This article is part of our LoL Recap series.
G2 vs. Fnatic
Defending European League of Legends Championship Series champion G2 Esports took down Fnatic 3-1 on Saturday to advance to the Spring Split finals.
The first game of the series was an interesting bout, to say the least, with Fnatic mid laner Rasmus "Caps" Winther locking in Aurelion Sol and AD carry Martin "Rekkles" Larsson locking in Twitch. Despite giving away an early kill to G2 AD carry Jesper "Zven" Svenningsen's Ezreal, Fnatic jumped ahead early through solid macro plays and began snowballing into the mid game.
Fnatic broke open the game after jungler Mads "Broxah" Brock-Pedersen's Elise hit two crucial Cocoons to lock down two kills and give Fnatic complete control. After methodically breaking down G2's defenses, led by a 5/0/4 KDA (kills/deaths/assists) from Caps, Fnatic closed out the game in 31 minutes to go up 1-0 in the series.
G2 struck back in the second game, but it wasn't easy by any means. A pre-five minute lane swap from Fnatic fed valuable experience and gold to Rekkles on his Twitch. It led to an easy first blood for Rekkles but no noticeable lead. It was a back-and-forth game until near the 30-minute mark when Fnatic took down the first Baron. After initiating a push into G2's base, G2 managed to turn the game around off of a 3-for-1 teamfight. With that play, G2 took down Baron and Elder Dragon to ease its way to even the series at 1-1. G2 jungler Kim "Trick" Gang-yun was a force for his team with a 7/3/3 KDA as Graves.
The third game of the series included a similar lane-swap early on, but again it had little impact. G2 mid Luka "PerkZ" Perkoviæ as Ekko was gifted first blood, beginning his snowball throughout the game.
The game eventually turned into a macro-play clinic by G2 with Fnatic looking simply outmatched. Broxah managed to keep things interesting by stealing a Baron for Fnatic, but PerkZ and his 8/0/1 KDA on Ekko pushed G2 to a 2-1 lead in the series.
The fourth game of the series was a slugfest, with both teams throwing punches and making proactive plays against each other. Fnatic illustrated its relatively newfound global presence with a beautiful 3-for-1 trade in the bottom lane. G2 was able to reassert itself by rushing down Baron and taking advantage of Fnatic's lack of vision. A near-miracle play by Rekkles as Tristana (7/1/4 KDA) almost put the game out of reach for G2.
And then, after taking down another Baron, G2 was able to break all three inhibitors in Fnatic's base to close out the series 3-1.
G2 advances to the finals on April 23 in Hamburg, Germany, and will take on the winner of Sunday's 11 a.m. match between Misfits and Unicorns of Love. Fnatic will face the loser of the other semifinal match in the third/fourth place match on April 22 in Hamburg.
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Unicorns of Love vs. Misfits
The second semifinal match of the European League of Legends Championship Series Spring Playoffs saw the Unicorns of Love taking down Misfits with a 3-1 series win in Berlin.
Game 1 started with UoL jungler and EU LCS Rookie of the Split, Andrei "Xerxe" Dragomir, locking in Gragas and applying enormous early pressure. UoL began to take control after a 3-for-0 teamfight and Baron kill in the mid game, but almost lost control immediately afterwards. Misfits almost clawed its way back, rushing a Baron attempt after winning a 4-for-1 teamfight, but Xerxe saved the day with a perfect Baron steal. After that, UoL slowly broke down Misfits' base to go up 1-0 in the series, led by Xerxe, who put on a jungle clinic, posting a 3/1/15 KDA (kill/deaths/assists).
Game 2 started off with a disastrous miscalculation from UoL that led to Misfits mid laner Tristan "PowerOfEvil" Schrage picking a double kill and an early double-buffs as Orianna. The mid game mostly went in the favor of Misfits, but UoL took control after finding two picks and a Baron kill. Assuming full control in the late game, UoL took down an Elder Dragon kill, using the buff to win the game off of a 3-for-0 teamfight to go up 2-0 in the series. Xerxe continued to show why he is among the best junglers in Europe, posting a 4/1/6 KDA as Graves as he dominated Misfits.
Match point for UoL kicked off with PowerOfEvil locking in Lulu mid as a potential counterpick to UoL mid laner Fabian "Exileh" Schubert's LeBlanc. Unlike the previous two games in the series, Misfits was strong from early on, methodically picking off UoL members throughout the game to mount a sizable gold lead. UoL crawled back into the game by taking back-to-back Barons, threatening to take a 3-0 sweep, but a poor teamfight initiation led to to an ace for Misfits as it got on the board to bring the series score to 1-2. Misfits AD carry Steven "Hans Sama" Liv was a force throughout Misfits' win, finishing with a 7/1/6 KDA as Ashe.
The fourth game of the series saw UoL play the early game as cleanly as possible, bouncing back from a loss with a dominating performance. Exileh's Vladimir got ahead early and became a monster as the game went on, dealing massive damage while sustaining through waves of damage. Misfits looked lost as UoL took down Baron soon after it spawned at 20 minutes, crushing Misfits in a rapidly approaching late game. With Exileh posting a 8/1/6 KDA as Vladimir, and UoL firing on all cylinders, the magical stampede moved onto the Grand Finals with a Game 3 win around 25 minutes to close out a 3-1 series victory.
Unicorns of Love will take on G2 Esports in the EU LCS Finals on Sunday, April 23rd, while Misfits faces Fnatic in the 3rd/4th place match in Hamburg, Germany on Saturday, April 22nd
