LEC Summer 2019: Week Nine | Day One Recap

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LEC Summer 2019: Week Nine | Day One Recap

Vitality vs Misfits Gaming

League of Legends European Championship LEC Week Nine Vitality VIT Misfits MSF

Misfits Gaming (“MSF”), despite being locked out of playoffs, upset Vitality (“VIT”) in the first match. It wasn't the bloody, action-packed game expected from these teams, but MSF was clean when it mattered. Kirei kicked it all off by killing Attila under his tower for First Blood, who was already low from a previous fight. But VIT chose to take the Rift Herald and use it mid, where it took some plates and set up Jiizuke to knock it down for the First Tower bonus.

From here, both squads focused on destroying towers and quite a few outer ones fell. At 18 minutes, Lider's Zed managed to kill Mowgli in a 1v2, and a couple of minutes later, MSF found a kill in the middle lane. When MSF started up the Baron at 24 minutes, VIT immediately came to contest it. A team fight started and Hans Sama eviscerated VIT to pick himself up a Triple Kill and the Baron. VIT crumbled under the Baron buff's pressure, losing two Inhibitors to MSF. All it took was one more team fight, and one more Hans Sama Triple, for MSF to Ace VIT and claim their Nexus.

QUICK STATS:

  • Time: 30:37
  • Kills: 4-12
  • Turrets: 3-11
  • Gold: 52.3k-60.8k
  • Dragons: 0-3
  • Barons: 0-1

Excel Esports vs SK Gaming

League of Legends European Championship LEC Week Nine Day one Excel Esports XL SK Gaming

SK Gaming (“SK”) kept their playoff hopes alive with a crucial win over Excel Esports (“XL”). This win was actually quite dominant, with large leads being snowballed very effectively. SK's bottom lane duo accumulated a massive lead by killing both of XL's laners in the 2v2 at level one. After that, Selfmade visited the bottom and middle lanes to get two more kills for his carries. SK continued to fight all over the map and it netted them a ton of kills and objectives.

XL made a couple of plays on Sacre in the top lane, but these weren't enough to equalize the advantage SK had. Jenax and Selfmade were huge threats in the mid-game, constantly moving around the map and killing their opponents. There were a few quieter minutes as SK tried to bait at the Baron, but eventually, SK committed to the objective when they saw Mickey bottom. They came away from the pit with not only the Baron but a kill too. They immediately went top lane and smashed two towers and the Inhibitor. But they didn't stop here, as they picked off two from XL and continued their push straight to the Nexus.

QUICK STATS:

  • Time: 27:00
  • Kills: 5-17
  • Turrets: 3-9
  • Gold: 41.1k-53.1k
  • Dragons: 0-3
  • Barons: 0-1

Splyce vs Fnatic

League of Legends European Championship LEC Week Nine Day one Splyce SPY Fnatic FNC

This battle for second place was an incredibly close one, but in the end, Fnatic (“FNC”) emerged victorious over Splyce (“SPY”). FNC was in the driver's seat almost the entire time, but SPY fought hard to stay in it. FNC's biggest lead was in the top lane, as Bwipo solo killed Vizicsacsi at two minutes. Meanwhile, SPY broke open the bottom lane when Kobbe killed Hylissang in the 2v2. Throughout the early-mid game, FNC played plays that got them kills, but SPY usually traded a tower or objective for it.

At 26 minutes, FNC burned down the Baron and secured it. This one only assisted in two tower takes, but was crucial for FNC in establishing map pressure. In turn, this gave them the opportunity to engage a team fight at 33 minutes, where FNC killed three from SPY. Though SPY almost won a team fight, FNC Ace'd them at 35 minutes and took their middle Inhibitor. The fighting continued at 37 minutes, and once again FNC won out, obtaining the Elder Dragon shortly after killing two. FNC used the Elder to win another fight, which let them take the top Inhibitor and Baron Nashor. This was the final nail in the coffin, as SPY simply couldn't stand up to FNC now. In the final fight, FNC Ace'd SPY, while losing none of their own, and demolished their opponent's Nexus.

QUICK STATS:

  • Time: 42:28
  • Kills: 14-27
  • Turrets: 4-10
  • Gold: 74.4k-87.6k
  • Dragons: 1-5
  • Barons: 0-3

Rogue vs Origen

League of Legends European Championship LEC Week Nine Day one Rogue RGE Origen OG

Rogue (“RGE”) brought down Origen (“OG”) in the fourth match of the day. Last split, someone would laugh at this absurdity, but RGE was actually quite dominant over OG. The opening minutes were quiet, but at 11 minutes action started. Here, OG got First Blood onto Finn in the top lane, but RGE collapsed and got two return kills. After this, OG dove bottom, but RGE again responded and traded one-for-one. But the next fight was pivotal, as the two teams met in the middle lane and RGE Ace'd OG at just 13 minutes.

OG could never recover from this. RGE pushed down the First Tower in the top lane and a few more towers in the following minutes. RGE was decisive at this point in the game and their effort was rewarded with an important pick onto Patrik. With their ADC dead, OG had to watch two middle towers, the Inhibitor and even a Nexus Tower fall. After this play, RGE was hesitant to make any big moves but found their moment at 31 minutes. A fantastic engage from Vander set his team up to slaughter OG and they Ace'd OG once more. From here, it was easy for RGE to walk into OG's base and make short work of their Nexus.

QUICK STATS:

  • Time: 32:36
  • Kills: 16-5
  • Turrets: 7-2
  • Gold: 56.9k-50.8k
  • Dragons: 0-3
  • Barons: 0-0

G2 Esports vs Schalke 04

League of Legends European Championship LEC Week Nine Day one G2 Esports Schalke 04 S04

In the final match of the day, Schalke 04 (“S04”) impressed everyone by taking an upset win over G2 Esports (“G2”). Some may point to draft to explain G2's loss, but S04 played very well and should be given a ton of credit. As with most games G2 is in, there was a ton of action, but surprisingly S04 was keeping up and exceeding them. In the early game, S04 collapsed on G2 plays to turn them around, but also made plays of their own. After picking off a number of G2 members, they accumulated a decent lead.

G2 certainly didn't roll over and die though. They kept fighting and trading objectives when they lost kills, but what they did accomplish wasn't enough to pull back the gold lead S04 had. At 21 minutes, S04 won a team fight four-for-one, which got them their first Baron. It took them a while, but with this, S04 managed to get more kills and a bottom Inhibitor to boot. At this point, the second Baron spawned. S04 won yet another fight two-for-one and secured the Baron right after. All S04 had to do now was to fight once more and kill a few more G2 members to blast their Nexus.

QUICK STATS:

  • Time: 32:04
  • Kills: 8-23
  • Turrets: 3-10
  • Gold: 54.0k-63.2k
  • Dragons: 1-4
  • Barons: 0-2

Watch the LEC here at ESTNN TV. For more information on the tournament, teams, standings, and players, visit www.lolesports.com. Stay tuned here at ESTNN and follow us on Twitter and Facebook for more League of Legends news, articles, opinions and more.

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