
League of Legends European Championship Predictions: Week 1
| Tags: League of Legends
| Author Manny Gomez

With the newly rebranded LEC kicking off this week, the LoL writers here at ESTNN decided to try to predict the upcoming games and see who can come out on top at the end of the split. It will be interesting to see how close any of us can get to predicting all of these results correctly, considering a large number of roster moves took place.
Day 1
Fnatic vs. SK Gaming
Kicking-off the new season is the old guard “rivalry” between Fnatic and SK gaming. It will be a fascinating look at how Fnatic hold up with their new mid laner, Tim “Nemesis” Lipovšek, against the re-emerging SK gaming. You can read more about this match-up in Ibriz's article detailing the old rivalry.
Predictions:
Manny: Fnatic
Ibriz: SK Gaming
Brandon: Fnatic
EXCEL vs. Splyce
The second match of the day includes newly established exceL esports take on a revamped Splyce. It will be interesting to see how well Splyce does following their most successful season. We will also see veteran support, Raymond “Kasing” Tsang, does facing off against his old team.
Predictions:
Manny: Splyce
Ibriz: Splyce
Brandon: Splyce
Team Vitality vs. Schalke 04
Match three is the only one that has two returning teams face off each other. Team Vitality look to build on one of the most impressive seasons they have had, facing Schalke 04. Schalke 04 defeated Team Vitality last summer in the summer split playoffs, making it all the way to the finals only to fall short against a dominant Fnatic.
Predictions:
Manny: Schalke 04
Ibriz: Team Vitality
Brandon: Team Vitality
Rogue vs. Misfits
Rogue versus Misfits is the Battle of the Korean supports, among other storylines that are present in this game. We will finally get to see GorillA play his first game in the western leagues as he faces Wadid, a Worlds semifinalist. Another great storyline will be the battle in the mid lane as old Misfits player Sencux dukes it out against Febiven.
Predictions:
Manny: Misfits
Ibriz: Rogue
Brandon: Misfits
Origen vs. G2 Esports
The final match of day 1, could be the most exciting one. Origen plays against G2 Esports, with both teams bolstering some great players. Will the addition of Caps be exactly what G2 esports were looking for to go back to the top? Will this really be the year of the Duck? These are just two of the many questions that will be answered in this slugfest of a match.
Predictions:
Manny: G2 Esports
Ibriz: Origen
Brandon: G2 Esports
Day 2
G2 Esports vs. Schalke 04
Day two starts with a rematch of the Regional Qualifier Finals when G2 face Schalke 04. It will be interesting how different the match goes not just with the changes in pre-season but also with the roster changes.
Predictions:
Manny: G2 Esports
Ibriz: G2 Esports
Brandon: G2 Esports
Rogue vs. EXCEL
Rogue versus exceL is the second game of the day. Both teams will be looking for a win to show that they are the better incoming franchise in the LEC. Early wins mean more to incoming teams as they don't have much pressure when compared to the existing franchises. Regardless, both will be hoping to end their first week on a positive.
Predictions:
Manny: Rogue
Ibriz: Rogue
Brandon: Rogue
Splyce vs. Team Vitality
Splyce has typically gotten the better off of Team Vitality but after such an impressive summer split; Team Vitality look to come out on top and show that they truly deserve to be considered one of the best in Europe.
Predictions:
Manny: Team Vitality
Ibriz: Team Vitality
Brandon: Team Vitality
Misfits vs. SK Gaming
After a few years of absence from the league by SK Gaming, they look to start taking names as quickly as they can. They will face one of the rising names in Europe. With a wide mix of players, Misfits try to show that their slump is over and that 2019 will be their year.
Predictions:
Manny: Misfits
Ibriz: SK Gaming
Brandon: Misfits
Origen vs. Fnatic
Probably the most anticipated match of the week as we see Fnatic play against Origen in the final match of the week. Origen hopes to prove that their time away from the highest European league has only made them stronger. Fnatic hopes to show they still are the best team regardless of the loss of both Caps and sOAZ from the roster. We will see which of these two teams is left standing in the end after a match that has the looks of an exciting back and forth.
Predictions:
Manny: Fnatic
Ibriz: Origen
Brandon: Fnatic
Who do you think will be the best team in the LEC this split? Let us know on Twitter and join our brand new Discord to talk League of Legends esports with the community and our writing staff.
Image Via: Riot Games