Origen takes on Fnatic in the 2015 EU LCS Summer Split Finals
Only one team stands between Fnatic and a completely perfect season. Can Origen finally put a stop Fnatic's legendary win streak in the EU LCS Summer Split Finals this weekend? Or will Fnatic be the first team to ever finish an LCS Split 24-0?
If you want to learn more about how the Playoffs work, check out our guide to the Playoffs structure, the Best of 5 format, and Championship Points.
Be sure to stick around after each of the EU LCS games this weekend, as the 2015 NA LCS Summer Split Playoffs from Madison Square Garden will be happening right afterward! Click here for our full NA LCS preview.
#1 Fnatic vs. #2 Origen
Day: Sunday, August 23
Time: 5 PM CET / 8 AM PDT
Record This Split: 2-0 (Fnatic)
This weekend is Origen's last chance to prove that Fnatic isn't alone in the upper echelon of the EU LCS. Can they beat the odds to achieve what some are calling the impossible? Let's take a look at the two previous times that these titans faced off this Split to see what they'll need to do to earn that glorious 1st place trophy.
Game 1: Week 4
This was one of the most hyped games of the entire Split! Origen and Fnatic had looked incredibly strong in the first few weeks of the EU LCS Summer Split, climbing to the top of the standings with undefeated records. It felt like everything was leading up to this match, when the two top teams in the EU LCS would clash, and we'd finally get to see who was the best in the region.
Looking back on the game now, we can see that this early on the Split, both teams were still refining their play. Origen was experimenting with how to adapt their style to each new opponent they faced, and Fnatic was still learning how to work with their new ADC, Martin "Rekkles" Larsson.
Unluckily for Origen, this was the week that Rekkles and Fnatic really clicked, and began looking like the 18-0 team they are today. So while Origen was still feeling out ways to deal with Fnatic, Fnatic had figured out how to stomp on everyone's faces.
Origen kicked off the excitement in with an early bloody brawl in the river. They picked a fight with Yeu-Jin "Reignover" Kim, but couldn't make up their minds about who they wanted to fight after other members of Fnatic showed up. After getting kicked around for a while by the encircling Fnatic crew, Origen eventually committed to the upriver flank, but Fnatic's mobility allowed them to take charge and dictate the brawl, forcing the indecisive Origen players into it.
Origen held strong throughout most of the early and mid game, finally forcing another team fight at Dragon. Enrique "xPeke" Cedeño Martínez leapt over the wall and stole Dragon on Azir, but then -- once again -- his team seemed to be at a total loss for who to fight. Fnatic scattered as well, and it looked like Origen would actually come out of the chaotic scuffle on top until Bora "YellOwStaR" Kim's godlike save on Janna helped his two wounded allies escape from over the Dragon pit wall.
But even after two team fights gone wrong, Origen still kept things close... until Niels got caught out. Fnatic recognized that Niels had all of Origen's gold and power (he was the only one on Origen's squad to net a kill all game long!). So as soon as they killed him, they took Baron, two more kills, and Dragon.
It was a swift, brutal punishment for one small mistake, and Origen weren't able to recover. When you're playing against a team with a perfect record, you have to be perfect, too.
Game 2: Week 7
In their follow-up match, Fnatic moved quickly to shut down the only threat they saw in the previous game: Niels. Reignover put constant pressure on Origen's bot lane, while Origen countered with pressure on Fnatic's isolated top laner, Seung-hoon "Huni" Heo.
Origen tried to set the pace as the match went on by initiating ganks, but Fnatic relied on their own consistent coordination to stabilize and recover some revenge kills in the aftermath of each fight.
Yet we saw another flash of Origen's brilliance at the next Dragon fight, where they used great movement and shotcalling to secure an Ace to take a fairly significant lead.
Even though Origen struggled with consistency this match, Origen fans should see a lot to give them hope for this weekend. In many fights, Origen achieved excellence and even looked stronger and smarter than Fnatic. They just have to find a way to maintain that throughout a whole Best of 5 series this weekend.
