2020 Split 1 CBLoL Week 2 has come and gone. We saw some major upsets this past weekend. Our prediction of Prodigy Esports taking down Flamengo eSports didn’t pan out as we’d hoped. The sheer beatdown they received was shocking, given both their forms. It made it more confusing when FURIA Uppercut Esports, whom PRG had smashed in Week 1, took down Flamengo in a rock, paper, scissors-style three-way tie at the top of the standings.

Beyond just the top of the standings, we also had some major surprises in the middle of the pack. We saw the rise in fortunes for Vivo Keyd and, to a lesser extent, INTZ Esports as the week ended. Who came up big, who’s looking strong and who’s already staring down the barrel of relegations after only two weeks of play? Here’s our 2020 Split 1 CBLoL Week 2 recap.

RDP vs FURIA Uppercut (Winner: FURIA Uppercut)

Our first match of 2020 Split 1 CBLoL Week 2 saw then-undefeated Redemption Porto Alegre taking on the middle of the pack FURIA Uppercut Esports in a battle for a spot in the upper half of the standings. Our initial prediction of RDP taking the win seemed in the bag. The team got off to an early lead with two kills on FUR’s Fitz in the top lane and a series of objectives from an Infernal Drake to first turret and Rift Herald. However, things quickly went south after a Cloud Drake steal by FUR’s Sting saw the RDP give up a disastrous three kills for one.

This was followed up by a two for two trade in the bottom lane as RDP tried to regain control of the map. Still, they managed to secure the second Rift Herald in the process. Top laner Nyu found himself caught out and FUR pressed the lead with a solo kill by their mid laner Anyyy onto his counterpart Krastyel and a tier two turret take in the bottom lane.

From there, FURIA took objective after objective from Redemption, securing three Mountain Drakes for the Mountain Soul, four turrets and a Baron over the next 12 minutes while RDP struggled to get even one turret and a handful of kills for their trouble. It looked like smooth sailing past this point until a major teamfight around the top side of bottom river backfired for the freshly Baron empowered FUR. RDP used their sneaky Elder Drake to blow up FUR, picking up four kills and a chance to turn the game back in their favor as they closed the gold difference to just under 300. The comeback wasn’t real, though. A fight around the bottom mid bush around the 43:35 mark resulted in three members of RDP getting caught by a Senna W and killed, clearing the path for FURIA to close out the game.

This has been one of the closest matches we’ve seen this split so far. It set the stage for FURIA’s Sunday match-up with top of the leaderboard Flamengo to be a much bigger match-up than we’d initially anticipated. Early flanks on INTZ’s Tay in the top lane set Parang up to take complete control up there. It looked like the team might pull out their first win of the split. Unfortunately, while Parang’s Renekton was looking big up top, nothing was done to keep INTZ’s Envy from scaling on his surprise AD Tristana. Tutsz’s Mord mid proved entirely ineffective in setting up ganks to stop him.

Still, KBM kept picking on the side lanes to try and generate pressure, culminating in a fight for an Inferno Drake near the 14-minute mark that resulted in a surprise ace for INTZ. MicaO was able to sit free firing with Aphelios on the backline the entire time, dishing out insane damage with Tay sat in the river and held most of the enemy team back. While KBM would get a few more turrets just afterward, the game quickly began snowballing in INTZ’s favor. They took tower after tower, grabbing Baron and the Ocean Soul on their way to a just shy of 28-minute victory.

Marked improvement in KBM’s early game was on display here, though their mid and late game shotcalling still shows clear flaws other teams continue to exploit. .

FURIA Uppercut vs KABUM! E-SPORTS (Winner: FURIA Uppercut)

The last match on Saturday saw last year’s semi-finalists FURIA Uppercut Esports (formerly Uppercut Esports) take on KABUM! E-SPORTS in easily the most one-sided match of the day. FURI ran away with the game right off the bat with an early on KBM support Ceos after a failed roam mid snowballing into an Ocean Drak and Rift Herald.

The play earned FUR their first turret shortly before the 11:30 mark. From there, FUR seemed never to let their foot off the gas. They took objective after objective with little contention from KBM, dropping only two turrets on their way to a Cloud Drake soul after the 24-minute mark, only giving up two turrets in this entire period and the entire game.

