Giants' leap from near-relegation to Playoffs in one Split
With the threat of auto-relegation looming over the heads of Giants Gaming in Spring 2015, star mid laner Isaac "PePiiNeRO" Flores locked in Twisted Fate against Elements in Week 9. Strangely drawn to him like a moth to flame, Elements chased PePiiNeRO all over the Rift, ceding objectives to the rest of the Giants squad.
Yet unable to fully take advantage of the ground that Elements gave them, and in spite of PePiiNeRO's impressive TF showcase, Giants still lost the game. This encapsulated their Spring season on the whole. They usually accrued advantages onto their primary carry, PePiiNeRO, yet often looked directionless in their map movement.
Fortunately for Giants, change was on the horizon.
Hit the gas
Giants went on to split Week 9 of Spring 1-1, forcing a tiebreaker with Meet Your Makers to determine which team would be auto relegated from the EU LCS. Emerging victorious, Giants took advantage of this new chance that they had been given, later taking out Reason Gaming in the EU LCS Summer Promotion Tournament.
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Ahead of the 2015 EU LCS Summer Split, Giants made a crucial, but risky, roster change, by adding Swedish support player Oscar "G0DFRED" Lundström to the once-all Spanish lineup.
"We had a lot of problems last Split," AD carry Adrián "Adryh" Pérez says. "We knew this [Split] was going to be better no matter what. The roster change helped a lot because we finally got a shotcaller."
As their new shotcaller, G0DFRED went to work amidst doubts regarding his ability to communicate with the rest of his team as their first non-Spaniard. These were quickly quelled, as Giants started Summer strong with a 4-2 record in their first three weeks, losing only to the top teams of Fnatic and Origen. Suddenly, everyone was talking about Giants.
clap your hands
With the addition of G0DFRED's shotcalling, a more focused Giants team took advantage of the openings provided by their minion waves, leveraging them into objectives. Resource distribution remained similar to their previous Split as Giants still funneled the majority of their income to PePiiNeRO as their primary carry. The difference in their Summer performance as opposed to Spring came from the side lanes.
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Previously reliant on Jax to be an effective threat, Jorge "Werlyb" Casanovas expanded his champion pool in the offseason. Meanwhile, Adryh also began to settle into the Giants split-pushing strategies. Now, when PePiiNeRO drew attention elsewhere, one or both of the Giants side laners were ready to push out their waves and take objectives.
"The team is playing around me a bit more," Adryh added. "We can now have two carries in most of the games instead of just PePii and a 'supportive ADC.'"
Combined with their aforementioned minion control, PePiiNeRO, and stronger overall side lanes, Giants became a far greater challenge to their opponents.
Everybody to the Limit
Accompanying Giants' overall improvement was a close Week 6 encounter with Fnatic that nearly ended the 1st place team's perfect record. While their first face off in Week 3 included a wonky match with a PePiiNeRO and Adryh role swap, their second game showcased both teams' strengths and weaknesses.
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Once again, Giants put it all on PePiiNeRO to carry, and they nearly succeeded in toppling Fnatic with a poke composition designed around his Runeglaive Ezreal build. But thanks to the veteran shotcalling of Bora "YellOwStaR" Kim, Fnatic was able to get AD carry Martin "Rekkles" Larsson's Kalista rolling. The game evolved into a vastly superior meeting between the carries -- PePiiNeRO and Rekkles -- than when the two met in the same lane during their first Summer match.
This was Giants at their best. While the team faltered a bit in the homestretch, Giants not only avoided relegation this time, but secured a Playoffs berth to the surprise of many who had fully expected them to drop out of LCS contention prior to the Summer season. Relegations were also in the minds of the Giants players, as avoiding them became a motivating factor.
"At the end of the Split we didn't want to fall into relegations again, so we fought to be a Playoffs team," jungler Federico "Fr3deric" Lizondoà says.
They Might Be Giants
With their first team goal met, Giants now prepare for their Playoffs series against H2K with optimism.
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"Our real goal was simply to get into Playoffs," Fr3deric admits. "We have a desire to win and get it right. We have nothing to lose. That is our advantage against [H2K]."
"I'm obviously nervous because it's the first time I am in Playoffs," Fr3deric continues. "I know it will be difficult, but I'm confident that we can do a great Best of 5 in Playoffs. I hope to be calm on the stage and play well."
The last time these two teams tangled in a best of series, they were vying for a bid into the EU LCS via the Spring Expansion Tournament. Both have changed dramatically since then, improving beyond what many thought them capable of.
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Watch Giants Gaming as they take on H2K this weekend in the 2015 EU LCS Summer Split Playoffs, right here on Lolesports.
