This article is part of our LoL Previews series.
Unicorns of Love vs H2K
In a battle between two of Europe's top mid-tier teams, Unicorns of Love and H2K look to secure third place in the Summer split. The outcome may at first seem to be simply for prize pool and bragging rights, but it just may affect who Europe sends to the World Championships. Both teams impressed in their quarterfinal matchups, with UoL upsetting #3 seed GIANTS Gaming 3-1 while H2K took a dominating 3-0 series sweep over perennial EU power Fnatic, before falling in the semifinals.
The penultimate underdog team, UoL enter this series with serious chips on their shoulder. Despite somewhat consistent results in domestic play, UoL has never competed at Worlds, seemingly always falling just short of the promised land. UoL lost a decisive 3-1 series to powerhouse G2, where the Unicorns looked lost. Top laner Tamas "Vizicsacsi" Kiss has proven that he can carry games if given resources, but his aggressive tendencies and UoL's low vision coverage can make him more of a liability. Unicorns generally win games through teamfighting and early game snowballs, with support star Zdravets "Hylissang" Galabov making plays on his signature Thresh and Alistar to give UoL an early lead. Despite their mastery of their seemingly chaotic, dynamic queue-esque style, their unpredictability and questionable drafting phases can potentially cost them games, a death knell in such a crucial series against their polar-opposites, H2K.
Where UoL is scrappy and chaotic, H2K are a cohesive unit, for better or for worse. Led by coach Neil "Pr0lly" Hammad and Korean legend Ryu "Ryu" Sang-ook, H2K have shown the ability to dominate lesser teams through suffocating, methodical macro play. With the mercurial AD Carry Konstantinos "FORG1VEN" Tzortziou playing extremely well, and jungler Marcin "Jankos" Jankowski living up to his "First Blood King" moniker, H2K look like heavy favorites. After dropping a close 3-2 series to Splyce, H2K will be looking for a chance to claim what they feel is their rightful spot on top of the European scene. H2K uses their strong laners to exert heavy early game pressure, which they snowball through usually solid macro play.
This series has several storylines, including, but not limited to, FORG1VEN's final chance at qualifying for Worlds, both UoL and H2K trying to reach Worlds for the first time in their franchises' histories, UoL the underdog vs H2K the scary juggernaut, and more. One storyline that will directly come into play, though, will be whether Vizicsacsi can find an advantage over H2K's top lane rock, Andrei "Odoamne" Pascu. While Odoamne isn't the perfect top laner, he synergizes very well with Jankos, which will spell trouble for Vizicsacsi and UoL. While UoL may have that wildcard factor, where you can never fully count them out of any series, conventional wisdom says that the stronger overall team will come out on top.
Prediction: 3-1 H2K, barring any UoL miracles or (admittedly) standard H2K playoff-induced chokes.
