Game of the Day: SK Gaming versus Elements (EU LCS Spring Split - Week 6 Day 2)

By Helmight

            Today’s game between front-runner SK Gaming and Summer Split champions Elements was supposed to be a good one. Elements had been struggling to find their stride in a league full of good contenders, but had finally broken their losing streak with a win yesterday over Meet Your Makers. Meanwhile, SK Gaming had been on a slide, losing 3 straight games after Fnatic handed them their first loss of the season. Both teams desperately needed a win here today- but only one could have it. As it turns out, the game wasn’t even close – SK Gaming fixed their mistakes from previous matches and annihilated Elements in a one-sided, 32-minute contest.

            SK was solidly in the lead of this game from square one. Though they were running a similar midgame-oriented team like the Copenhagen Wolves from yesterday’s article, they actually managed to make it work. FORGIVENGRE’s Graves was always an item and a half ahead of Rekkles’s Jinx and absolutely annihilated Elements in teamfights. On top of that, SK Gaming had finally learned from their mistakes in earlier games and were much better about playing the vision game. Though Elements still outwarded SK, it was by a much lower margin than normal and SK certainly played with more confidence thanks to their increased vision.

            With the vision advantage and a better team in the midgame, SK was able to shut Elements down out of almost every objective and keep their team alive through teamfights. It was a low-kill game, but that was because Elements wasn’t able to contest any of SK’s moves. On top of that, Elements squandered two to three ults on nRated multiple times throughout the early game in the hopes of getting picks, only to find their hopes dashed when nRated simply walked out of the fire – or when Svenskeren and Fox showed up to take a kill of their own. With Elements out of sorts and out of time, it was easy for SK to close out the game.

            The addition of Krepo looked to be a solid move on the part of Elements during yesterday’s game, but the LoL veteran wasn’t able to help his new team pull it out this time. Elements had picked and itemized solely for the lategame, leaving itself absolutely helpless against SK through the early- and midgame. Only two players on Elements managed to pick up kills throughout the game, and they looked weaker than they ever had before against the league leaders. One thing is for sure – something has to change within the team if they want to have a chance at making Worlds this year.

SK Gaming (W)					Elements (L)
Kills	Turrets		Gold		Kills	Turrets			Gold
11	8		57.9k		2	1			42.7k
Lineup
Position	Player		Champion	K/D/A	Position		Player			Champion	K/D/A
Top	fredy122		Morgana	2/1/6	Top	Kev1n				Maokai	0/2/1
Jungle	Svenskeren		Rengar	1/0/6	Jungle	Shook				Lee Sin	1/2/1
Mid	Fox		Zed	2/0/6	Mid	Froggen				Orianna	0/2/2
ADC	FORGIVENGRE		Graves	3/0/6	ADC	Rekkles				Jinx	0/2/1
Support	nRated		Annie	3/1/5	Support	Krepo				Thresh	1/3/1
Bans
Kassadin		Lissandra	Ahri		Nidalee			Lulu	Rek’Sai

For stats, builds, and other information, check out the match history. In the meantime, let us know what you thought of the game below!

Game of the Day: Gambit Gaming versus Copenhagen Wolves (EU LCS Spring Split - Week 6 Day 1)

By Helmight

            No one expected Gambit Gaming or the Copenhagen Wolves to end up as mid-tier teams this season, let alone end up with a sizeable win streak. However, with their head-to-head matchup this week, one of them was destined to finally drop a game. The Wolves’ excellent dragon control and terrifying AoE teamfight composition looked to give them an edge over Gambit’s lategame-oriented team, but in the end they were no match for the Russians. On the backs of P1noy and Betsy, Gambit outfought Copenhagen to take a 33-minute win.

            Copenhagen did everything right in the early game. They got the 2v2 matchup they wanted in the bottom lane, and then made Cabochard’s life difficult in the top lane thanks to Airwak’s jungle pressure. On top of that, the Wolves were able to secure a pair of dragons without so much as a whisper from Gambit. They looked to be perfectly on track to end the game before P1noy’s Tristana and Diamond’s Sejuani could hit their lategame potential.

            But they hadn’t counted on Gambit’s incredible ability to turn objectives into kills into more objectives. A single pick for Gambit in the bottom lane led to another pick in the mid, then to a Baron attempt. Though Copenhagen was able to contest it with 4 members, and despite Diamond’s early smite, Gambit secured the buff and took a close teamfight victory. From there, it was a matter of time – Copenhagen was unable to deal with Gambit’s splitpush strategies and with P1noy’s insane tower threat. A few minutes later, Gambit pushed in and ended the game after one final, lopsided teamfight.

            Though Copenhagen has looked good over the last couple weeks, this game was a far cry from their previous performances. Instead of pressing harder for towers, the Wolves preferred dragon control – which would only really pay off for them in the lategame, when Gambit is stronger. By the time Gambit had swung the momentum back to their side, Copenhagen was then too late to react and yielded pick after pick. Going into next week, they’ll certainly want to up their shotcalling and strategies if they want to start another winning streak.

            Gambit, on the other hand, looked better than they have in years. Gone are the lackluster Season 4 performances – this is a Gambit that more closely resembles the Moscow 5 than anything else. P1noy in particular is proving his worth, demonstrating the reworked Tristana’s tower-taking capabilities and being an absolute menace in teamfights. Betsy meanwhile is showing off exactly why Gambit had him replace niQ – he’s only played in 3 LCS games, but has demonstrated excellent command of Zed and Ahri. Going forward, Gambit will certainly want to rely the pair of their carries for wins.

Gambit Gaming (W)					Copenhagen Wolves (L)
Kills	Turrets		Gold		Kills	Turrets			Gold
18	9		63.5k		8	3			51k
Lineup
Position	Player		Champion	K/D/A	Position		Player			Champion	K/D/A
Top	Cabochard		Kennen	5/2/9	Top	YoungBuck				Maokai	1/6/3
Jungle	Diamond		Sejuani	2/0/12	Jungle	Airwaks				Jarvan IV	2/6/3
Mid	Betsy		Zed	5/1/7	Mid	Soren				Ahri	2/1/3
ADC	P1noy		Tristana	5/2/8	ADC	Freeze				Graves	1/1/3
Support	Edward		Morgana	1/3/12	Support	Unlimited				Annie	2/4/2
Bans
Draven		Cassiopeia	Kalista		Nidalee			Kassadin	Rek’Sai

  For stats, builds, and other information, check out the match history. In the meantime, let us know what you thought of the game below!