While KBM jungler Wiz managed to go deathless and hold his team in the game along with top laner Parang, the Nidalee pick honestly was incredibly lackluster and unable to control the flow of the game, costing them all those objectives nearly uncontested. At the same time, KBM’s bot lane failed to find a single kill, but 10 deaths, between them.

It’s not a good look the start the season out with. For their part, there wasn’t much to criticize FUR for beyond their over aggression in a few moments. However, it’s better to play risky now and test your limits than play passively. It should become less of a problem as the team gets more used to how far they can push their plays.

Vivo Keyd vs PaiN Gaming (Winner: Vivo Keyd)

This was another 2020 Split 1 CBLoL Week 2 close game with big gold swings as Vivo Keyd took on PaiN Gaming for our second to last game of the day. This game also marked the first usage of Sett in CBLoL since his release, with Vivo’s Robo picking him up to honestly great effect.

PNG started the game out with an early Mountain Drake before catching out VK’s bot lane and jungler taking Rift Herald. While they would initially get away with the objective, a return to the top lane of their bot side and jungler resulted in a four-man dive and a 3-0 kill secure for PNG.

The lead wouldn’t last long. VK roared back with a triple kill for NOsFerus’ Leblanc on BrTT, Key and Yang and dragged the team back into the game. PNG shortly after picked up an Infernal Drake before quickly ceding another Herald, three turrets, and an Ocean Drake over the next six minutes as the team failed to apply their early pressure beyond a kill and a turret in top lane during this time.

It looked like VK may run away with the game until a won teamfight near Baron around 28-minutes in backfired. They gave PNG enough time to come back and get a 4k to turn the tide and push right back toward VK’s base, only held back by smart aggression by the massive NOsFerus.

From there, it was a game of cat and mouse ensued in mid lane as PNG, having caught out Robo, pushed down for the mid Inhibitor turret from VK. The team overstayed and was punished hard. Robo respawned and tp behind the team in the mid lane to set up a two for one kill and the Ocean Soul for his team.

Vk rotated over to Baron pit and, baiting PNG to challenger them, quickly turned on their opponents and got a clean 3k, shoving down mid lane and, while losing three members themselves, managed to finally close out the game and give Vivo Keyd their first win of Split 1.

Both teams are clearly showing strong gameplay between the two of them. However, they need to spend much of this early split developing their talent ahead of a run at the playoffs at the split’s end.

Flamengo eSports vs Prodigy Esports (Winner: Flamengo eSports)

I’m not gonna lie, I hyped this match up so much heading into 2020 Split 1 CBLoL Week 2 as the clear battle of the top two teams in Brazil, and a possible showcase of what we were in for in the Split 1 Grand Finals later this year. If this is what it’s going to be, they might as well hand Flamengo eSports the trophy right now.

FLA dismantled PRG 18-3 in kills and 19-2 in objectives on the map, starting with an early 2k on PRG’s jungler Yampi and Wos. What looked like a good First Blood for the CBLoL newcomers, turned into disaster when WooFe teleported in on his Sett to set up a beautiful stun onto the two members of PRG in the big teamfight. From there, Flamengo pressed their lead to the limit, quickly taking an Ocean Drake and Rift Herald before rotating bot to take both of the outer turrets down there while PRG sent four top for a strange collapse on WooFe.

While the team managed to kill him in a one for one trade, they bailed afterward and failed to take the low turret, getting nothing but some plates while giving up their entire bot side. It only got worse from there for PRG. They managed to secure two more kills for ALoned and two turrets. FLA hit the gas and stormed to a 12k gold victory at 25:50.

PRG looked oddly out of sorts. It could be the pressure of playing the current league champions for the first time. It’s not good to see them get stomped so hard with what looked like a great comp. Maybe without the Ekko and Sett for FLA things would have been different. They’ve got to step it up and improve themselves if they want a chance to take a crack at FLA in the off-season. Still, it’s early on in the split, so they’ve got plenty of time to figure themselves out and get their heads back into the game.

