European rivals G2 and Fnatic faced off against each other in the final game of the LEC’s third week.
Fnatic managed to pull off the upset despite giving up two simultaneous kills on the side lanes very early on.
Teams Were Well-Matched in the Draft Phase
The two teams picked quite well-matched compositions in the draft phase with neither team gaining a clear advantage.
G2 had better range and poke capabilities thanks to placing Zoe on the mid lane. Whereas Fnatic could provide more repositioning and zoning options for their carries thanks to Thresh, Taliyah and Azir.
Both team compositions were capable of making picks or starting fights aggressively, setting up an exciting matchup on the server.
The Game Started Horribly for Fnatic
The game started horribly for Fnatic, with G2 picking up two simultaneous kills on the side lanes just three minutes into the game.
However, Fnatic wouldn’t go down that easily. Oskar “Selfmade” Boderek capitalized on the stacking wave on the top lane to convert a kill on Martin “Wunder” Hansen. This completely neutralized the early lead established by Wunder, bringing Gabriël “Bwipo” Rau’s Volibear back into the game.
On the other side of the map, the Fnatic bot lane was able to manage the situation by themselves. The early kill on the lane was picked up by Mihael “Mikyx” Mehle on support position rather than Martin “Rekkles” Larsson on ADC. This meant that the gold lead in favor of G2 was a lot more manageable.
What made the situation on the bot lane turn in Fnatic’s favor was, once again, Selfmade. A well-timed gank punished the G2 bot lane as they walked up in the lane to break a freeze set up by Fnatic’s ADC Elias “Upset” Lipp. The gank helped Fnatic secure a kill on Mikyx and kept Rekkles from reaching any minions for a sizeable period.
The Game Paused Due to Connectivity Issues
The game paused at a relatively even game state at 11 minutes due to G2’s connectivity issues. The pause lasted for about 25 minutes before the game finally resumed.
Fnatic quickly started snowballing a lead after the pause. Bwipo asserted his dominance on the top lane following a failed gank attempt by Marcin “Jankos” Jankowski, resulting in Wunder’s death.
G2 got outwitted on the bot lane too around the same time. Upset crashed a huge wave into their tower before allowing Rekkles to catch it, which increased his CS lead to nearly 40 minions.
Next, it was Yasin “Nisqy” Dinçer’s turn to shine. G2 tried to capitalize on a sleep landed on Selfmade by Jankos’ Lilia. However, Nisqy was there to punish them pushing both Jankos and Rasmus “Caps” Winther into the tower with his ultimate. The play resulted in a two-for-one trade in favor of Fnatic and gave Nisqy’s Azir a much-needed double kill.
[Related: An Early Review of G2 Rekkles]
Fnatic Started Steamrolling After the First Team Fight
Fnatic started steamrolling after the first team fight at 15 minutes. Bwipo’s Volibear was clearly way too big for G2 to handle as he erased Rekkles of the map in a single combo. The fight went 2-0 in favor of Fnatic and helped them secure a second dragon with an infernal soul on the horizon.
However, the game wouldn’t last long enough for Fnatic to need the infernal soul for a finish. They made full use of their map control to quickly melt Baron at 21 minutes before dismantling G2 once again in the jungle. After minutes of scattered fights, there was an about 6k gold difference between the two teams.
The final result was a dominant victory for Fnatic in just under 29 minutes. The game averaged about one kill per minute, with two-thirds of them secured by Fnatic.
The Result Had A Significant Impact on the Standings
Rogue became the sole owner of the top spot once again, just a day after their loss to Schalke 04. G2 fell back into the second spot, sharing the position with the surging dark horses of the league Schalke 04.
Excel, Fnatic and MAD Lions all share the same record at 4-3 trailing right behind the shared second place holders. Behind them is SK Gaming, who had their second week in a row with a 50% win rate.
One above the two bottom place teams are Misfits Gaming, who haven’t had a single win since the first week. The two bottom place holders are Astralis and Team Vitality who share an unenviable 1-6 record each.
Week 4 of the LEC will host a series of important matchups that may drastically alter the standings. With the upcoming showdown between G2 and Rogue, it will certainly be a very exciting week.
Featured Image Courtesy of LEC
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