Take this fight as an example. Fnatic split their focus at the start, and Origen preyed upon it immediately. This is one of the best examples from the entire Split of a team taking meaningful advantage of Fnatic's few weaknesses.
As a unit, Origen were able to take out Fnatic. But even though it got them a lead, instead of sticking together, Origen started splitting up again. When Fnatic showed up to defend their inhibitors, Origen scrambled in three different directions, including toward Fnatic's turrets. They got picked off one by one. It was a mess that led to more messes, as Origen continued to beat their head against Fnatic, hoping they could force another mistake.
xPeke and crew even tried the classic everyone-hide-in-a-bush tactic at one point. It was super exciting to watch, but proved to be very ineffective against a clever team like Fnatic. Nothing about Origen's side of that fight was clean or well-planned -- and they started it! It's a real shame because, before that series of unfortunate events, Origen had control of the game.
Conclusions
Origen have shown some real promise in the early and mid games of these previous matches and if they don't want to be another team to hand the trophy over to Fnatic, they're going to have to choose their fights more wisely and not throw away their advantages when they get them.
Origen's aggression is one of their biggest strengths -- the pressure they apply in the early game is what got them ahead of Fnatic in the past. They initiated almost every single conflict in those matches. Some of them worked brilliantly and got them a big lead. Origen needs to be more careful with their leads this weekend, and avoid reverting to simple run-at-the-enemy tactics that's easy for a smart team like Fnatic to counter.
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Fnatic has many strengths, but the most important in this series will likely be their ability to keep calm if they fall behind early. When their opponents make mistakes, Fnatic is always ready to capitalize on them. That patience and steadfastness was a big part of their previous wins over the more aggressive, and occasionally reckless, Origen.
Both Origen and Fnatic have shown excellent mechanics, which should make these games exciting to watch, with some mind-blowing plays. It's all the extra factors, like vision control, communication, and coordination that will decide the victor in this exciting series on Sunday.
#3 H2K vs. #4 Unicorns of Love
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Day: Saturday, August 22
Time: 5 PM CET / 8 AM PDT
Record This Split: 2-0 (H2K)
This is an insanely important 3rd place match. Don't even think of it like a 3rd place match. Think of it like a do-or-die cage match to see which team gets to go to Worlds!
If Fnatic wins the Finals, the team that wins this series will have the most Championship Points and be auto-qualified for Worlds. If you need a refresher on how that works, check out our guide to Playoffs and qualifying for Worlds.
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That means neither team should be holding back when it comes to new team comps and strategies!
The Unicorns of Love are known for pulling out obscure champion picks at prime moments to catch their opponents off guard, and they didn't reveal much in their series against Fnatic in the Semifinals. You have to believe they're holding onto at least one trick up their sleeve.
Whether they pull out a brand new champion or not, the Unicorns will try to keep H2K off-balance all game with their avant garde aggression. It's so hard to predict when and where the Unicorns will strike because they don't follow anyone else's game plan. They are a wholly unique ball of chaos.
On the other end of the spectrum, H2K relies on a very methodical style play. Calculated lane swaps, well-timed rotations, and careful objective pushes are their typical road to victory. But the Unicorns could be taking pot-shots from the jungle brush this whole series, trying to create cracks in H2K's organized plans.
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H2K was able to maintain control in their previous two matches, using tight plays to beat the Unicorns both times. But they're starting to look a little predictable in this series: their picks and bans against UOL were almost identical in both games (only changing one champion pick). That means the Unicorns should have a pretty good idea of what H2K will be trying to do this time around too.
If UOL finds a way to take advantage of that predictability, H2K will have to venture into brand new territory against a team that thrives off of uncertainty and surprises. That's prime unicorn feeding grounds.
Watch Them Live!
Be sure to tune in to Lolesports this weekend to see all of the secret strategies and awesome team fights that happen in the last week of this LCS Summer Split!
The excitement starts at 5 PM CET / 8 AM PDT Saturday and Sunday.
Josh Augustine's favorite champion is Janna, he's never enjoyed a Darius, and he will always go for the kill, even when he knows he shouldn't. He currently works as a game designer on EverQuest Next at Daybreak Games. He’d love to talk with you on Twitter.
