Week 4 of the League of Legends European Championship, or LEC for short, continued to surprise us. We had Fnatic stumbling against MAD Lions and FC Schalke 04 scoring their first win against no other than... G2 Esports.
Patient Misfits fend off Vitality aggression
Fresh from their unexpected victory against G2 Esports, Misfits Gaming faced a weaker foe – Team Vitality.
Still, the French squad was known for its early aggression and lived up to that reputation, attempting to tower dive Danny “Dan Dan” Le Comte just three minutes after the game started. The Misfits top laner played his cards right, however, and the arrival of two teammates led to him getting a double kill instead. Vitality did not give up and found some picks in the early game, but Misfits countered with good map control and the game remained nearly even.
This lasted until 22 minutes into the game when Misfits picked off Vitality’s jungler Duncan “Skeanz” Marquet, then went for the Baron. The French team tried to contest regardless, but lost three more members in return for a single kill. A good defense allowed Vitality to keep their base untouched but they had to concede the turrets in the lanes.
At 31 minutes into the game, a sly use of the Blast Cone let Misfits take the second Baron unopposed. With it, they pushed into the Vitality base. A desperate flank by Lucas “Cabochard” Simon-Meslet failed – Misfits easily avoided the engage, killed the enemy top laner and proceeded to win the game after an ace.
It was a good showing by Vitality, who had a better presence in the mid game than expected but Misfits were the superior team. They matched teamfighting prowess with calm, smart map decisions to win their sixth consecutive game.
Rogue show expert map control in victory
The action started early in the clash between Rogue and SK Gaming. An aggressive gank by Kacper “Inspired” Słoma saw the Rogue jungler sacrifice himself to secure first blood on the enemy mid laner. After a relatively even start, his squad began steadily gaining a lead through meticulous map play, resulting in a 5K gold advantage just 17 minutes in.
SK got a bit more active as the mid-game progressed, and Janik “Jenax” Bartels’s Victor provided the much-needed waveclear to stabilize the game.
Still, SK had no margin for error, and 23 minutes in, they stumbled. As the teams maneuvered around the cloud drake, a good engage for Rogue resulted in 2 kills and a Baron. The purple buff gave them the pushing advantage they needed to overcome the Victor waveclear and they quickly pushed all lanes.
Looking for a way back in the game, SK eventually they committed to get a kill on Emil “Larssen” Larsson’s Ryze near the bottom lane. While they did eventually take him down, the rest of Rogue collapsed on them to get four kills in return and this won them the game.
This victory puts Rogue back on track to fight for a top spot with a 5-3 game difference while SK remain in an unenviable eight position at the LEC with only two wins for the split.
Schalke with stunning victory against G2
Friday’s game against Misfits was a rough awakening for G2 Esports and they did not play games in the draft against the 0-7 FC Schalke 04. However, the German team proved to be a harder opponent than many expected, blocking G2’s early aggression and getting early kills.
Still, the 2019 champions were undeterred, and despite being behind in kills they kept close in gold from better lane control and rotations. They surprised their opponents by sneaking the Baron almost as soon as it spawned, supercharging the split-pushing threat that was Luka “Perkz” Perković’s Ryze.
This is where Schalke showed their first surprise – instead of falling apart under pressure, they played smart and got several picks on the enemy mid laner. As the mid game progressed, they won several teamfights, eventually taking a Baron of their own.
Still, the game remained close and 30 minutes in, G2 punished a Schalke invade and equalized the gold after several shutdowns. Yet, just as the Baron was respawning, a 1v1 outplay by Schalke top laner Andrei “Odoamne” Pascu set off a chase that resulted in two kills for his team and an easy secure of the objective. The game was balanced on a knife’s edge, with Schalke getting an advantage in teamfights and G2 having an edge in map rotations that led to them taking inhibitors and threatening to end the game.
It all came down to a climactic fight near the Baron where Schalke secured the objective and disengaged. Three of them recalled to stop Perkz and Martin “Wunder” Hansen from taking their Nexus while mid laner Felix “Abbedagge” Braun pushed for the enemy base. In a nail-biting finish, Schalke were able to win both skirmishes and won a well-deserved victory.
With it, they not only rise from the 10th place in the LEC but actually show impressive growth from their previous weeks, with all players showing up when it mattered. For G2, this is a shocking defeat, but they made too many mistakes to blame anyone but themselves. It is good that they will have almost an entire week before their next match – they will need it.
Nukeduck’s Soraka guides Origen to victory
With G2 stumbling, Origen had a chance to catch up to them if they could defeat Excel Esports.
OG went for a scaling composition, trusting their mid laner Erlend “Nukeduck” Holm with an unusual mid-lane pick in Soraka. Excel pressured them early, getting first blood and slowly extending their map advantage in the early game due to having pushing lanes. Origen did not lose their head, however, and securing the Rift Heralds helped blunt the Excel offensive. As the game progressed, they slowly gained ground until they managed to get a favorable fight 19 minutes in, with kills going to the carries Barney “Alphari” Morris and Elias “Upset” Lipp.
The next big fight came 26 minutes in and what seemed to be a close-fought battle turned to Origen’s favor. They killed the enemy AD and the Soraka kept her team alive. The clash ended in a 4-0 and a Baron for OG, who followed it up with taking the middle inhibitor. Excel had their last hurrah in a fight for the Baron 33 minutes in as they got a 3-1 fight in the pit. However, they were not able to kill Nukeduck, and the Norwegian veteran showed just how powerful his champion could be. With a fed carry by her side, the Soraka led Alphari into a triple kill. This fight broke the Excel resistance, and Origen’s next push took down the Nexus.
It was not an easy victory but they are now even with Misfits and G2 at six wins and two losses. This leaves Excel in a safe 7th place with a 4-4 record. Still, considering how close the Top 6 teams are, they will have plenty of chances to rise in the LEC rankings.
MAD Lions surprise Fnatic in Match of the Day
The last bout on Saturday featured the scrappy rookies of MAD Lions take on Fnatic.
The veterans kicked off the game with aggressive moves in the bottom and mid lanes. However, their engages were uncharacteristically sloppy, and MAD got the better of them on multiple occasions. Eventually, the Lions used the Rift Herald to get both mid towers after picking off Tim “Nemesis” Lipovšek.
At 16 minutes in, MAD had a big teamfight win after a Gangplank ult separated Fnatic and gave them two kills, the third game and a map pressure that saw them establish a gold lead.
A beautiful Lee Sin flank set off a great fight for MAD 21 minutes in. They quickly deleted Martin “Rekkles” Larsson, and while Fnatic got a reply kill on the MAD AD carry, in the end, the Lions got an ace. Next, they picked up the fourth drake and soon afterward got the Baron. Fnatic tried to set up picks but MAD were able to get a turnaround several times, eventually taking all three inhibitors before retreating for the elder drake and another Baron. With these buffs, they easily swatted aside a Fnatic attempt to flank, and won the game.
With this, MAD and Fnatic are actually equal at 5 wins and 3 losses, sharing a joint 4-6th place with Rogue.
The LEC will continue on Friday, February 21, as MAD Lions will take on the surging Misfits, followed by FC Schalke 04 trying to take another win – this time against the still winless Team Vitality.
If you would like to see the best plays of LEC's Week 4, check them out here and stay tuned for the latest in League of Legends and esports news.
