Game of the Day: Fnatic versus Millenium

By Helmight

            Despite their disappointing defeat yesterday at the hands of Alliance, Fnatic has returned today with renewed confidence and the same winning spirit that they had all throughout their 8-game winning streak. Though Millenium has been playing well, Fnatic was able to put them away in a 42-minute game that went mostly in their favor.

            Though Millenium could fight Fnatic on mostly equal terms throughout the game, their objective control is what did them in. Fnatic snuck the first dragon of the game at 3 minute, then proceeded to secure the next 4 in a row. Millenium meanwhile was only in position to contest one of these dragons, and sacrificed their jungler and kev1n’s Teleport in order to do so. However, it was a final Baron fight that allowed Fnatic to put Millenium down. Cyanide managed to Smite the Baron right as Millenium arrived, allowing Fnatic to apply their full force onto Millenium’s unprepared team. Millenium dropped like flies, with Creaton being the only member that managed to limp back to base. With only a lone marksman opposing them, Fnatic was able to steamroll into Millenium’s base and take the Nexus.

            The midlane matchup today was reminiscent of Season 3 Worlds – Corki, Zyra, Gragas, and Ahri all made an appearance. However, it was xPeke’s Ahri that had the most impact of the S3 champions. "I didn't feel like I had to pick her, but I feel really confident on her,” said xPeke in a postgame interview. “I didn't have many options - it was either pick a farmer or pick Ahri.” Though his score left much to be desired , xPeke certainly looked comfortable on the Nine-Tailed Fox. His Charms gave Fnatic some much-needed siege pressure whenever Millenium tried to go for a tower, while his mobility gave Fnatic a chance to chase down fleeing targets. YellOwStaR was also no slouch in today’s game. Dying to Kottonex twice in the early game must have gotten his blood up - YellOwStaR ended up buying a Zhonya’s Hourglass and proceeded to kill Kottonex three times throughout the course of the game to exact his revenge.

            Millenium also played an excellent game. While mid is no longer considered to be Gragas’s primary lane, Kerp made a convincing argument for it. His Q-R combos annihilated xPeke on multiple occasions and brought to mind the pre-rework Gragas’s damage. The Explosive Cask also let Kerp steal the second Baron of the game out from under Fnatic’s collective noses and keep Millenium in the game. However, the rest of Millenium left something to be desired. Kottonex early game was fantastic, but as time went on his assassin build for Rengar became more and more irrelevant – especially since he never finished his Feral Flare. With 7 deaths to his name, Kottonex will need to step up his game next week if he wants Millenium to reach the playoffs.

            Fnatic opted against the hyper-aggressive early game that they’d used against Alliance yesterday, instead preferring to focus on objectives. With Millenium’s swapping their duo up to the top lane, Fnatic could easily take a 3-minute dragon and simply focus on farming up. Meanwhile, sOAZ did much better in the swap than Kev1n did – his Lulu could be used just for utility despite lacking in farm, while Kev1n’s Irelia could never become the splitpushing monster he needed to be. Kottonex and Creaton created a lot of early-game pressure for Millenium, but at the end of the day Fnatic outrotated and outfought Millenium at every turn. Two Baron fights were all they needed to end the game – the first gave Fnatic access to Millenium’s inhibitor turrets, and the second gave them 4 late game kills. Forty seconds is a long time to wait in the late game, and Millenium would be still be waiting while Fnatic cleaned out their base for a win.

           

Fnatic (W)				Millenium (L)
Kills	Turrets	Gold		Kills	Turrets			Gold
23	9	83.1k		14	5			67.8k
Lineup
Position	Player	Champion	K/D/A	Position		Player			Champion	K/D/A
Top	sOAZ	Lulu	3/1/17	Top	kev1n				Irelia	2/6/1
Jungle	Cyanide	Evelynn	1/3/14	Jungle	Kottonex				Rengar	1/7/7
Mid	xPeke	Ahri	2/3/11	Mid	Kerp				Gragas	6/4/3
ADC	Rekkles	Kog’Maw	11/2/9	ADC	Creaton				Corki	4/2/4
Support	YellOwStaR	Zyra	6/5/11	Support	Jree				Thresh	1/4/9
Bans
Zilean	Aatrox	Lee Sin		Kassadin			Syndra	Fizz

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