It was a series we expected to go down to the wire but G2 Esports had other plans. At the 2020 LEC playoff final, they swept Fnatic in a quick 3-0 series to get their seventh LEC title.
Game 1 – Poor start for Fnatic
Fnatic had a poor start of the game after several tower dives went against them. While they adapted and equalized the game, G2’s carries – Luka “PERKZ” Perković on Azir and Rasmus “Caps” Winther on Kog’Maw – found early kills and were set off success in the start. Still, Fnatic was even in gold and had good scaling of its own.
G2 took over the game 19 minutes in after a 4-2 fight when the Fnatic engage fizzled and the G2 carries piled on the damage. As the game progressed, Fnatic’s composition showed a fatal flaw – they did not have enough engage to get to the G2 carries AND not enough damage to melt through the frontline.
The team continued falling behind. Things got only worse for them after G2 got the baron, and the game ended only 26 minutes in after Fnatic’s flank attempt resulted in them losing four members in a 5v4.
Game 2 – Double on nothing
G2 made a few changes in their composition for Game 2 but once more they got a great early start.
They got first blood in the bottom lane, courtesy of a Marcin “Jankos” Jankowski gank, which also allowed Caps to get an early farm lead. With a bot lane set behind and a Kassadin in the middle lane, Fnatic were quickly falling behind once again.
Fnatic appeared to have gotten an advantage in a bot-lane fight 12 minutes in, but it was but a dream. G2 flanked to get three more kills, leading to another big early advantage. The 2019 LEC champions continued dominating the game, gradually growing their lead and securing a quick Baron 21 minutes in.
Fnatic came in to fight as the recalls came, hoping to take several opponents out and weaken the incoming push but instead, G2 took four kills in the fight and ended the game shortly afterward.
Game 3 – The last stand
G2 would not relent and start strong in the third game as well, getting two early kills on Gabriël “Bwipo” Rau’s Zac in the first 5 minutes.
However, Fnatic found a very important 3v2 in the bot lane, with 2 kills going to Tim “Nemesis” Lipovšek’s Azir and soon equalized the game, keeping the gold close even after losing the first tower. With their mid laner fed and easily able to 1v1 his opponent, Fnatic appeared set to finally turn the tide.
However, a poor rotation cost the Fnatic mid laner his life 21 minutes in and it was all his team could do to prevent the Baron from falling. They were still en route to an infernal soul, but several minutes later chose to trade a drake for the Baron.
However, G2 came to contest in a 4v5 and despite losing the first kill of the fight, they took two more foes down. Once more, the 2019 LEC champions looked like the better team on the map, eventually securing the Baron themselves 27 minutes in and getting 3 kills in the ensuing fight.
Caps’ Aphelios dominated the teamfights, and five minutes later, a skirmish in the top lane saw him unleashed as G2 won the fight in the enemy base to take the decisive game and close out the series 3-0 to secure their seventh LEC title.
This was a heartbreaking loss for Fnatic, who looked like the best team in the LEC for the latter half of the season only to fall so quickly today.
READ MORE:
- Strong Fnatic make a statement in Week 6’s Friday LEC games
- Fnatic win series vs Origen at LEC playoffs
- A 3-0 sweep sends Fnatic to LEC finals
Unfortunately, they were completely outmatched in the first two series and were unable to capitalize on their temporary power spike in Game 3, leading to just the second 3-0 of the playoffs.
G2 now match Fnatic at 7 titles each. Fnatic seemed to have a serious draft problem as in all 3 games, they had a problem taking down caps. PERKZ now also stands at 7 titles. Caps follows closely at 5 – same as Fnatic legends Paul “sOAZ” Boyer and Bora “YellOwStaR” Kim.
Congratulations to G2 Esports – the LEC Spring Split champions!
Our coverage of European League of Legends continues next week as the EU Masters continues.
