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Game 1: Flash Wolves vs. Royal Never Give Up
Win: Royal Never Give Up (10-3, 33:42)
Flash Wolves outclassed Royal Never Give Up in the early game with a cleaner laneswap, resulting in a 2.5k gold lead at 10 minutes with a kill apiece for Karsa and NL (and two assists each for Maple and SwordArt). But with a renewed emphasis on Dragons due to the long average game times at MSI so far, RNG had an avenue back into the game through its terrific team fighting.
At 14 minutes, RNG contested Flash Wolves' Dragon attempt, taking the objective and picking up two kills for Looper. At 27 minutes, RNG took another Dragon fight, taking the objective with a clean ace. That fight led to an uncontested Baron and completely flipped the game on its head, giving the Chinese squad a 3k gold lead at 29 minutes.
Once RNG's team fighting composition was able to pick up a gold lead, there was no looking back. The Baron buff turned into a broken Flash Wolves base, and with an inhibitor down in the mid lane, RNG marched into the base and finished off the LMS side.
Bans: Sivir, Alistar, Graves; Azir, Ezreal, Maokai
| FW | K/D/A | CS | RNG | K/D/A | CS |
| MMD (Ekko) 1 | 0/2/0 | 223 | Looper (Poppy) 2 | 3/0/5 | 231 |
| Karsa (Nidalee) 3 | 1/1/2 | 171 | mlxg (Kindred) 1 | 1/1/8 | 149 |
| Maple (Zed) 3 | 0/2/2 | 261 | xiaohu (Ryze) 1 | 5/1/3 | 349 |
| NL (Lucian) 2 | 2/3/0 | 340 | Wuxx (Twitch) 3 | 1/0/6 | 288 |
| SwordArt (Thresh) 2 | 0/2/3 | 20 | Mata (Braum) 2 | 0/1/6 | 33 |
Game 2: Counter Logic Gaming vs. SK Telecom T1
Win: Counter Logic Gaming (16-19, 43:42)
This game had a remarkably even start, with the two teams pretty much equal in gold at 20 minutes. SKT had a kill advantage thanks to a pair of Faker teleports to the top lane, while CLG held a turret advantage due to better objective focus and some bizarre decision-making from SKT. In one egregious, SKT allowed CLG to push the top lane uncontested at 18 minutes, engaging in a delayed turret trade, but CLG's composition was far superior in sieging and simply outpushed SKT.
An extended team fight that broke out at 20 minutes went 3-1 in CLG's favor, but Faker helped keep the game close by killing Huhi after. At 27 minutes, SKT caught Aphromoo out of position and Blank killed Huhi in the resulting fight. With a one-man advantage, SKT went for Baron, but CLG was able to stop the advantage 4 vs. 5 thanks to a triple kill from Stixxay. SKT still won the fight 4 vs. 3, and a pair of picks for them just two minutes later led to a delayed SKT ace.
At 33 minutes, SKT looked to catch CLG out of position one more time, but Bang went in way too aggressively and Stixxay picked up his seventh kill of the game. A minute later, CLG took Baron, picking up two more kills in the ensuing fight (including one more for Stixxay. With the Baron buff, CLG broke open SKT's base by taking the middle inhibitor.
At 41 minutes, the two teams traded inhibitors directly before Baron's respawn. cLG was able to zone SKT away from the objective and take it, winning the ensuing team fight 4-1 for the shocking upset.
Bans: Alistar, Maokai, Ryze; Caitlyn, Soraka, Bard
| CLG | K/D/A | CS | SKT | K/D/A | CS |
| Darshan (Poppy) 2 | 1/5/12 | 218 | Duke (Ekko) 1 | 2/4/6 | 343 |
| Xmithie (Nidalee) 1 | 4/3/6 | 210 | Blank (Kindred) 2 | 2/3/7 | 240 |
| Huhi (Azir) 3 | 1/5/9 | 256 | Faker (LeBlanc) 3 | 10/3/5 | 297 |
| Stixxay (Lucian) 2 | 10/4/4 | 388 | Bang (Ezreal) 2 | 4/3/9 | 353 |
| Aphromoo (Janna) 3 | 0/2/14 | 12 | Wolf (Braum) 1 | 1/3/14 | 57 |
Game 3: SuperMassive eSports vs. G2 Esports
Win: G2 Esports (23-15, 39:24)
The game got off to a slow start, with a double lane swap, but a team fight erupted at nine minutes. It was a 1 for 1 trade despite G2 being outnumbered 4 to 5, and Perkz was able to take a tower advantage for his team by staying in the mid lane.
