LEC Summer 2019: Week Nine | Day Two Recap

Splyce vs Misfits Gaming

Misfits Gaming (“MSF”) beat Splyce (“SPY”) to take away their chance at the second place over Fnatic. They dominated the early game, and though they were shaky in the later part of the game, did clutch it out in the end. H1iva killed Kobbe for First Blood, but a good Teleport from Vizicsacsi helped SPY trade two kills back. Shortly after, Kirei and H1iva worked together to set up ganks and skirmishes around the middle lane, where the duo found multiple kills.

This sort of strategy continued into the mid-game for MSF and netted them more kills. After catching out the SPY bot duo, MSF was able to secure the Baron and two more kills. The Baron push was stalled by SPY when they killed Dan Dan, but MSF did eventually destroy the bottom Inhibitor. This is where MSF faltered briefly, as SPY caught out multiple members and looked to be clawing their way back. The second Baron was alive now, so SPY tried to rush it down. It got low, but MSF contested the take and forced a team fight, where they obliterated SPY. All five from SPY fell, and MSF took this opportunity to run it straight down mid and claim their opponent's Nexus.

QUICK STATS:

• Time: 38:44
• Kills: 18-21
• Turrets: 3-11
• Gold: 71.0k-79.0k
• Dragons: 3-2
• Barons: 0-2

Origen vs SK Gaming

SK Gaming (“SK”) knocked the Spring Finalist Origen (“OG”) out of the Summer playoffs and kept their own playoff hopes alive with a huge win in the second match of the day. OG looked lost this game, even from level one, where they practically donated SK Jenax First Blood in an invade. In the early game, OG tried to play aggressively but SK consistently turned their plays around on them. On the other hand, SK's plays panned out well and this squad managed to find a handful of kills.

Alphari was the shining light for OG this match with his side lane pressure, but SK's main unit was too strong for OG's. This allowed SK to pressure OG hard, and this control gave them the opportunity to rush and secure the Baron at 27 minutes. With it, SK efficiently dismantled OG's base. They decided to dive OG under their bottom lane Inhibitor Tower and almost wiped them, but Alphari's Kennen popped off. Though he died, he stalled for his team's respawn timers. This Baron wore off, and the second spawned. Both teams met here, but this was perfect for SK and they engaged right away. SK easily cut down OG, killing all five members then running straight to their Nexus.

QUICK STATS:

• Time: 34:28
• Kills: 4-16
• Turrets: 3-9
• Gold: 54.2k-64.7k
• Dragons: 1-2
• Barons: 0-1

Schalke 04 vs Vitality

Schalke 04 (“S04”) defeated Vitality (“VIT”) in their match, forcing VIT to play a tiebreaker against SK at the end of the day. The action started early, as at minute four Jactroll killed Upset for First Blood in the bottom lane while Trick killed Jiizuke in the middle lane. But S04 kept pulling the trigger at VIT, fighting them all over the map and using multiple Teleports to get themselves kills. Though VIT could trade back a kill or an objective on the other side of the map when these plays happened, S04 distinctly came out ahead.

S04 never let VIT get the chance to breathe in the mid-game. Time after time they contested VIT in their own jungle, and this turned into a full on team fight at 22 minutes, where S04 picked up four kills. A minute later, S04 engaged in their jungle again, this time only killing two but securing the Baron afterward. This buff was devastating for VIT and they couldn't deal with the pressure. They watched their towers fall quickly and were forced to fight as S04 hit their middle Inhibitor. Once more, S04 won the fight. They Ace'd VIT and finished the game triumphantly.

QUICK STATS:

• Time: 28:06
• Kills: 22-4
• Turrets: 11-2
• Gold: 57.5k-44.0k
• Dragons: 2-1
• Barons: 1-0

Excel Esports vs G2 Esports

This fourth match of the day had no playoff implications at all, so Excel Esports (“XL”) and G2 Esports (“G2”) totally let loose. It was an absolute bloodbath as both teams played members off-role and with random champions. Honestly, there was non-stop action and it looked like an insanity-fueled bronze game. But it was incredibly fun to watch. Some of the highlights from the early game were Mikyx solo killing Mystiques mid, G2 winning a skirmish three-for-one at 9 minutes and XL winning a fight of their own three-for-one at 14 minutes.

The mid-game was even crazier. The teams continued to brawl it out, playing this match more like a game of Smash than League of Legends. There were a ton of mid lane team fights, and though XL won out on a couple of them, G2 usually stomped their opponents. But they did the honorable thing and didn't end the game, instead choosing to simply back away or fight on the steps of XL's Fountain 2v5. At 21 minutes, XL decided to go for Baron. They got it down low, but Mikyx's full AP Gragas stole it away and almost picked up a Pentakill. After this, a super long fight unfolded in XL's base, with a whole lot of bodies dropping on both sides. But eventually G2 got the Ace and the Nexus kill.

QUICK STATS:

• Time: 26:51
• Kills: 27-49
• Turrets: 2-9
• Gold: 49.9k-67.0k
• Dragons: 0-2
• Barons: 0-1

Fnatic vs Rogue

This fifth game also didn't matter for the teams, so it was another crazy game between Fnatic (“FNC”) and Rogue (“RGE”). There weren't quite as many kills as the previous match, but it was still a wild ride, with a ton of kills dropping everywhere. Nemesis killed Finn in the bottom lane for First Blood, while Broxah killed Woolite in the top lane. There were some skirmishes around the mid lane but Nemesis stayed near the bottom side and got fed off of various RGE members. But then again, pretty much everyone got fed since it was such a fiesta.

In the mid-game, FNC seemed to focus (a little bit now) and grouped up to force fights. That said, there were still many 1v1 or 1v2 kills going on, but when FNC grouped together they tended to win fights. RGE managed to win one at 22 minutes though. This didn't amount to much though, as FNC won a 25-minute team fight. Here, they Ace'd RGE and secured the Baron buff. With it, they pushed down mid, Ace'd RGE again and exposed the Nexus. It was down to one hit, but FNC dove Fountain and died. RGE stalled it temporarily but FNC just had to win one more fight to kill three and end the game.

QUICK STATS:

• Time: 31:38
• Kills: 41-26
• Turrets: 10-4
• Gold: 66.4k-56.9k
• Dragons: 1-1
• Barons: 1-0

Tiebreaker: SK Gaming vs Vitality

This last match of the day was much more serious though, as SK and VIT battled for the final playoff spot. In the end, VIT did claim this spot for themselves. But SK didn't give it to VIT easily, fighting tooth and nail the entire game. Selfmade got Crownshot ahead by getting him First Blood at six minutes and made a VIT gank go one-for-one. SK also picked off Attila in the top lane and used the Rift Herald there to obtain multiple tower plates.

The mid-game featured a series of team fights, with SK winning the first one. They won this one three-for-one, but then VIT took full control. First, VIT took the First Tower bonus in the bottom lane, then went mid and won a fight one-for-zero. SK picked one from VIT, then VIT clapped back with a pick of their own. It was very even until 26 minutes when VIT full forced a team fight and won it four-for-two. The game stalled for a few minutes as the teams hesitated to pull the trigger. Finally, at 31 minutes, SK tried to engage in the top lane. VIT swiftly turned it around, killing all five SK members with no casualties. They pushed right through the top lane to smash SK's Nexus and secured their place in the post-season.

QUICK STATS:

• Time: 32:43
• Kills: 10-15
• Turrets: 3-8
• Gold: 53.5k-60.1k
• Dragons: 0-2
• Barons: 0-0

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