The fight for the top spot in the LEC continues unabated as Europe's premier league moves to patch 10.4. A Fnatic win versus Misfits Gaming pushed one competitor back, leaving a three-way tie for the top.
Rogue stay ahead of Excel
With the playoffs fast approaching, it is no time for errors for the teams who wanted to make it. Both of these teams wanted to be in the top six who would compete for the spring split title.
Rogue got a great start as top laner Finn “Finn” Wiestål got a solo kill on his counterpart Ki “Expect” Dae-han. Then, just five minutes into the game, his team helped him send the Excel top laner to the fountain a second time. Rogue continued pushing their early game lead, having more than a 2K gold advantage 12 minutes in and all signs pointed to an overwhelming lead early on.
Excel tried to slow the game but around the 16-minute mark, their defense cracked as their opponents used a Herald and a tower dive to get two towers and two kills. This was followed by a relentless split-pushing by Finn’s Kled. The mid game brought Excel no respite and an attempt to break their rivals’ mid outer turret 24 minutes in saw them flanked and routed in a 4-1 extended fight.
Five minutes later, Rogue found the defining fight of the game. With two kills, they started Baron, breaking off to take one more when Excel came to contest. With the buff, they quickly sieged the enemy base and took one final teamfight to end the game.
This win leaves Rogue with the same number of wins as the first-place teams – and at least one of them would be ending the night with a loss.
MAD Lions fend off Vitality to stay in the chase
After their first win last week, Team Vitality came off to a strong start and got first blood against MAD Lions in an extended tower dive.
The French team maintained a small lead throughout the early game, though the Lions got a few more hits thanks to their jungler Zhiqiang “Shadow” Zhao. Still, Vitality maintained control over the dragon pit. It was only 23 minutes in that the Lions picked up a kill on comp – again through Shadow. This secured a very early cloud soul for the Spanish side that enabled them to fully wrest away control of the game.
MAD appeared well in charge of the game 27 minutes in as they started the Baron. However, Vitality came to contest and got two kills, driving the rest of the Lions off to make an attempt on the big purple worm themselves. MAD struck with a vengeance, getting a 4v5 ace and securing the objective. The French were on the ropes and when they rolled the dice one more time, trying to interfere with the elder drake, but to no avail.
MAD easily ended the game to keep pace with the top teams. Sadly, despite their previous win, it still seems like Vitality need to work on their mid game.
Misfits lose top-place clash with Fnatic
With both teams neck-and-neck in a shared first place, the game between Fnaticand Misfits Gaming had a lot riding on the line, and fans were not disappointed.
The teams started brawling early and a mid-lane 2v2 saw Fnatic take first blood just 3 minutes in. Soon, Gabriël “Bwipo” Rau had added several kills to his tally, and Tim “Nemesis” Lipovšek’s Veigar was shaping up to have a beastly game as well.
Misfits tried to stem the bleeding and got several shutdowns as the mid game started. Still, Fnatic retained a gold lead, being 3.5K gold and three dragons ahead at the 20-minute mark. Two minutes later, they found an opportunity when a Misfits flank failed, Europe’s most decorated team had a chance to get an early Baron. A chance they gladly took.
A deep teleport from Fabian “Febiven” Diepstraten sets up a great ambush that claimed the life of Fnatic’s AD carry but the favorites turned the fight around. Bwipo kept several foes occupied and Fnatic’s fed solo laners won the fight, taking two kills and the air dragon soul.
Misfits tried to fight back but they were too far behind. Despite a good engage shortly afterward, they were pushed back and a teleport flank from Nemesis’ Veigarbroke their resistance to end the game.
It is a key victory for Fnatic who take a deserved win against one of the best teams in the LEC. The veteran squad is making a statement that they are not to be discounted.
Close win for Origen vs FC Schalke 04
Despite their differences in the standings, both teams started the game on a very even field, staying within a thousand gold throughout the early game even after Schalkegot a late first blood.
Origen were more active around the map and had a small lead in towers but neither team pushed too hard. Perhaps because both wanted time for their AD carries to scale. Eventually, the teams came to blows when Schalke started the Baron but despite getting a kill in the fight, the German squad had to back off the objective.
They would be back 29 minutes into the game, however, after catching Andrei “Xerxe” Dragomir. And this time, Schalke secured the big buff and disengaged safely. That did not allow them to take a big lead in the game, though. In fact, five minutes later, they overreached trying to secure the bot inner turret and Origen gave chase. The Germans were caught with a deep flank from Erlend “Nukeduck” Våtevik Holm which also cost them two kills.
A kill on Andrei “Odoamne” Pascu around the 35-minute mark gave Origen the opportunity to start the Baron while Schalke dashed for the dragon pit to get the ocean soul. They managed to secure it but Origen flanked and split them, getting four kills to finally open up a lead.
After securing the top inhibitor just before the Baron buff expired, they almost ended the game with Barney “Alphari” Morris split-pushing but it wasn’t going to be so easy. Schalke bounced back and got the Elder drake before going for the Baron. That was the moment where it all fell apart – Xerxe made the key steal while AD carry Elias “Upset” Lipp teleported into the enemy base to take the game as his team was stopping the recalls.
Even though one of the teams was in a tie for first place and the other one – a win off the bottom, this was a very close game. It must be hard on Schalke to fall short after coming so close, but in the end, Origen’s quick decision-making saved the game.
GG for G2
The last game of the evening saw G2 Esports face off against SK Gaming. The 2019 LEC champions started strong, putting a lot of early pressure in the bottom lane before taking first blood in the middle lane. SK got some punches in but G2 retained a small lead and gradually expanded it with their trademark expert map play. This left the German team struggling to get a good fight as they were pushed and pulled around the map.
When the big fight did come, it was fully in G2’s favor. They caught Kim “Trick” Gang-yun’s Sejuani and then followed up with three more kills in a deep chase between the SK top towers. This pretty much broke SK’s resistance and they were floundering across the map, losing their bottom lane inhibitor before the 20-minute mark.
Two minutes later, G2 got the top inhibitor as well, then rotated to get the minion and get the third one down, too. SK were able to push them back once, but then G2 were done playing and the next attack ended the game.
It was a clean victory for G2, who appeared back in shape after their loss to MADlast week. SK continue struggling as they go without a win for a third week in row.
The LEC continued on Saturday where Origen would face a challenge from Rogue, while the rest of the favorites would fight to prevent an upset in the tight win for the top.