Vivo Keyd vs INTZ (Winner: Vivo Keyd)

Our second day of play for 2020 Split 1 CBLoL Week 2 opened with a battle to get out of the gutter as 1-2 Vivo Keyd took on similarly 1-2 INTZ. The game was a non-stop gold lead for VK. They secured objective after objective across the map, including an early Ocean Drake and Rift Herald and only giving up a single kill in the first 16-minutes of the game. The gold graph wasn’t the entire tale of the game. INTZ popped off in the mid-game with a pair of 2k’s and a secured Cloud Drake and mid outer turret to bring themselves back into it before taking a fantastic 4k on a baited Baron fight at the 21:20 point.

With the kill score leading 8-2, it seemed like INTZ might have it until VK’s Grell managed to sneak over the wall behind the Baron pit and steal the major objective away, giving up his and Professor’s lives to secure it onto one member in ADC Klaus, giving him a buff to hold off a major push down mid that INTZ was looking into. The teams quickly reset after this before initiating a major teamfight around the inner bottom turret that miraculously resulted in not a single member of either team dying despite the heavy engages. However, VK managed to secure a Cloud Drake for themselves after backing off and the inner mid turret.

INTZ tried to engage with Sini to try and turn the tide of the game back toward them. Grabbing Professor only resulted in him getting Professor, failing to finish him off and dying along with MicaO in a quick turnaround from the beleaguered VK. The game slowed as the teams traded turrets for the next few minutes before a fight just past the 28-minute mark blew the game open as Vk took a fight a failed engage by INTZ onto Klaus to ace INTZ and take the top Inhibitor and its turret for their troubles, in addition to the Cloud Drake Soul.

INTZ would be forced to keep their team in base to fend off the siege minions as VK slowly put the stranglehold on the match. However, they were helped by a stolen Baron by Shini to keep them from just rolling over and collapsing, utilizing it to hold the line and take a couple of turrets and secure a few extra kills for Tay. The surge would just be the last gasp of air for INTZ, however, as the team stepped too far forward and were quickly collapsed on from behind by NOsFerus to lose the bottom half of their map and the game in cool 37:24.

Vivo showed strong control of the game early on. INTZ made up for it in the mid lane. They at least have found their strengths and identities. Now it’s going to be about how fast they can improve the rest of their games as they look set to take on some of the top teams in the league next week.

PaiN Gaming vs RDP (Winner: PaiN Gaming)

Redemption looked forward to living up to their name heading into their second game after a close loss to FURIA on Saturday. However, they failed to do so in a close game to close out their second week of play.

The match was an absolute brawl early on. BrTT and PNG got the game off to a quick start with a two vs two fight bot lane ending in first blood for him on Jhin before a fight a mere minute later around Ocean Drake resulted in a one for one trade and said drake going over to RDP. The gold shifted back and forth as they continued to push the aggression until a teamfight around Herald saw a three for two trade for RDP and the objective secure, turning it into a free first brick topside while PNG regrouped and took down Mountain Drake.

After that, the game slowed to a crawl for the next 10-minutes. A turret and Infernal Drake went to PNG’s side in exchange for another Rift Herald for RDP before the game exploded at the 22-minute mark. A fight around top side resulted in both teams backing off to lick their wounds until Tinowns snuck up around the back of the Baron pit to take out RDP support BocaJR. Things quieted down for a moment again until another fight near the central river bush on bottom side resulted in a quick pick for RDP onto Tinowns and a securing of the Infernal Drake. This resulted in giving up three of their members in the process but trading three turrets for one in their favor objective wise.

It seemed RDP found a way back into the game until a series of individual picks into RDP’s members, including two back-to-back onto Patrick’s Syndra, gave PNG the outer mid turret and control of the board. Another fight and 2k for RDP around the bottom mid bush again resulted in the teams resetting. RDP secured another Infernal Drake and resulted in the inner bottom turret falling against PNG. A fight around Baron pit proved disastrous for RDP. PNG baited them in for a dragged out 4k for the team, securing them the Baron, and eventually the game. They picked up an extra Infernal Drake and headed in for the game’s end.

While the game ended 25-10 in kills, the match was incredibly close. While 2020 Split 1 CBLoL Week 2 was a 0-2 for RDP, they still showed a lot of strength in their losses. They need to figure out their draft a bit better to make sure they aren’t giving over the likes of Qiyana and Ornn for free, as well as working on not just getting picked off individually before big fights. However, with the split still early on and such potential on show, they’ll be the team to watch as the split progresses. PNG has a lot of the same issues themselves to work on, though their ceiling doesn’t seem quite as high as RDP’s is.

