EU LCS Playoffs Day 2 Recap; Day 3 Preview
Day 2 of the EU spring split playoffs featured two nail-biting three game series. No tower was safe in the early game, no team composition too strange. In fact, champion selection played a critical role in each game, with every team bringing something unique to the LCS stage. At the end of the brawl, SK Gaming and Fnatic were left standing, to face each other in the finals.
Fnatic vs Alliance
Game 1
The action began in champion select, where Fnatic brought out a "protect the Kha'Zix" composition featuring Soraka, Kayle, and Janna. Despite the surprising composition, Alliance kept their focus, and started out crushing down both of Fnatic's bottom towers, and picking up First Blood for Froggen. Unfortunately, that would be one of the last bright moments for Alliance in this game. Every member of Fnatic seemed to be in the right spot at any given moment. Their dragon control was perfect as they caught Shook attempting to ward time and again. With so many shields and healing abilities, Alliance had no way to capitalize on their strong up front damage. Whenever they would unload all their power onto Cyanide's Kha'Zix, he would narrowly escape every fight while Soraka and Kayle melted away the resistances of Alliance's front line. After a 35 minute rout, Alliance found themselves one loss away from elimination.
Game 2
Refusing to play Fnatic's game any longer, Alliance banned out Soraka and brought out a much stronger composition. Once again, Alliance rushed down Fnatic's two bottom towers, and took an early lead despite giving First Blood to xPeke's Zed. Once again, Fnatic began their perfect rotations. Wherever Alliance tried to find an advantage in the midgame, Fnatic took even more. However, Alliance came into this game with a perfect counter for Fnatic as the game moved into the teamfighting phase. Three members of Alliance brought Exhaust into the match, effectively negating Zed's burst, and Lucian's ultimate. By dragging out fights, Alliance were able to make full use of Twitch and Ziggs and their consistent damage. With Zed hamstrung, Fnatic could find no answer for the sieging strength of Alliance, who would take a slow, methodical victory.
Game 3
The final game of the series was over before it began. After losing a ban to a rules violation, Alliance let Nidalee slip through to Fnatic. Once the game began, a sneaky Whimsy by sOAZ's Lulu set Wickd too far behind to become a factor. With Jax so weak, Alliance were forced to use Caitlyn to split push. But without their AD carry, Alliance had no way to deal with the siege power of Nidalee, Lulu, and Lucian. Alliance tried to come back by hiding in the Baron pit, but Fnatic saw through their plan, and Alliance found themselves surrounded with no hope of escape. Fnatic took the teamfight, Baron, and a ticket into the spring split finals.
MVP: Rekkles
If any fans still harbored doubts about Fnatic's dedication to Rekkles this offseason, those doubts vanished in this best of three series. All three games were marked by incredible plays from Fnatic's young protégé. Even their loss in Game 2 was nearly prevented by stellar moves from Rekkles on Lucian. His lane dominance in game three left Alliance with no recourse but to give this rising star his shot at the title.
SK Gaming vs ROCCAT
Game 1
With a delayed invasion of SK's red buff, ROCCAT picked up an early First Blood. From that early advantage, ROCCAT never took their foot off the gas. Svenskeren tried several ganks in the bottom lane, but gave multiple kills to Celaver instead. With their bottom lane so far ahead, ROCCAT became a hunting party, finding kills across the map. After finding a 2-for-1 teamfight in SK's jungle, ROCCAT took the Baron. With their strong lead and baron buff in tow, ROCCAT worked their way through the bottom lane, into SK's base, and onto their Nexus.
Game 2
Svenskeren quickly made up for his poor performance in game one with a phenomenal early game. He appeared in every lane at just the right time. The first 15 minutes were a bloodbath, with small skirmishes exploding across the map for each team. ROCCAT appeared to be pulling ahead with a sneaky split push by Celaver, taking the bottom inner tower. Unfortunately, the Polish Cinderella story would hit a bump in the road in the Baron pit. ROCCAT tried to force Baron in full view of SK, who's powerful initiation won them the teamfight, Baron, and eventually the game.
Game 3
The final game of the match seemed to be going ROCCAT's way early, as they caught Fredy122 twice during the early top lane tower push. However, SK took the time spent killing Fredy's Trundle to take not only the two outer towers, but also ROCCAT's inhibitor tower, as well as the first dragon. ROCCAT remained vigilant, and Jankos did his best to propel his lanes to victory. Unfortunately, they could not seem to avoid Jesiz and his laser-targeted spears. Despite their multiple shields and mobility, ROCCAT found themselves poked down again and again, allowing SK to begin many of their teamfights in clean-up mode. With a meaty front line, Sona's Crescendo, and devastating poke, SK forced ROCCAT to play the game on their terms. They dictated every teamfight in their favor, and used their range superiority to methodically eliminate ROCCAT's structures, and finally their Nexus.
