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: 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!