LEC Summer 2019: Week Eight | Day Two Recap

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LEC Summer 2019: Week Eight | Day Two Recap

SK Gaming vs Splyce

SK v SPY summer19 w8d2
SK and SPY team compositions.

The first match of the day was an incredibly close one with a ton of action, but when the smoke cleared Splyce (“SPY”) emerged victorious over SK Gaming (“SK”). This was expected to be one-sided in favor of SPY but SK fought tooth and nail against them. In fact, Selfmade got both his bottom and middle lanes ahead with ganks. These netted SK three kills before the 10-minute mark. But SPY shot back by ganking SK's duo lane and killing them under their tower. As SK took the First Tower bonus bottom, SPY brought down one in the top lane, and the game was even.

Picks were the focus of the mid-game. SK found a couple on Norskeren and Humanoid, but SPY got a key one of Selfmade. As they killed SK's Smite-wielder, SPY turned straight for Baron and claimed its buff. With it, they took a handful of towers but only demolished one Inhibitor Tower. The game stalled for a few minutes when the Baron fell off, but at 36 minutes it kicked right back off. Here, SPY rushed the Baron. Though they took the buff, SK killed three of them. Now SK thought they had an opening, so they started the Elder Dragon, but when it got low Xerxe stole it away. The ensuing team fight resulted in four kills for SPY now, which gave them everything they needed to run into SK's base and win the game.

QUICK STATS:

  • Time: 39:03
  • Kills: 15-15
  • Turrets: 4-9
  • Gold: 69.7k-77.6k
  • Dragons: 1-3
  • Barons: 0-2

Schalke 04 vs Rogue

S04 v RGE summer19 w8d2
S04 and RGE team compositions with the S04 team on-stage above.

In the second match, Rogue (“RGE”) kept their playoffs hopes alive with a much-needed win over Schalke 04 (“S04”). S04 seemed to have dropped the ball this game, but overall RGE played very well. Thye started their snowball by three-man diving Odoamne in the top lane, where Larssen killed him for First Blood. There was little action for a while, but S04 did manage to take some neutral objectives to stay even. At 19 minutes, RGE picked off Abbedagge, which allowed them to take a tower and a Mountain Dragon.

But their next play is where they took control of the game. Here, RGE pushed into S04's jungle and started a team fight that they won four-for-zero. Next, RGE began to exert pressure on S04 from around the Baron pit. As such, S04 felt the need to check it. As they did, RGE forced a team fight where they Ace'd S04 and took the Baron. This buff helped RGE take a few towers but didn't do extensive damage. Thus, RGE waited to make one last, devastating move. Finn, on the Qiyana, set this death blow up with a magnificent flank-engage with his ultimate. Because of it, RGE slaughtered S04, killing all five members before blasting through their base and taking their Nexus.

QUICK STATS:

  • Time: 35:52
  • Kills: 1-18
  • Turrets: 2-8
  • Gold: 55.7k-66.7k
  • Dragons: 2-3
  • Barons: 0-1

Origen vs Excel Esports

OG v XL summer19 w8d2
OG and XL team compositions with XL Mickey above.

Next up was Origen (“OG”) versus Excel Esports (“XL”), with OG picking up the win in the end. Despite the outcome, XL had a magnificent early game with Caedrel at the helm. He ganked top at three minutes to get First Blood for Expect, then returned shortly after with Mickey to get his team two more kills. XL also claimed an Infernal Dragon and Rift Herald too. But Kold pulled OG back into the game with two ganks, where OG picked up two kills. Just to note, at 17 minutes there was a pause due to a bug, so officials decided to chronobreak the game.

After the delay, the teams were ready to fight. OG won one a small skirmish, but Mickey solo killed Nukeduck in the top lane to even it back out. This close game state didn't last forever though, as at 34 minutes another team fight erupted. At this point, OG killed three from XL and turned to Baron. Among some more fighting, they secured the buff and three additional kills. With it, OG knocked down a few towers before sieging the top lane. At 31 minutes one last fight occurred, and OG once again dominated it. They killed four XL champions and easily closed out the game afterward.

QUICK STATS:

  • Time: 32:51
  • Kills: 17-9
  • Turrets: 10-1
  • Gold: 64.9k-52.0k
  • Dragons: 1-3
  • Barons: 1-0

G2 Esports vs Misfits Gaming

G2 v MSF summer19 w8d2
G2 and MSF team compositions with the G2 squad above.

As alluded to by Wunder on Twitter, G2 Esports (“G2”) spiced up their match against Misfits Gaming (“MSF”) by beating them with Smite Soraka top. This pick really didn't do much though, as their win can be contributed more to their aggressive, skirmish-heavy style. But Kirei made exceptional plays early on to get leads for his laners, getting Lider First Blood, two kills for the MSF bottom duo and even one for Dan Dan. The MSF duo also killed Perkz in the 2v2, but once the teams hit the mid-game, G2 flipped a switch.

This switch made G2 fight, and fight, and fight. Whenever G2 had an opportunity to go in they acted on it, quickly transforming the game from a blood bath into a river. Their aggression did backfire a couple of times when MSF capitalized on G2 missteps, but those mistakes weren't enough to matter. At 22 minutes, G2 caught out and killed Kirei, which caused them to go take the Baron, though MSF demolished their bottom Inhibitor in response. G2 didn't care though, as they used the Baron buff to the fullest. They pushed through the bottom lane and never looked back, killing anyone in their way until they reached the Nexus and destroyed it.

QUICK STATS:

  • Time: 26:19
  • Kills: 22-16
  • Turrets: 9-5
  • Gold: 54.2k-47.7k
  • Dragons: 2-0
  • Barons: 1-0

Fnatic vs Vitality

FNC vs VIT summer19 w8d2
FNC and VIT team compositions with VIT Jactroll above.

Fnatic (“FNC”) saw G2's Soraka top and raised them a Garen bottom in their match against Vitality (“VIT”). It wasn't a troll pick though, in fact, it was an important piece of their team composition. It was a rough early game for FNC though, as at level one the teams fought over the first buff of the game, with two kills for each team. From here, the action never stopped, with both teams choosing to constantly fight all over the map. By the 16 minute mark, there was over two kills a minute.

As this mid-game point came around, the Garen-Yuumi duo became strong. It made Rekkles unkillable and able to zone the entire VIT team. They were huge in two big team fights where FNC went two-for-zero and four-for-one respectively. After the 20-minute mark, the game slowed down considerably, but FNC still put a ton of pressure on VIT. So much so that they were able to push down the middle Inhibitor with brute force. After FNC took a free Baron at 30 minutes, they destroyed all three Inhibitors and only needed to win one more team fight before they smashed VIT's Nexus.

QUICK STATS:

  • Time: 32:33
  • Kills: 22-13
  • Turrets: 11-3
  • Gold: 66.3k-55.1k
  • Dragons: 5-0
  • Barons: 1-0

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Images via LoL Esports.

Featured image via LoL Esports Flickr.

Avatar of Brandon Sturak
Brandon Sturak
Brandon is a writer and editor for ESTNN with a passion for esports. He writes about League of Legends and esports generally, providing analysis and commentary on both. He is a founding member of Niagara University Esports, while being the previous mid laner and Head Coach for the NU Esports LoL team as well. Twitter @GhandiLoL