As the third week of the LEC Spring Split started, we saw plenty of good League of Legends – and at the end of the day, the favorites claimed deserved victories.
MAD Lions open the day with a win
The first game of the day saw MAD Lions, the recent newcomers to the LEC, take on SK Gaming. The former Superliga team which combined with Splyce in late 2019 started the game strong with a gank in the mid lane, resulting in an early first blood.
They did not stop the pressure, however, and soon their rivals were on the back foot across the map. SK were floundering, their jungler Kim “Trick” Gang-yun jungler was nowhere to be seen and their attacks were easily parried. At the 25-minute mark, MAD Lions stopped an SK engage cold in its tracks and took three kills in the counter-attack, leading to an uncontested Baron.
With this advantage secured, the Spanish team sieged the enemy base. The first attack took two inhibitors with only token resistance, and it was only at their last inhibitor that SK seemed to find their fight. Yet by then, it was too late. Despite losing two players in the fight, MAD powered through and won the game.
This leaves SK Gaming in an uncomfortable spot with no wins after their opening game against Team Vitality. MAD, on the other hand, appear to have solidified their status as a mid-range team that is likely to see playoffs. Still, they are yet to defeat a particularly strong opponent. The Saturday game against Rogue might provide more answers on where the team stands.
Misfits bat down lackluster FC Schalke 04
The second game saw a Misfits team fresh from their 2-0 week take on a struggling FC Schalke 04 trying to find their synergy. Schalke were also playing with their substitute jungler, Lukas “Lurox” Thoma.
The action started six minutes in as Misfits tried to take an early ocean drake and Schalke went in for the kill – but Misfits’ two teleports turned the fight around and they took first blood. The dragon seemed to be cursed for the German team, costing them big in two more fights that defined the game. Once, they tunneled for the infernal dragon only to be collapsed on and lose three and the objective. The coup de grace came 17 minutes in as they secured the cloud drake only to be aced in the ensuing fight.
Schalke tried to get back in the game but eventually, they fell too far behind to have any chance in a fair fight. This showed when a pick on Felix “Abbedagge” Braun led to a 5v5. There, Misfits dominated once again, taking 4 kills and following up with the Baron. With it, they set up a siege and with one last fight in the enemy base took the game.
With this, Misfits are now on a three-game winning streak after losing both of their Week 1 games. For Schalke 04, things are now starting to look dire. The team has not only lost all five games so far, but acted extremely disjointed in this one, lacking the flashes of brilliance and aggression they showed in their first few games.
Scrappy Excel fail to take down Fnatic
After a failure in their first game of the split, Fnatic had gone on a winning streak to regain their spot among the best LEC teams. However, Excel Esports intended to put an end to it. They took an early lead with a patient ambush that claimed first blood on Gabriël “Bwipo” Rau. Fnatic’s woes continued throughout the early game as they overreached in several fights.
Eventually, however, they struck back – through the same Bwipo. First, he survived a 2v1 gank, then secured two kills with the help of his jungler to equalize the game. The teams continued to trade blows through the mid game. What seemed like a catch on Son “Mickey” Young-min ended up in a win for Excel as the Korean mid-laner outplayed his counterpart and led his team to a 2-1 victory.
This led to an extended “Baron dance” as the two teams tried to secure the major objective.
After several minutes of playing around the big purple worm, Excel committed and secured it just before their opponents arrived. Getting out of there turned out to be harder, however. Fnatic pounced on the retreating Excel, killed four, then pushed into the enemy base. Before everyone could respawn, the game was already over.
It was a very respectable game from what many considered a weaker team, but in the end, Excel’s efforts were not enough to defeat the resurgent Fnatic.
Origen fend off a Vitality challenge
Despite Vitality’s joint last spot with FC Schalke 04, they were not going to bow down without a fight. The action started early, with Origengetting an early advantage in several lanes, taking first blood in a collapse top just three minutes in. Meanwhile, Elias “Upset” Lipp survived a tower dive in the bottom lane and actually got two kills. Vitality struck back eventually, getting a 2-0 fight in the river and would match their opponents throughout the early game.
Origen’s superior map play saw them come out ahead, but it wasn’t until 21 minutes into the game that they would once more find a decisive fight in their favor. Vitality would be the ones engaging, but first they lost their jungler and then three more to their opponents’ reengage. OG took over the map and steadily extended their advantage.
Then, 37 minutes in, Vitality chose to fight OG at the Baron. Yet by then, Upset and his teammates were too far ahead and they got a clean ace that gave them ample time to end the game.
Hearty fight not enough for Rogue versus G2
The clash between Rogue and G2 Esports was billed as the game of the day and it did not disappoint. In a not-entirely-unexpected flex, G2 picked Sett as their apparent top laner before locking in Soraka and sending the Boss to the mid lane.
With him, Luka “Perkz” Perković got first blood in a roam to the bottom lane. Shortly afterward, he tried to take another on his counterpart Emil “Larssen” Larsson, but the Swedish mid laner played the defense well and took the kill instead. Rogue looked quite good throughout the early game, taking the first tower and a small gold lead.
After a brief lull in the mid-game, the teams came to blows near the dragon. Despite an early kill on the enemy support, Rogue were not able to get through the healing piled on by Martin “Wunder” Hansen’s Soraka. Ultimately, G2’s sustained damage turned the fight around. It was this combination of healing and damage that would prove the biggest challenge for Rogue, who would have to either remove one of the enemy carries or slowly lose the fight.
Rogue eventually started a Baron after a pick on G2’s support, but their low sustained damage allowed G2 to flank. It looked like a sure win for the 2019 champions when jungler Kacper “Inspired” Słoma assassinated their AD carry and secured the fight for Rogue.
The game remained close throughout the mid-game, with Rogue securing a second Baron but unable to capitalize on it. Eventually, G2 engaged in a close fight near the elder drake after Rasmus “Caps” Winther survived the enemy assault and his Aphelios made the difference between the teams. G2 aced Rogue and secured the elder dragon buff with only one death. Then, they pushed for the Rogue base to end the game. It was the closest challenge the 2019 world finalists had faced this split but they remained victorious.
With this, G2 have taken down another rival on their path to continue their 2019 dominance. The next match will be with their closest rival – Fnatic. Meanwhile, the Saturday opening game will be between the two German teams in the LEC – FC Schalke 04 and SK Gaming. Both are having a very bad start of the split and would want nothing more than to turn their fortunes around.
