Fnatic rallied at the last moment to ensure they lock a playoff spot with three clutch wins, and no one did more for them than our MVP of the week - Elias "Upset" Lipp.
With week 8 of the LEC 2022 Summer Split on the horizon, Fnatic was facing a dire situation. For a team with such rich history and a roster many saw as one of the top 3 this year, anything less than a deep playoff run and a spot for Worlds would be a failure. In the spring, Fnatic finished the regular split well and were one game away from a spot in the grand finals before being reverse swept by Rogue and then 3-0’d by the eventual champions G2 Esports. The team stayed the same for the summer season, but all too often, Fnatic did not live up to the hype.
Before the superweek the team was tied for sixth place with Excel Esports and Astralis and had to take on Vitality, Misfits Gaming and Astralis themselves, winning at least two of those games to guarantee a playoff spot. Fnatic needed everyone to be on point, especially their bot lane that had been hit and miss in recent weeks. This time, Upset stepped up and showed just how much of a clutch player he can be.
The Zeri Prince
In Fnatic’s first game of the weekend, Upset played a Lucian against Astralis and after a 3v3 where he picked an early kill was a constant point of pressure for his team and helped them get the key win. It was in the game against Team Vitality, however, that Upset really flexed his AD Carry muscles. The two teams were quite close for much of the game and often Vitality had a small lead. However, the Zeri dominated the lategame teamfights and terrorized Vitality. He earned Fnatic the victory with a standout performance that also broke the LEC record for highest damage per minute set back in 2015.
Upset got the Zeri in Fnatic’s game against Misfits Gaming on Sunday and he soon proved that his amazing game the day before was no fluke. Several kills in the opening 20 minutes supercharged his character and he was once more a teamfight powerhouse as Fnatic got their third win for the week and tied Misfits for fourth place. In the tiebreaker, his Ezreal was solid, but after Misfits’ comeback they focused on him and left him little chance to survive.
Stats for the Week
Upset looked good in all three wins for Fnatic, though the Zeri game were naturally his best. The Lucian did a lot of damage in game 1 and it was only his Ezreal that ended with a poor KDA as his frontline was falling apart and he was being assassinated.
| Champion | Kills | Deaths | Assists |
| Game 1: Lucian vs Astralis | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| Game 2: Zeri vs Team Vitality | 14 | 1 | 1 |
| Game 3: Zeri vs Misfits Gaming | 9 | 0 | 6 |
| Game 4: Ezreal vs Misfits Gaming | 0 | 3 | 1 |
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The LEC will have a pause this week before the playoffs start. In the first week, Fnatic will be facing off against Excel Esports in the lower bracket. Will Upset lead his team to another Worlds appearance or would Excel bring back the dominant form they had early in this split?