Back in Week 4 of the EU LCS, both Misfits and G2 were tied for first with a record of 6-0. Now, in Week 8, both teams still sit at the top of the ladder with losses on their record and fighting it out for the top spots. With only four games left, every win will matter to determine seeding and possible first round byes.
Fnatic are tied for first with Misfits at 10-4, and G2 Esports are at 9-5 along with FC Schalke 04 and Vitality. With five teams within one game of each other, the last two weeks of the EU LCS are going to be exciting. G2 and Misfits were undefeated earlier in the season, so the preview of their rematch now is going to take into context the game played, along with the weeks in between.
For the first match preview between these two teams, check it out here. For the full schedule of the EU LCS, click here.
The First Match
The first match between G2 and Misfits looks like a meta draft from both teams. Misfits opted for Dr. Mundo top, Sejuani jungle, Yasuo mid, and Xayah and Rakan bot lane. G2 drafted Gangplank top, Kindred jungle, Zoe mid, and a Ziggs/Tahm Kench bot lane. With the exception of the Ziggs, every other champion in the draft still shows strength in current games. Misfits wanted to take a big team fight and take the game from there, whereas G2 wanted to poke down and assassinate the squishy members of Misfits.
Early Game
The game opened up quickly at 5:40, with Marcin “Jankos” Jankowski’s Kindred taking the top Scuttle Crab for Kindred’s first mark and rotating mid to gank Yasuo. The timing was good, as Chres “Sencux” Laursen’s Yauso went to trade damage. Unfortunately for G2, Mihael “Mikyx” Mehle’s Rakan was teleporting into the mid lane and Nubar “Maxlore” Sarafian’s Sejuani was on the way. Luka “Perkz” Perkovic flashed away from the fight and Jankos tried to get away, but Misfits focused jungler and got First Blood onto Maxlore’s Sejuani.
The second kill came for Misfits as well at 6:35, as Alphari dove the top lane turret and killed Martin “Wunder” Hansen’s Gangplank. Normally, Gangplank goes even in lane against Dr. Mundo, and tries to scale, but Wunder took one too many cleavers. At 13:07, the First Turret was taken by Misfits top lane, trading it with a mid lane turret. The turret pushing advantage early on was in G2’s favor, due to Jankos taking the Rift Herald and using it mid, along with Ziggs’ Satchel Charge. This allows G2 to take the inner mid turret and even up the kill score, as Jankos picked up two kills onto Maxolre and Mikyx. The turret trades continue as G2 pick up two turrets topside, as Misfits took the outer mid and bottom turret.
Mid Game to End
Misfits took to grouping and fighting when they could, because at 16:22, Alphari channeled his teleport behind G2, and Mikyx engaged on Rakan. Misfits get the shutdown from Jankos, and reset the map. The game remained fairly quiet for the next ten minutes, as Maxlore picked up another Cloud Dragon and a Mountain Dragon in that time.
At 26:00, G2 catch out Steven “Hans Sama” Liv’s Xayah, and both teams dance around Baron for a few minutes. With G2’s pressure, and two mid turrets taken from before, they are able to break Misfits base and take the mid Inhibitor without Baron buff. Jankos gets caught out again, and Misfits kill two more G2 members in the ensuing skirmish. Misfits use the opportunity, and take Baron Nashor. Using the Baron, Misfits take the remaining inner turrets, and even take the top lane Inhibitor.
After Baron expires, the next big objective is the Elder Dragon, with Misfits having three Elemental Drakes, and G2 only having one. Misfits clear through the Elder Dragon before G2 can even set up Baron vision, which had spawned around the same time. Misfits immediately rotate top side, and using the Elder Dragon buff, clean up the G2 roster.
G2 Esports
How They Have Played Since
G2 have had a record of 3-4 since losing to Misfits in Week 4. The next day against GIANTS Gaming, G2 dropped the ball again and went 0-2 after coming back from Rift Rivals. G2 has been able to keep their head above water, as they beat Splyce, H2k, and Vitality. Their losses, more frighteningly, have come from GIANTS, ROCCAT, Schalke, and Fnatic.
These losses are frightening because a team like ROCCAT, who are 6-8 right now, might be able to climb and contest for a playoff spot that G2 is looking to keep. Not only that, but if G2 make it to playoffs, their opponent could be a team like Fnatic, or recently have beaten G2 in the Spring Finals, or a team like Schalke, who beat G2 in Week 6.
