, overpowered and beaten lane-for-lane, and when that happens, there is only a small number of possible outcomes -- just one, in fact, and that's defeat.

Invictus has been looking downright spectacular over the course of the tournament, and they're currently in sole possession of first place with six wins and zero losses. It's not just that they're strong -- they're immaculate in all areas of play. They're incredible on a mechanical level, but they're also insane as a five-man unit, both when it comes to macro as well as mid and late game team fighting.

To make matters even more interesting, they're always willing to throw down regardless of the state of the game. If a team wants to clash and throw caution out the window, Invictus is always down to tango. And that's fantastic, albeit ill-advised. The winners always win out the most, that's for sure.

Liquid, on the other hand, is currently sitting on a rather underwhelming record 2W-4L record. They're not doing so well, to be quite frank. Their play is sloppy, they're out of sync, they're making individual blunders -- they're just unimpressive and abysmal across the board. Some members are bigger offenders than others though. Jensen and Xmithie, in particular, are making the most mistakes and are getting outclassed game after game. Without a well-performing jungler and a mechanically gifted mid laner, there's just not a lot that Liquid can do.

Doublelift and CoreJJ are a very solid bottom lane buo, but they're not getting the right guidance and assistance throughout the game, and it's evident in their play as well. Furthermore, even when they do get a solid lead, they're unable to capitalize and translate that over to a stronger mid or late game. No matter how you look at things, Liquid are simply underwhelming, without any concrete avenue towards success.

Could they transcend their current mediocrity and be competitive against Invictus Gaming? They could, at least in theory. But there's always a mistake or two that's being made in the early game when it comes to Liquid. They always make at least one blunder that forces them to play from behind and to lose across the map. While they could make things somewhat close, they're sentenced to a loss, especially against such a momentous opponent.

Either way, it should be a fun scrap. Liquid always try their best, and even though it often doesn't work out in their favor, their valiant effort is still commendable.