Game of the Day: Copenhagen Wolves versus Fnatic

By Helmight

            Though often dismissed or written off as an easy win for the team they’re playing, the Copenhagen Wolves are still worthy of respect. Despite going down to Fnatic on the first day of Super Week, the Wolves put on a fantastic showing. With an arguably stronger composition, it was a definite possibility that Copenhagen could take home a late-game win – however, Fnatic’s superior mechanical skills allowed them to take multiple teamfight victories where it counted. At the end of the day, Fnatic got the picks they needed to push into the Wolves’ base and finish off the Nexus.

            Fnatic got off to a great early lead thanks to phenomenal plays from xPeke and YellOwStaR, but ending the game proved to be tricky. With the dispersion power of YoungBuck’s Gragas and a composition that was arguably better at teamfighting than Fnatic’s, the Copenhagen Wolves were able to stall out Fnatic’s aggression for a long time, even with an exposed inhibitor in the top lane. Both teams circled the Baron pit multiple times, getting into small-scale skirmishes that sent one or two members from each team back home to respawn. Eventually however, Fnatic’s pick comp found the opportunity they needed. After catching YoungBuck out by himself, Fnatic was able to pressure for the exposed inhibitor in a 4v3 situation. As soon as the structure fell, YellOwStaR made his move and Flash-Soul Shackled the remaining Wolves for the ace. Since the Nexus turrets had already fallen earlier, it was a fatal blow for Copenhagen.

            YellOwStaR was certainly the MVP of today’s game - he played absolutely out of his mind today, Flashing into multiple teamfights to set up huge multi-man Soul Shackles. Without his massive AoE damage and crowd control, Fnatic would have undoubtedly lost more teamfights and probably lost the game. Also of note is Fnatic’s midlaner xPeke. He looked perfectly at home on Fizz and took home more than half of Fnatic’s kills – a stunning record, given how few times he’s played the Tidal Trickster this season. With his performance today, it would be quite surprising if teams continue leaving Fizz open for xPeke. – or leaving Morgana for YellOwStaR, for that matter.

            Copenhagen meanwhile played a game that belies their status as the last-place team in the EU LCS. Despite being down in gold and facing off against a Fnatic squad that’s been hotter than Brand’s Pyroclasm, Copenhagen never ceased their aggressive moves. Despite losing an early inhibitor, the Wolves constantly roamed outside of their base, pressuring Baron and forcing Fnatic to back off of multiple objectives. However, the Wolves did make a few terrible calls in the midgame that put them too far back to really go toe-to-toe with Fnatic. Primary among these was their attempted base race. They were desperate, but should never have tried to beat a Tristana and a Lich-Bane’d Fizz in a tower-taking contest. Had they kept all of their inhibitor turrets intact, it’s probable that the Wolves could have stalled out long enough to beat Fnatic in the late game. With an exposed inhibitor though, there was only so much Copenhagen could do to forestall Fnatic’s team. 

Copenhagen Wolves (L)				Fnatic (W)
Kills	Turrets	Gold		Kills	Turrets			Gold
11	4	61.9k		24	9			76.5k
Lineup
Position	Player	Champion	K/D/A	Position		Player			Champion	K/D/A
Top	YoungBuck	Gragas	3/2/4	Top	sOAZ				Irelia	1/0/12
Jungle	Brokenshard	Lee Sin	3/5/6	Jungle	Cyanide				Rengar	0/4/13
Mid	SorenXD	Ryze	1/5/5	Mid	xPeke				Fizz	13/4/5
ADC	Woolite	Kog’Maw	4/6/5	ADC	Rekkles				Corki	2/1/18
Support	Unlimited	Braum	0/6/9	Support	YellOwStaR				Thresh	8/2/9
Bans
Evelynn	Thresh	Syndra		Kassadin			Orianna	Twisted Fate

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