At 13 minutes, SuperMassive's poke comp made its first proactive play, as Naru was able to pick off Emperor by teleporting behind him. But G2 responded as a group, and with a superior team fighting composition was able to pick up two kills and assert its lead. SuperMassive made the same pick play onto Emperor two minutes later and were this time able to turn it into something tangible, taking a 2-for-1 turret trade and taking G2's top inhibitor tower.
At 18 minutes, SuperMassive collapsed on G2 once again, picking up a 4-1 team fight and their third Dragon of the game as a result. With a narrow gold lead but unquestioned map control, SuperMassive was able to take Baron uncontested at 23 minutes, but G2 recovered by winning the ensuing team fight 4-1. But G2 overextended and stayed around too long, giving Thaldrin and Naru time to pick up a pair of kills and maintain SuperMassive's lead.
At 31 minutes, it was G2 making a crucial pick, killing Stomaged directly before Dragon 5 spawned for SuperMassive. G2 picked it up for its first Dragon at 32 minutes, and then set up to take Baron two minutes later. At 35 minutes, SuperMassive elected to try and race G2's Baron push, losing two inhibitors and a Nexus tower in exchange for one G2 inhibitor. Three minutes later, G2 picked up a clean ace to win the game.
Bans: Braum, Zed, Nidalee; Maokai, LeBlanc, Lucian
| SUP | K/D/A | CS | G2 | K/D/A | CS |
| Thaldrin (Ekko) 2 | 4/4/5 | 322 | Kikis (Poppy) 2 | 7/2/10 | 249 |
| Stomaged (Kindred) 1 | 5/7/5 | 141 | Trick (Graves) 3 | 8/5/9 | 206 |
| Naru (Twisted Fate) 3 | 3/5/5 | 290 | Perkz (Azir) 1 | 3/1/9 | 361 |
| Achuu (Ezreal) 2 | 3/3/8 | 324 | Emperor (Emperor) 2 | 5/6/13 | 257 |
| Dumbledoge (Morgana) 3 | 0/4/9 | 16 | Hybrid (Bard) 1 | 0/3/20 | 17 |
Game 4: Flash Wolves vs. SK Telecom T1
Win: Flash Wolves (13-3, 40:09)
Two major power picks made it through the draft for the first time Friday: Alistar and Maokai. Alistar had not yet lost in Shanghai, and that continued with another excellent game from SwordArt.
Alistar and Maokai were left open because the jungler pool was targeted in the bans. That left Karsa on Elise, but he made it work in the early game. Three times in the first 10 minutes Flash Wolves used a Headbutt + Pulverize combo from SwordArt to get a kill onto Karsa. Faker was able to shut down Karsa on the third such play, and SKT held a slight lead at 20 minutes due to farm advantages in every lane (and a massive one in the jungle) and a one tower lead.
At 27 minutes, SKT attempted to sneak in a Baron with a slight advantage, but Karsa was able to make it to the pit in time to steal the objective.
Baron Steal for the Flash Wolves! #OwnTheRift https://t.co/0PEkF8BpCh
— lolesports #MSI2016 (@lolesports) May 6, 2016
Flash Wolves used that buff to push down the mid lane, and the excellent tower-diving combination of Elise and Alistar led to two towers and an inhibitor taken. That led to a 3k gold lead for Flash Wolves at 32 minutes, which built to an uncontested Baron at 36 minutes. Faker was caught completely out of position directly after, and Flash Wolves pressed their resulting advantage for two inhibitors,
At 39 minutes, Flash Wolves pushed for SKT's third inhibitor, killing Wofl in the process. With a 5 vs. 4 advantage, Flash Wolves was able to force another fight and win the game.