FURIA Uppercut vs Flamengo eSports (Winner: FURIA Uppercut)

The biggest upset of 2020 Split 1 CBLoL Week 2 had to go to FURIA and their incredible 46:20 min win over undefeated Flamengo eSports to end their second week. The game opened with an early Ocean Drake for FURIA before FLA began picking up kill after kill in the early game, trading an Infernal Drake for a Rift Herald and top turret.

Absolut and WooFe each picked up double kills and looked on track for a clean win for FLA. They continued to apply pressure and take another Herald, Mountain Drake, and two more turrets on their way to a 3.5k gold lead at the 14:30 mark. FURIA managed to grab two turrets and a kill for themselves to bring the gold lead to under 1k by 18-minutes, but still looked to be struggling as they gave up another kill from Minerva and an extra Mountain Drake.

FLA’s lead went completely went out the window, however, after a fight near the 24-minute mark started by a catch by FURIA onto Ranger resulted in a 4k for their opponents, swinging the gold slightly into FUR’s favor. FLA brought it back a bit and took another Mountain Drake. They began bleeding away objectives, giving up Baron and multiple other objectives, including an Inhibitor over the next eight minutes.

Things slipped away for about six minutes after that. Flamengo caught Anyyy way overextending in a fight, securing Baron, the Mountain Soul, and two Inhibitors for themselves in what looked like a major comeback win. It wasn’t to be, however, as the team got too greedy pushing in for the win, losing their bottom lane and WooFe taking one Nexus turret.

FURIA quickly marched down the mid lane trying to secure the victory while most of FLA was still respawning, grabbing the top inhibitor before backing out of the base. It got quiet for a few minutes until a fight broke out around the Raptor camp area resulting in everyone but Goku and WooFe dying for FLA, opening the path for FURIA to take the win and secure their place in a tie at the top of the standings.

What an incredible game to watch between these two, this is what we thought PRG vs FLA was going to be. An exciting prospect to see with all the teams at the top having beaten at least one of the others there right now and set up an interesting series of showdowns in the back half of the split.

Prodigy Esports vs KABUM! E-SPORTS (Winner: Prodigy Esports)

The last 2020 Split 1 CBLoL Week 2 game saw another loss for KABUM. They took on PRG in another markedly improved match for the historically famous org. While PRG held a lead for all but about a minute and a half of the game, KABUM showed life starting with an early 3k in a teamfight around Rift Herald just shy of the eight-minute mark before two minutes later picking up another 3k for themselves.

The team bled turrets throughout the game, including a trade near the 12-minute mark of the two top turrets for Cloud Drake and one shortly after bottom side for Rift Herald. They managed to get their turret pick in mid before picking up yet another 3k and Ocean Drake after a botched engage by FnB with Sett resulted in Sejuani locking most of the team up on a Rumble ult.

The game seemingly stalled to a lull for the next nearly 12-minutes as KBM picked up the next Ocean Drake and the outer top turret before the game exploded at the 29-minute mark. PRG caught KBM trying to take their fourth drake, stealing the objective but at the cost of Wos and FnB. It seemed like KBM had gotten the better end of the trade for the moment before they decided to chase after Garo’s Jhin lightly. He preceded to take an incredible one vs four and earn himself a mostly solo triple kill without dying.

PRG took that lead and slammed it in after that point, using the now fed Jhin to secure Baron into double inhibitor before grabbing another Ocean Drake and another Baron for themselves to end the game.

KBM’s early and mid-game is looking much better this week. However, they still seem to fall apart in late-game shotcalling, given that terrible four-man chase onto Garo. It’s still early in the season, though. While they still look like the worst team in the league, we could see them turn into a dark horse if they keep improving at this rate or solidify their identity as an early-mid game team.

That’s all our coverage for 2020 Split 1 CBLoL Week 2, thanks for reading. We’ll be back later this week with more exciting Brazilian League of Legends action, so stay tuned. Don’t forget to turn in this Saturday at 8 AM PT as INTZ takes on Prodigy Esports to open Week 3. It’s going to be an exciting week of games for sure. You won’t want to miss it.