MVP: Svenskeren
His transformation between games one and two proved Svenskeren's value to SK. His early pressure in the second game allowed SK to remain even and his fearless Xin Zhao in Game 3 left his opponents without any hope of victory. SK is a team that wins their games as a unit better than most top teams, but when Svenskeren is playing at his best, every SK lane looks like an All-Star.
Gambit Gaming vs Copenhagen Wolves
Game 1
This series would be an exercise in endurance for both teams as well as the LCS viewers and shoutcasters. In the first game, the Wolves caught Gambit off-guard with their Vladimir/Kassadin combination. Youngbuck was able to outplay Darien in the top lane, giving CW an insurmountable advantage in the early game. As the game went on, the mobility and crowd control of the Wolves would prove too much for the straightforward composition of Gambit. With perfect timing, Unlimited was able to turn a tactical retreat into a sudden initiation time and again. Gambit tried to find a lead by baiting a Baron attempt, but once again their front line could not stick to anyone on the Wolves roster, and CW came out with three kills and a Baron buff. In once last extended fight, CW would ace their Russian adversaries and take the first game.
Game 2
Trying to avoid relegation matches, both teams came into the second game desperate not to lose. It took 37 minutes for the Copenhagen Wolves to claim all three of Gambit's outer towers, and Gambit were still only one turret ahead. Every teamfight turned into a hasty retreat by both teams. When either team managed to take a kill or advantage, they would not capitalize in any way. Gambit even took an uncontested Baron, and did not use it to obtain a single kill or tower. Finally, as the game crested 50 minutes, Amazing found himself suddenly surrounded by members of Gambit, with his team just barely out of position. With their meat shield gone, CW had no way to recover, and Genja earned himself a pentakill. Despite CW's base being fully intact at this point, the death timers proved too strong, and Gambit took the win.
Game 3
The beginning of the match looked like disaster for Gambit, as Edward got caught alone by all five Wolves in the river. From there, Gambit sent Genja around the map without any farm, allowing Forgiven to amass an incredible early gold lead. CW would try for a flashy play in the mid lane, but cowTard's Twisted Fate ended up teleporting in the waiting arms of all five members of Gambit. The mid game seemed nearly even, as both teams rotated around the map well, picking up objectives. As the teamfights began, Gambit's champion synergy proved too much for the Wolves, as they lost several fights in quick succession. A window opened briefly for the Wolves when a well-timed Destiny revealed Twitch and Irelia out of position. CW quickly melted Twitch and gave chase for Irelia. But in true LCS rookie fashion, the Wolves chased themselves right into the rest of Gambit, who picked up another ace. With their lead growing, Gambit took their time eroding CW's base, until there was nothing left but defeat for the Copenhagen Wolves.
MVP: Genja
If you hid the names and watched this series again, no one would believe that Gambit, a team once famous for their early game shenanigans, played these games. Gambit is a team made up of playmakers, and their wins are usually filled with LCS Big Plays. However, in a match to determine their future, with their playmakers all playing scared, the one man to keep his head straight and keep dealing out the damage was Genja. His Caitlyn in Game 2 stayed safe and played the final fight perfectly. And in the last game, Genja played like a new man, rushing headlong into the enemy on Twitch and coming out covered in kills and gold. The other four members have all claimed the spotlight before, but today, Genja deserves his moment in the sun.
Day 3 Preview
Alliance vs ROCCAT
Individual talent clashes against team cohesion in the third place match. ROCCAT's strength is Alliance's biggest weakness, Champion Select. Expect ROCCAT to bait Alliance into a bad composition in the first game. From there, it will be up to Alliance to simply outplay their adversaries in each lane, and keep vision of Jankos as much as possible. As Froggen correctly predicted in his match against Fnatic, whoever wins the first game, will most likely win the series.
SK Gaming vs Fnatic
The spring split has been a roller coaster for the top two teams. Fnatic started the season as an untouchable juggernaut, only to fall nearly out of contention. SK began the split looking like a team that narrowly avoided relegation. However, in the final match of the split, what led up to this point no longer matters. Both teams are playing like they deserve their place at the top. If SK can keep focused and play their style, they have a real chance of taking the title. However, the team standing in their way always has one more trick up their sleeve. If Rekkles continues to play as well as he has so far, and Fnatic bring out another surprise composition, SK could be in for a very short series. No matter what, we will see members of Fnatic in Paris for All-Star 2014, but xPeke and Rekkles would surely like to bring their teammates along for the ride.