Bans: Sivir, Kindred, Tahm Kench; Nidalee, LeBlanc, Ryze
| FW | K/D/A | CS | SKT | K/D/A | CS |
| MMD (Poppy) 3 | 2/0/4 | 337 | Duke (Maokai) 1 | 0/1/1 | 395 |
| Karsa (Elise) 3 | 5/1/6 | 131 | Blank (Graves) 1 | 1/5/2 | 242 |
| Maple (Azir) 2 | 4/0/7 | 392 | Faker (Ekko) 2 | 1/1/0 | 407 |
| NL (Ezreal) 2 | 2/2/6 | 351 | Bang (Lucian) 2 | 1/4/0 | 383 |
| SwordArt (Alistar) 1 | 0/0/12 | 47 | Wolf (Braum) 3 | 0/2/2 | 64 |
Game 5: Counter Logic Gaming vs. SuperMassive eSports
Win: Counter Logic Gaming (19-9, 30:32)
This was one of the only games of Day 3 to start with a double lane swap, and CLG emerged with a slight overall lead and a massive advantage in the top lane. At 20 minutes, CLG led by 2k gold, up one kill, two towers and one Dragon. CLG was able to turn that into a 7k gold lead at 27 minutes thanks to a 3-0 team fight and an uncontested Baron.
With the baron buff, CLG sieged up and broke open SuperMassive's base, taking the bottom and mid lane inhibitors. fabFabulous jumped forward to try and stop the push, but CLG picked him off and was able to end the game.
Bans: Fizz, Twisted Fate, Bard; Caitlyn, Ryze, Nidalee
| CLG | K/D/A | CS | SUP | K/D/A | CS |
| Darshan (Maokai) 2 | 3/1/6 | 185 | fabFabulous (Ekko) 2 | 1/3/3 | 151 |
| Xmithie (Kindred) 1 | 1/3/8 | 143 | Stomaged (Graves) 2 | 2/4/3 | 100 |
| Huhi (Azir) 3 | 3/1/12 | 207 | Naru (LeBlanc) 1 | 4/5/3 | 203 |
| Stixxay (Kalista) 2 | 11/1/5 | 263 | Achuu (Lucian) 1 | 2/3/3 | 277 |
| Aphromoo (Soraka) 3 | 1/3/14 | 17 | Dumbledoge (Poppy) 3 | 0/4/3 | 37 |
Game 6: G2 Esports vs. Royal Never Give Up
Win: Royal Never Give Up (12-5, 37:58)
G2's rough time of things in Shanghai continued from the start of this game. During the lane swap, mlxg surprised Perkz in the mid lane with a level 2 gank, earning First Blood at 2 minutes. G2 evened it up at nine minutes, sending four to the mid lane to kill xiaohu, and held a 1k gold lead at 10 minutes.
Despite mistakes from Perkz, G2's siege composition was able to push forward and take objectives, destroying RNG's bottom inhibitor at 25 minutes. RNG responded by taking Baron at 26 minutes, but was unable to do anything with the buff. At 37 minutes, RNG got the team fight it was waiting for, getting a clean ace and winning the game.
Bans: Twitch, Kindred, Maokai; Zed, Bard, Kalista
| G2 | K/D/A | CS | RNG | K/D/A | CS |
| Kikis (Poppy) 3 | 0/1/3 | 274 | Looper (Ekko) 1 | 1/0/5 | 286 |
| Trick (Nidalee) 3 | 2/1/3 | 194 | mlxg (Graves) 1 | 3/0/5 | 205 |
| Perkz (Azir) 2 | 1/4/1 | 316 | xiaohu (LeBlanc) 3 | 2/3/5 | 311 |
| Emperor (Lucian) 2 | 2/3/1 | 333 | Wuxx (Sivir) 2 | 4/1/5 | 381 |
| Hybrid (Alistar) 1 | 0/3/4 | 42 | Mata (Braum) 2 | 2/1/5 | 47 |