Summer Split 2014 Championship Recap: Fnatic versus Alliance

By Helmight

            The “super team” has finally delivered. Alliance defeated Fnatic today in 4 games to secure themselves their first-ever split championship title in convincing fashion. Thanks to superior early game control, especially in terms of dragons, Alliance dethroned the 3-time split champions to set themselves up as the team-to-beat from Europe.

            Fnatic got off to a slow start in the series and were seemingly unprepared to play against Alliance’s aggressive early moves. Numerous times, Fnatic made crucial mistakes and just flat-out bad decisions that gave Alliance an early gold lead and every single dragon of the game. Alliance is a team that knows how to use an early advantage and they exploited it to the utmost in their 38-minute victory.

            Game 2 was a much closer affair, in large part due to xPeke being allowed to play Kassadin. Alliance managed to get an early gold advantage as before, but a crucial midgame teamfight went awry for them after a stunning turnaround from xPeke. A triple kill onto Rekkles, in addition to an inner tower going down, cut Alliance’s gold lead down to a measly 1k following the play. However, Alliance still held an objective lead and wasn’t out of the fight. They eventually outmaneuvered Fnatic and took a successful 3-kill teamfight in Fnatic’s own red jungle, then translated the victory into a Baron. Fnatic managed to sneak down Alliance’s middle inhibitor tower in exchange for the Baron, but it was a lopsided trade. The Baroned-up Alliance proceeded demolish Fnatic under their own inhibitor tower, then took the middle inhibitor. Suddenly down 7k gold, Fnatic had no answer for Alliance’s team.

            Down 0-2, things were grim for Fnatic. However, Europe’s three-time champions weren’t defeated yet and they managed to pull out a clutch victory to stay in the series. Unlike the previous games, Fnatic prevented Alliance from snowballing the early game thanks to a series of good rotations and excellent plays by Rekkles. By 19 minutes, Fnatic had taken a 3k gold lead and had 5 kills on their marksman. The rest of the game continued in the same fashion, with Fnatic outrotating and outfighting Alliance, and Rekkles getting bigger and bigger. Alliance couldn’t manage to burn through Fnatic’s shields and eventually they were dismantled in dominating fashion.

            It could have been the start of an epic turnaround by Fnatic, but was instead a momentary flash of glory. A sneaky play by Alliance gave them first blood at two minutes into the game, snapping Fnatic fans out of their dreams of a comeback almost immediately. Every time Fnatic appeared to be clawing their way back into the game, Alliance pulled off a clever play or a well-orchestrated teamfight to keep their advantage. At the end of the day, Alliance didn’t even need Baron to put Fnatic away, as their comp was just too strong for Fnatic to overcome. As the Nexus fell, Alliance took the series and their first Split Championship.  

For more stats, including the VoDs for each game, check out LoL Esports 

Game of the Day: Fnatic versus ROCCAT (Game 5)

By Helmight

 

            You have to tip your hat to ROCCAT. Despite their lackluster performance throughout the split, they never gave up the fight and somehow managed to claw their way into the semifinals to face Fnatic. Despite a phenomenal series of games in which they pushed Fnatic to the limit, ROCCAT would eventually fall in game 5.

            In the end, it was Fnatic’s superior objective control and better siege comp that dismantled ROCCAT. With xPeke on Orianna and Rekkles on Kog’Maw, Fnatic’s team could chew through towers from a distance, and more importantly, were able to keep ROCCAT’s members from interfering. That, in conjunction with a few well-played teamfights, gave Fnatic an easy gold lead over their opponents. Fnatic struggled a bit while trying to end the game, but eventually their siege proved to be too effective for ROCCAT to break. With a 10k gold deficit and 2 inhibitors down, ROCCAT made a desperate Baron call. Their hope was likely to secure the objective while Fnatic recalled and then make a final stand at their Nexus – however, Fnatic arrived too soon for ROCCAT to finish off Baron. The fight was brief, and after three members of ROCCAT went down Fnatic was easily able to push in for the win.

            It was the last game for ROCCAT this split, but they played it beautifully. Jankos in particular was an absolute monster in the jungle, showing up to every lane and making ganks happen across the map. The obscene pressure allowed ROCCAT’s lanes to stay even with Fnatic’s and gave them a great setup for the midgame. However, Jankos’s early play was not without its mistakes. The decision to camp top was questionable – 3 kills onto Xaxus was certainly beneficial, but an Alistar and a Jarvan aren’t going to carry the game. Celaver meanwhile had a tough fight against Rekkles and YellOwStaR in the bottom lane and his Tristana never managed to have the same impact on teamfights that Rekkles’s Kog’Maw did.

            Fnatic meanwhile pulled together and gave one of their best performances this split. Every member of the team looked sharp and their powerful Protect the Kog comp was all but unbeatable for ROCCAT. xPeke reminded everyone how terrifying his Orianna can be, first by bullying Overpow mercilessly in the laning phase and then by landing clutch Shockwaves in the mid- and late-game teamfights. Rekkles showed up big for Fnatic too. His Kog’Maw dismantled towers in record time, though he ended up being equally effective at taking down champions.

Clever Teleport shenanigans by ROCCAT were a huge part of their early advantage. A lane gank by Cyanide could have potentially resulted in a pair of kills for Fnatic, but Xaxus and Overpow both TPed down to save their bot lane and pick up a double of their own. That lead to ROCCAT’s first dragon of the game, giving them a slight edge. However, Fnatic was quick to learn and adapt. A second Double Teleport play went awry for ROCCAT after Overpow’s ult missed and they were forced to back off. This allowed Fnatic to pressure down the bottom outer tower, which in turn would help them secure their own dragon. With the gold almost dead even, Fnatic proved who’s comp was superior after a siege in the middle lane gave them two additional towers. With their team slowly falling behind, ROCCAT fought hard to stay in the game, but couldn’t keep up with Fnatic’s beautiful rotations.

Fnatic (W)					ROCCAT (L)
Kills	Turrets		Gold		Kills	Turrets			Gold
15	11		73.4k		11	3			58k
Lineup
Position	Player		Champion	K/D/A	Position		Player			Champion	K/D/A
Top	sOAZ		Lulu	1/5/11	Top	Xaxus				Alistar	3/5/4
Jungle	Cyanide		Rengar	2/1/10	Jungle	Jankos				Jarvan IV	3/2/4
Mid	xPeke		Orianna	4/2/7	Mid	Overpow				Fizz	4/3/3
ADC	Rekkles		Kog’Maw	5/1/6	ADC	Celaver				Tristana	1/3/3
Support	YellOwStaR		Nami	3/2/8	Support	VandeR				Thresh	0/2/4
Bans
Maokai		Elise	Kha’Zix		Nidalee			Evelynn	Kassadin

Questions? Comments? Leave them below!

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

Questions? Comments? Leave them below!