V5 win again, improve to 5-1 at LPL Summer

Only Top Esports (5-0) sit ahead of Victory Five in the standings. In the day's other match, Invictus Gaming (4-2) rallied past FunPlus Phoenix (2-2) for a 2-1 victory.Rogue Warriors (0-3) will battle Team WE (3-2) in the first match of the day. LPL Summer Split standings through Thursday (record, map differential): 1.

Victory Five continued their resurgence with their most convincing win yet on Thursday to improve to 5-1 at the League of Legends Pro League Summer Split, as Week 4 continued in Shanghai. Victory Five, who went 0-16 in the Spring Split before overhauling their roster in May, swept Royal Never Give Up on Thursday in a battle of previously 4-1 teams. They took the first map in 32 minutes on red and the second in 26 minutes on blue, with mid-laner Hao-Yan "Mole" Li (as Zoe) and bot laner Jae-hoon "Samd" Lee (as Aphelios), respectively, claiming MVP honors.

It was Victory Five's third straight win and easily their most impressive of the summer. Their other four wins have come against teams in the bottom five of the standings. Only Top Esports (5-0) sit ahead of Victory Five in the standings.

In the day's other match, Invictus Gaming (4-2) rallied past FunPlus Phoenix (2-2) for a 2-1 victory. FPX took the lead in 36 minutes on blue behind MVP Qing-Song "Crisp" Liu (as Thresh), but Invictus fought back with a 31-minute win on blue (Seung-lok "TheShy" Kang was MVP as Kalista) and a 27-minute win on red (Zhen-Ning "Ning" Gao was MVP as Jarvan IV).

The 17-team, 10-week LPL season runs through Aug. 9. Following a single round robin of best-of-three matches, the top eight sides will advance to the Summer Split playoffs. All matches in the single-elimination postseason bracket will be best-of-five, with dates yet to be announced. The top two teams will get double byes into the semifinals, and the third- and fourth-place teams will get byes in the quarterfinals. The fifth- through eighth-place teams will compete in the opening round. The tiebreaker order for playoff positioning is game differential followed by head-to-head result.

The playoff winner will earn a spot in the League of Legends World Championship, scheduled to be played in China at a date to be announced. The champion will claim more than $280,000 of the nearly $600,000 prize pool. Week 4 continues with two matches Friday, including Top Esports' bid to stay undefeated vs. EDward Gaming (2-2). Rogue Warriors (0-3) will battle Team WE (3-2) in the first match of the day.

LPL Summer Split standings through Thursday (record, map differential): 1. Top Esports, 5-0, +9

2. Victory Five, 5-1, +7 3. LGD Gaming, 4-1, +3

4. Invictus Gaming, 4-2, +3 5. Royal Never Give Up, 4-2, +2

6. Team WE, 3-2, +3 7. Suning, 3-3, 0

T8. EDward Gaming, 2-2, +1 T8. JD Gaming, 2-2, +1

T8. FunPlus Phoenix, 2-2, +1 11. eStar Gaming, 2-3, +1

12. LNG Esports, 2-3, -3 13. Oh My God, 2-4, -2

14. Vici Gaming, 1-3, -4 15. Bilibili Gaming, 1-4, -6

16. Rogue Warriors, 0-3, -6 17. Dominus Esports, 0-5, -10