EU LCS Playoffs Day 3 Recap
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For the past few weeks, EU LCS fans have wondered which Fnatic was going to show up to the playoffs - the well-oiled machine of Weeks 1-3 or the overconfident and careless mob that tumbled in the standings throughout Weeks 4-8. Would they be able to handle the dogged, slow-but-steady determination that brought SK Gaming from the cusp of elimination all the way to the top of the standings?
The final day of the LCS Spring Playoffs answered these questions even as it seemed to capture the season in microcosm. Fnatic was thrilling and explosive, while SK was smart and ruthless. In the third place match, ROCCAT were cool executioners while Alliance was a team with flashes of greatness undone by moments of poor coordination and lack of foresight. But even as it concluded the spring split, the final day of the playoffs promises a great summer of competition.
It's hard to separate Overpow's great performance from VandeR's great playmaking with Thresh and Leona, and ROCCAT certainly owe a lot to Jankos' ace jungling. But neither was as dominant in both games as Overpow, whose Nidalee in Game 2 was a major reason why Alliance could never survive long enough in fight to get anything done.
He was as good in the first game as his teammates, but the second game was The Overpow Show, as he went 9/1/5 and made some of the game's key plays. His highlight-reel moment came in Game 2, as he ran Shook down across the map and then landed a key Exhaust on Tabzz in order to ensure a clean kill and getaway. It showcased his incredible awareness and map presence, along with his can't miss instincts and skillshots, and ended Alliance's hopes of a third place finish.
Everyone on Fnatic had at least one very good game in this series, but nobody carried like xPeke did in the final game as Nidalee. Fnatic came into Game 4 running a poke comp, but xPeke turned it into a nuke comp. His spears simply did not miss. He knew where SK's players were going to be before they did, and even when they tried to dodge, they usually dodged right into the path of one of xPeke's guided missiles. He went 6/1/9 in the final game, but more importantly, he won every important battle before it even started.
ALLIANCE VS ROCCAT
Game 1 After getting burned by ROCCAT during an attempt to menace their dragon attempt, losing both Froggen and Nyph, Alliance backed off and showed the Polish powerhouse a lot more respect. ROCCAT returned the favor and the two teams settled into an extended laning phase where neither team could quite find an edge. But the moment Alliance committed to a bot lane push, ROCCAT came down on them like a bag of hammers. With Froggen and Wickd off-laning, ROCCAT wiped out the balance of Alliance's team thanks to a perfect initiation from VandeR's Leona and a great backdoor ambush from Xaxus. It changed the shape of the game, and while Alliance came close to winning some important fights and regaining momentum, ROCCAT avoided making mistakes and caught Tabzz and Nyph in a few of their own. Game 2 ROCCAT had warmed to their task by the time Game 2 started. After some nice maneuvering from both teams that left them even with two turrets apiece, ROCCAT seized control of the game. They caught Froggen and Shook trying to gank Overpow in mid, and gained a turret off the back of the play. Then Tabzz pushed way beyond his team's vision coverage, which only served to feed Overpow's Nidalee. Alliance tried to turn things around with some gank attempts from Froggen and Tabzz, but they could never quite put the damage down. Ironically, their attempts to get back into the game only extended ROCCAT's lead. By 20 minutes, ROCCAT were 10k gold ahead, and they pushed through the Nexus only a few minutes later.MVP: OVERPOW
It's hard to separate Overpow's great performance from VandeR's great playmaking with Thresh and Leona, and ROCCAT certainly owe a lot to Jankos' ace jungling. But neither was as dominant in both games as Overpow, whose Nidalee in Game 2 was a major reason why Alliance could never survive long enough in fight to get anything done.
He was as good in the first game as his teammates, but the second game was The Overpow Show, as he went 9/1/5 and made some of the game's key plays. His highlight-reel moment came in Game 2, as he ran Shook down across the map and then landed a key Exhaust on Tabzz in order to ensure a clean kill and getaway. It showcased his incredible awareness and map presence, along with his can't miss instincts and skillshots, and ended Alliance's hopes of a third place finish.
FNATIC VS SK GAMING
Game 1 The fact this game went 40 minutes is a testament to SK Gaming's cool and defensive skill, because it could not have started any worse for them. Fnatic racked up five kills inside the first 10 minutes as xPeke and sOAZ kept beating on Jesiz and nRated. With whiffed shots right and left, SK seemed rattled and it looked like the game would be a 20-minute surrender, but they collected themselves and managed to stall out the game. But with Fnatic in complete control of the map and objectives, their defeat was a foregone conclusion. Game 2 This is going to be the game that haunts SK until the summer split. In a mirror-image of Game 1, SK jumped out to a commanding lead thanks to a failed lane-swap from Rekkles and sOAZ. They nursed that lead for 20 more minutes, but despite their aggressive warding and near-complete map control, they could not find the fight they needed to break Fnatic. Fnatic, on the other hand, found exactly the moment they needed when they counterattacked a top lane push from SK on the inner turret. Even with all the advantages on their side, SK could not seem to target anyone down, and the fight slipped away from them as Fnatic's superior maneuvering and Rekkles' perfect Sivir play eroded their health. That set up an easy Baron for Fnatic, and cost SK their lead. SK had another chance a few minutes later, but despite a good engagement, Fnatic was simply better in the fight and grabbed an ace, along with another win. Game 3 SK never figured out how to beat Fnatic in a full teamfight, but in Game 3 they learned they didn't have to. Their rotations were perfect as they slowly pushed Fnatic back in every lane while Fnatic seemed unable to respond. Fredy's Shyvana gave them fits, stalling them at every turn while the rest of SK continued to peel back Fnatic's defenses. While Fnatic found their feet and started trading kills back and forth, SK's turret lead was insurmountable, and SK's death timers were too short for Fnatic to take advantage of their small victories. Rekkles and xPeke were effectively neutralized while Candy Panda's Twitch got completely out of hand. With a final push through Fnatic's bottom inhibitor backed up by a 10k gold lead, SK picked up the victory and a ticket to Game 4. Game 4 Fnatic didn't just win the final game of the spring final. They showed why they deserved to win it. This time they brought all the pieces together in a perfect game. They showed they could win a war of maneuvers just as SK Gaming had done in Game 3, as they continually found ways to bait SK out of position and then capitalized on an objective before SK could react. Rekkles and xPeke were playing like superstars, making skirmishes completely untenable for SK Gaming. Under siege and completely unable to trade blows with Fnatic, SK surrendered to the better team at 28 minutes.MVP: XPEKE
Everyone on Fnatic had at least one very good game in this series, but nobody carried like xPeke did in the final game as Nidalee. Fnatic came into Game 4 running a poke comp, but xPeke turned it into a nuke comp. His spears simply did not miss. He knew where SK's players were going to be before they did, and even when they tried to dodge, they usually dodged right into the path of one of xPeke's guided missiles. He went 6/1/9 in the final game, but more importantly, he won every important battle before it even started.
xpeke style doe
