Fnatic caps off EU’s victory over NA

From the World Cup in Russia to Rift Rivals in Los Angeles, Europe just keeps on winning. North America’s finest were thoroughly routed by their EU counterparts who successfully secured revenge for last year’s disappointment.

After a close Group Stage, it was G2 Esports who appeared to hold the edge over all their counterparts. They extended their undefeated record in the EU LCS through the Group Stage at Rift Rivals and looked like they were the cream of the crop in the west -- their teams have been among the most innovative in the world when it comes to the current meta. They’ve found success on things like Heimerdinger in the bot lane and funneling Kai’Sa in mid.

However, in the first match of today’s relay between the two regions, G2’s funnel strategy was undone by a more standard composition from FOX -- a rarity for them. It was a fairly even game that just kind of… ended. A couple of fights broke out simultaneously that ended in FOX’s favor as they just barreled right into the Nexus. It was a stunning defeat for a G2 team that seemed to have a better grasp on the meta than most teams in the world, even.

With Europe on their back foot, though, reigning EU LCS Champion Fnatic stepped to the plate. And, as they seem to do to NA teams time and again, they delivered. It’s been a tough week for the 100 Thieves, who traded star jungler Meteos last week. In a lot of ways, this was a glimpse at what we might come to expect of their new roster. They showed hints of promise -- even on the brink of defeat, they were resilient enough to extend the game.

But it was ultimately to no avail. 100 Academy team jungler Levi -- of Vietnam’s Gigabyte Marines fame -- had a mechanically impressive debut on Graves, but that was the peak of his tournament. The team will have a week to recover and consider their options going forward.

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NA’s fortunes would only get worse from there, though. Team Liquid looked to be NA’s best hope going into the relay, and they drew a winless Splyce as an opponent. Splyce has also been struggling a bit in the EU LCS, so the expectation was TL would win handily. And, well, in maybe the most NA (or most Liquid?) thing to happen… they lost.  

Former NA LCS mid laner Nisqy paved the way for snek boys on his Zoe and created play after play for Splyce. They barreled right over a hapless Liquid, and you could almost feel the energy drain from the crowd -- there was a feeling of inevitably in the air that NA would lose. It was reminiscent of last year’s 9th place Phoenix1 dominating in EU as well.

The 4th and deciding game of the day featured Fnatic against Echo Fox. A few mechanical misplays in the early game perhaps highlighted the differences between the regions. Caps sidestepped a skillshot from Dardoch’s Evelyn in a masterful display of technique that helped Fnatic turn around first blood and then Bwipo solo killed Huni. From there, the game turned into a bit of a scrap for a few minutes before ultimately snowballing in Fnatic’s favor.

Between Hylissang’s hooks on Pyke or Bwipo’s Aatrox doing Aatrox things, it seemed as if FOX was just outclassed on both a micro and macro level. That the day ended in stomps was surely disappointing for NA, who had at least appeared to be fairly evenly matched in the Group Stage.

And now, the region has experienced setbacks at both of the international tournaments so far this year. The rest of the Summer Split will not only be a grind against each other for a shot at Worlds, but a grind against the other regions of the world -- can NA elevate themselves, or will 2018 be yet another year of international failure?

As for Europe, they will now return home just in time to catch an all EU Semifinals at the World Cup. The region should be bursting with confidence -- they’ve long been good at playing to their own strengths, and in this current meta that rewards innovation and adaptability, it should make them a favorite to make another deep run at Worlds.