Four weeks into the split, 2019 LEC champions G2 Esports finally stumbled as aggressive play from Misfits Gaming resulted in another upset, courtesy of the plucky rabbits.
Origen back on the right track
After a stinging loss to Misfits Gaming the Sunday before, the Origen players were no doubt eager to return to their winning ways. – but the rookies of MAD Lions stood in their way.
The game started well for OG as Elias “Upset” Lipp’s Aphelios got a kill 8 minutes in. Shortly afterward, a lane swap put Upset top and using the first Rift Herald saw Origen take the first tower as well. MAD were not idle, either, and got two early kills on Erlend “Nukeduck” Holm’s mid-lane Ornn. They slowly started slipping behind in gold, however, and Origen’s better scaling put them on a timer.
The Lions finally seemed to have a leg up as they engaged a 5v4 fight in the top lane but Origen performed better in the fight and as a result, they got two kills and the baron. They took the bottom lane inhibitor first, then rotated top. There, they were able to catch and kill Matyáš “Carzzy” Orság. With the MAD AD carry down, there was nothing to hold off the OG onslaught, and they would soon take their fifth win of the split.
It was a key win for the squad who get to keep their position as a Top 3 team alive. MAD were able to take a win off Rogue, but so far they appear to be a step behind the LEC’s best.
A difficult loss for SK Gaming
While both Excel Esports and SK Gamingwere far from being top teams in the LEC, they both eyed the last playoff spots and neither could easily afford a loss in that race.
An attempted gank triggered a bloody fight just 3 minutes in that ended in five kills – three for Excel Esports and two for SK. The British team retained a small lead throughout the early game even though players were being caught out several times.
As the mid game started, the German organization was in a promising position: marginally behind in gold but with much better scaling. However, they were unable to get around the heavy poke that Excel had, or wrest vision control away. Slowly, the lead grew and 30 minutes in, the levee broke: Excel killed the enemy top laner and went for the baron, then took three more kills when SK came to fight them 4v5.
SK rolled the dice one last time two minutes later as the waves neared their base but it was not enough. Their flank could not shut down Patrik “Patrik” Jírů’s Ezreal and his damage allowed Excel to scatter them and take their fourth win for the season.
With it, they are within reach of the top 6 while SK will find it that much harder to escape the eighth place.
Fnatic overcome shaky start to defeat Vitality
After a humbling loss to G2 Esports the week before, Fnatic now faced a much easier opponent – the still winless Team Vitality.
Europe’s most decorated team raised a few eyebrows by putting top laner Gabriël “Bwipo” Rau on Singed, a rather unusual pick in the region. Yet again, Vitality started strong, getting three kills in the first six minutes and amassing an early gold lead. Fnatic soon replied with a teleport gank to the bottom lane where they killed the enemy bot-lane duo to equalize.
The teams continued brawling more or less evenly for the first 15 minutes, but eventually Fnatic asserted themselves as the more active and coordinated team on the Rift. Eventually, they started playing around the Baron and 21 minutes in, a messy fight saw them get the first ace of the game. It was not enough to secure the big objective outright, but shortly afterward, Vitality walked up again – and this time, they were not so lucky.
Fnatic got three kills, including the Vitality jungler, and with no losses of their own quickly secured both the fourth drake that would give them an Infernal Soul and the Baron. With the buffs, they sieged the enemy base and got two inhibitors before splitting. The French team went for a last-ditch teleport flank but a perfect ultimate by Tim “Nemesis” Lipovšek’s Cassiopeia turned the fight around and broke Vitality’s resistance.
With this much-needed win, Fnatic are now standing at five wins and two losses in a pack of teams fighting for the second place. As for Vitality, they are yet unable to push themselves off the bottom after one more game where they were couldn’t capitalize on a strong start.
Slow and steady wins the race for Rogue
In the next game, the LEC’s other winless team – FC Schalke 04 – had one more thing to worry about. They had to face Roguewithout their recently departed AD carry Konstantinos-Napoleon “FORG1VEN” Tzortziou.
Schalke were not given the comfort of an easy start, especially in the bottom lane, where Steven “Hans Sama” Liv had a 20 CS lead at the 10-minute mark. To the Germans’ credit, they were proactive – however, a gank on Finn “Finn'' Wiestål 11 minutes in failed when his jungler arrived in the nick of time, getting two kills and continuing to push his advantage around the map. Rogue’s macro play seemed impeccable and by the 20th minute, they were 6K gold ahead despite a fairly safe play.
It all appeared to be for naught four minutes later as Rogue overstepped in the enemy jungle and lost two members. Schalke went for the baron – and this is when Finn and his mid laner Emil “Larssen” Larsson put the team on their backs. They first killed the enemy AD carry and then scattered the rest of Schalke, eventually getting an ace when the rest of their team arrived.
With that, Rogue were back in the driver’s seat and they made no more mistakes. They finally got the fight they needed 31 minutes in. First, they deleted the enemy support and then they caught the rest of Schalke for two more kills to push into the enemy base and end the game.
It was a difficult game for the German team and they did show signs of life, but ultimately it was not enough against the disciplined Rogue squad. And Rogue, after a 0-2 score in Week 3, seem to be back in shape.
Misfits produce shocking upset against G2
The game of the day featured a surging Misfits Gaming take on the undefeated G2 Esports.
The Misfits struck first in a three-man tower dive four minutes into the game, but they overreached to kill Rasmus “Caps” Winther. G2 collapsed, eventually taking three kills for one. However, the challengers did not give up, dove the top tower for an easy kill shortly afterward and proceeded to hunt Caps down throughout the early game. Misfits killed him seven times in the first fifteen minutes of the game.
G2 found some shutdowns and temporarily equalized the game after a good fight 13 minutes in but that parity did not last. What seemed like a catch on AD carry Ju “Bvoy” Yeong-hoon turned to Misfits’ advantage. Bvoy’s quick reflexes kept his Xayah alive while the fast arrival of his team led to two kills and a secured Baron. Despite G2’s good waveclear, the Misfits squad eventually broke the middle inhibitor and their pressure lead allowed them to take an uncontested second baron.
At the 28th minute, G2 were hard-pressed to defend their base and a great flank by Danny “Dan Dan” Le Comte broke their resistance. The Dutch top laner slammed his counterpart’s Sona into the rest of her team, leading to a Misfits ace and a win.
While G2 did not have their best game, it should not be denied that Misfits – especially jungler Iván “Razork” Díaz – were also on point. The Spanish jungler delivered a classic on his signature Ekko jungle and he’s one to look out for.
With this, the LEC title race became more interesting. While G2 could expect a relatively easy win against the struggling FC Schalke 04, three teams – Misfits, Fnatic and Origen – are closing in.