In three of their four losses, G2 picked up less than four kills total, and didn’t even pick up a kill against ROCCAT. Also Rumble has been a problem in their losses, going 1-3 in their games against Rumble. Engaging supports like Alistar and Rakan were both played by the teams that beat G2 recently. G2 seems to struggle to come back from behind, and some of their off meta picks aren’t working as well as G2 would have hoped.
Petter “Hjarnan” Freyschuss has played many different champions in the bot lane this split. Playing nine unique champions in 14 games is a large champion pool to have, but outside of the Heimerdinger and Karma games, Hjarnan has gone 3-5 on the remaining seven champions.
How do G2 Make a Comeback Against Misfits?
In order for G2 to win this game, they need to play more to the bot side and hope that Misfits play overconfident. Focusing Hans Sama and keeping him on the back foot is going to give G2 time to play around the map. Hans Sama has only played one mage this split, and lost on it. The teams that beat Misfits took around 30 minutes, and limited Misfits tower taking. Constantly trading towers from the last game gave Hans Sama more gold and let him hit his item powerspikes quicker. Hans Sama had between two and a half to three items by 30-40 minutes and was down around 3-5k gold by the end of the game.
When Fnatic beat Misfits, it was from the blind pick Yasuo against Fnatic, and a harsh punish in game. The Wukong counter pick from Rasmus “Caps” Winther basically nullified the Yasuo mid lane. Vision control is also going to be important for G2. The two towers that G2 took early should have given them the pressure to catch Misfits, but the opposite happened. In the game against Fnatic, Caps kept mid pushed and pressured the other lanes.
Misfits Gaming
How They Have Played Since
Much like G2, Misfits had a record of 3-4, with an 0-2 in Week 7. Their losses came from Schalke, GIANTS, Splyce, and Fnatic. Misfits beat Vitality, Unicorns of Love, and ROCCAT. Three of the teams that Misfits lost to are competing for a bye to the semifinals in playoffs. If the standings are tied with a team like Fnatic, Splyce, or Schalke, Misfits will likely play a tiebreaker because of the 1-1 record. Much like G2, Misfits are within one game of dropping into the quarterfinals.
The problems that Misfits have had are when they are either too overconfident, or are unable to get Hans Sama going. In the four games Misfits have lost, Hans Sama has gotten three kills total. Hans Sama has also finally played a mage in the bot lane, but lost that game against Schalke.
It seems that Sencux is moving away from the aggressive mid lane pool he’s used to and towards a more protective one. The last game he played Yasuo was back in Week 5 against ROCCAT and Fnatic. Yasuo is currently Sencux’s most played champion at five games, and at an 80 percent win rate. Since Misfits lost, Sencux has been playing Azir, Orianna, and Galio. These champions are not as aggressive as Yasuo, or Irelia are, but instead provide long distance damage and support the team.
Maxlore has also been moved to a more protective role. His most successful junglers have been Camille and Taliyah, both at 3-0. Now while Taliyah has been taken away or banned during Misfits four losses, Camille has been open. Maxlore hasn’t played Camille since Week 3, but being placed onto Trundle has not been good for Misfits.
How Misfits Have a Strong Finish
It seems like Misfits have moved away from the playstyle that made them successful. Aggression worked for the Misfits and returning Sencux and Maxlore to be aggressive will help Misfits against G2. The reason why Hans Sama is able to scale is that Maxlore and Sencux draw away enough pressure from the bottom lane, then allowing Hans Sama the ability to accrue tower gold, and cs leads. G2 has been different this split, with Hjarnan playing mages more, but G2 are unable to run the funnel strategy that they had to as much success. With recent patches nerfing funneling strategies, teams are back to standard play, and focusing on rotations, which Misfits excelled in the first game against G2.
Catching out Jankos again and keeping Perkz in the mid lane is going to give Hans Sama time against Hjarnan, and will eventually just out team fight G2. Alphari will still most likely be relegated to tanks and low income champions, but focusing on the core of Misfits will give the team a strong finish to the split.
Conclusion
Misfits vs G2 is an example of teams that were dominating early on, but are now being countered by teams that figured out their play style. G2 can no longer execute funnel strategies, and Misfits are trying to have Sencux play more flexible champions. Misfits struggled against Fnatic, so picks-and-bans are going to be important to this match.
Ultimately, the winner is going to be determined by what the teams have learned. G2 needs to take action and push for a strong bottom lane. Misfits need to find control early on and keep Hans Sama in a position to carry.
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