Three teams entered the second week of the League of Legends European Championship. All three had perfect records – Fnatic, G2 and Origen. The weekend would see matches between all three. Who will remain at the top of Europe’s premier League of Legends scene?
Slow-and-steady-wins-the-race Origen
Origen started the day in LEC with some surprises, sending Syndrato the bottom lane and giving mid laner Erlend “Nukeduck” Våtevik Holm Tristana, a champion that even the notoriously versatile Norwegian seldom brings to his lane.
Between this flex and some very good ganks by jungler Andrei “Xerxe” Dragomir, Origen were able to keep their rivals on the wrong foot. As in their previous wins, they slowed down the tempo after the first ten minutes, but their lane prowess saw them gradually extend the lead.
Still, Rogue were not out of the game. They maintained good control of the early dragons and had several good baron defenses in the mid game. Fans hoped that a comeback was in the cards, but alas, it was not to be. A great flank by Xerxe got several of his opponents low, and he soon steered his team towards the baron:
Rogue tried to contest again, but this time their luck ran out – Origen took the baron and several kills before breaking into the base and ending the game. This win leaves Origen one of only two teams with a perfect record, the other being G2 Esports. Their Saturday Showdown promises to be explosive.
Misfits Gaming claim their first victory
After a 0-2 week one, more than a few Misfits fans were having flashbacks from the team’s horrible last season. But the pros had other things in mind in the fight against SK Gaming.
Mid laner Fabian “Febiven” Diepstraten came out of the gate swinging with three early kills. SK were able to get back on the board with several kills on their own, however, and successfully stalled the game. For a while, they looked like the more active side, but an engage on the Misfits backline backfired. AD Carry Ju “Bvoy” Yeong-hoon survived and helped his team get a kill and HP advantage, which they turned into a baron.
Despite a good defense, SKwere falling back. Kim “Trick” Gang-yun tried to clinch the magical steal on the second Baron but the Misfits did not allow any miracles, securing the objective and four kills. This was all they needed to storm the SK base and get their first win in the season. It might not have been a perfect victory, but it was a sweet one nonetheless.
The G2 Esports rampage continues
This time, it was Vitality’s turn to try to stop the G2 juggernaut. The 2019 champions once more pulled a rabbit out of a hat – giving Soraka to top laner Martin “Wunder” Hansen and picking two marksmen. Vitality got first blood, but their joy did not last – several overextensions saw their opponents quickly catch up and even gather a small lead.
What started as a Vitality push gank 13 minutes in at the bottom lane resulted in an extended ace for G2. The champions caught their opponents retreating, then executed a masterful tower dive and picked off the enemy reinforcements. What had been a small gold and tempo difference exploded, and Vitality kept conceding objectives around the map.
After an attempted pick 21 minutes in failed, G2 broke into the base and quickly ended the game, sending Vitality to their third consecutive loss. The world finalists remain yet undefeated as they go into their match with Origen on Sunday.
Excel Esports dominant against MAD Lions
The game started great for Excel Esports, whose mid laner Son “Mickey” Young-min smashed MAD Lions right out of the gate, taking three kills in the first four minutes to give his team a very early advantage. MAD were not yet ready to throw in the towel, though. A crucial collapse in the bottom lane 11 minutes in saw them claw several kills back and restored some semblance of parity.
Things were fairly close 23 minutes in as MAD seemed to find a great fight. But despite killing Mickey early on, they had no answers for the other carries on the enemy team and Ki “Expect” Dae-han’s Gangplank turned the fight around. In the end, it was a 4-2 and a dragon for
Excel Esports, who soon took an inhibitor as well.
MAD looked for a way back into the game, but it was not to be. They tried to set up a pick in the river around the 32-minute mark, but Patrik “Patrik” Jírů tore through the MAD roster. It ended in a won fight and soon afterward a won game for Excel Esports – their second one for the split.
Fnatic smash FC Schalke 04
The final game of the day featured Fnatic and FC Schalke 04. It was a much-anticipated match, featuring two of the LEC’s most famous AD Carry players – Martin “Rekkles” Larsson and the newly returning Konstantinos-Napoleon “FORG1VEN” Tzortziou.
However, it was not going to be a fair fight as Oskar “Selfmade” Boderek put on a ganking clinic with his Gragas, setting up five early kills for the team. The lion’s share of his attention was devoted to the bottom lane, where Rekkles took three kills and an early CS lead. The Fnatic bot lane was soon unleashed, however, and the pressure spilled over the entire map.
Schalke tried to stem the bleeding, but they were still behind 7K gold by the 20-minute mark. Fnatic took down the baron almost immediately when it spawned, then turned on their opponents’ far too late attempt to contest to get three kills on top of that. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back, and in just over 22 minutes, the game was over.
After a shaky start, Fnatic seem to be among the best teams of the LEC. FC Schalke 04, on the other hand, struggled, and none of their well-known players look ready to take the reins. Granted, their last two defeats were against Fnatic and Origen, both of which are in good shape, but this is a team that hoped to be fighting for a playoff spot.
The LEC action continues so stay tuned with EarlyGame!
