Game of the Day: Fnatic versus SK Gaming (EU LCS Spring Split - Week 5 Day 1

By Helmight    

The first El Classico of the season was set to be a good one. SK Gaming had been rampaging through the EU LCS, crushing all of the competition and jumping out to an 8-0 win streak – just one short of Fnatic’s record. Fnatic meanwhile wasn’t quite as solid, but they had a respectable 6-2 record, which wasn’t bad for a team that had really only started playing together a month ago. While SK Gaming appeared to be in control of the game right from the start, Fnatic managed to fight back and eventually overcome their rivals in a 43-minute game.

            SK Gaming appeared to have Fnatic’s number right from the start. They’d studied Fnatic’s loss to the Copenhagen Wolves and had obviously caught on to their preferred strategies and champions, because the pick-and-ban phase went solidly in their favor. Huni lost his Lissandra, Reignover his Rengar, and YellOwStaR his Leona and Annie in quick succession. To compound matters for Fnatic, SK managed to avoid the lane swap, thus setting up a massively advantageous early game.

            Despite this, Fnatic managed to claw their way back into the game, blunting SK’s success with successful ganks from Reignover all across the map. However, it was really Huni and Steeelback who carried the rest of Fnatic to victory. Huni’s Rumble scored first blood after a gank from Reignover, then Teleported to a skirmish near mid for a double a few minutes later. Once Huni began falling off though, it was all on Fnatic’s marksman to pick up the slack. Steeelback did incredibly, staying safe on the backline of Fnatic and grabbing kill after kill in teamfights.

            SK Gaming meanwhile didn’t look prepared to face this Fnatic squad. They took away Fnatic’s favorite champions and set up a favorable early game, but they were seemingly caught by surprise when Fnatic didn’t roll over and die. Svenskeren was definitely a weak link for SK in this matchup. He had nothing more than a Skirmishers Sabre for the first twenty minutes of the game and his initiation frequently only caught one Fnatic member. Fredy meanwhile played well, but by choosing Renekton he shot his teamfighting potential right in the foot.

            There were a few close fights that went in SK’s favor, and for a while it looked as though they might be able to pull off the win. Fnatic however always stayed one step ahead, grabbing themselves a Baron at the 20-minute mark and pulling out an ace on SK Gaming fifteen minutes later. That led to an inhibitor, a fourth dragon, and a 10k gold lead for Fnatic. SK Gaming responded with a pick onto Reignover and attempted a Baron, but an insane 4v5 teamfight from Fnatic was enough to secure 4 kills in their favor and abort the Baron play. At that point the outcome of the game was no longer in doubt. After one more decisive teamfight, Fnatic pushed down the Nexus to end our first El Classico of the split. 

Fnatic (W)					SK Gaming (L)
Kills	Turrets		Gold		Kills	Turrets			Gold
29	10		82.6k		14	4			66.5k
Lineup
Position	Player		Champion	K/D/A	Position		Player			Champion	K/D/A
Top	Huni		Rumble	8/3/16	Top	fredy122				Renekton	2/8/7
Jungle	Reignover		Rek’Sai	2/4/15	Jungle	Svenskeren				Jarvan IV	1/8/9
Mid	Febiven		Zed	6/3/10	Mid	Fox				Ahri	3/4/7
ADC	Steeelback		Corki	11/1/8	ADC	FORG1VENGRE				Graves	7/3/7
Support	YellOwStaR		Thresh	2/3/18	Support	nRated				Annie	1/6/10
Bans
Kennen		Gnar	Kassadin		Lissandra			Rengar	Leona

 For stats, builds, and other information, visit lolesports.com. In the meantime, let us know what you thought of the game below!

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

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