SK Gaming had a clean win in the battle of the German teams on Saturday, dismantling FC Schalke 04. Is it too early to board the hype train?
The Saturday LEC games started with a match between two German organizations, SK Gaming and FC Schalke 04. Both teams had a disappointing spring season, but several changes made analysts wonder if they won’t be dark horses in the summer.
SK struck first, using an early kill and small positioning advantages to get an early lead. It gradually grew off their tower pressure, but it was Schalke’s own misstep that really cost them when a telegraphed and poorly executed botlane dive gave SK a kill in a 2v4 situation and a lot of pressure for their other lanes. From then on, the team did not relent, getting an early third drake and being more active on the map until a 23 minute fight for the drake gave them not only the infernal soul, but also four kills that led to an uncontested Baron. With clean, crisp play they never gave Schalke’s players a good opportunity to engage as they dismantled their defenses. Eventually, the “Royal Blues” had to go out of their base to contest the Elder drake, only for SK to engage for a 4:0 fight and end the game.
This has been an impressive win for SK, who not only took the victory but were one death away from a perfect game. Schalke did not look quite on point for much of the game, but a lot of that was off SK’s solid macro play. With a win against Origen and a very solid performance vs Schalke, the venerable German organization is showing it should be taken seriously.
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