This article is part of our LoL Recap series.
H2k vs. Origen
Coming off a semifinal finish at the 2016 World Championships, it was no surprise H2K Gaming started the 2017 European League Championship Series Spring Split with a 2-0 win over Origen, who had to fight for its spot in the Promotion Tournament.
Playing Kha'Zix, Marcin "Jankos" Jankowski earned first blood about eight minutes into the game, but H2K wouldn't truly pull ahead until it took the first Baron. That was all thanks to an overambitious push by Origen, which allowed H2K to pick up two kills before securing the Nashor. From there, H2K would waltz to a quick win.
Origen regained its composure for Game 2 and gave H2K a run for its money. Yoo "NaeHyun" Nae-hyun's Ekko kicked things off with the first blood on Fabian "Febiven" Diepstraten's Syndra, opening the door for Origen to claim an early 2K lead in gold. However, that lead quickly evaporated as Jankos ran rampant on the map with the highly mobile Nocturne. His presence allowed H2K to take the lead by pushing down the first two towers. H2K further cemented that lead in a big four-for-zero teamfight that gave the team two more towers. NaeHyun tried his best to give his team a fighting chance with a thrilling Baron steal, but it was just too little too late. It simply delayed the inevitable, as H2K easily recovered and secured their first series sweep of the 2017 Spring Split.
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G2 vs. Fnatic
In the second European League Championship Series match of the week, Fnatic took on the current kings of Europe, G2. In a series that went the full three games, G2 showed why they are the reigning EU LCS champions, taking Fnatic down with superior shotcalling and teamfighting.
As the first game of the series unfolded, Kim "Trick" Gang-Yun put the pressure on early as Rek'Sai, ganking mid and picking up first blood before the 10-minute mark. Trick would continue to make his presence known across the map, setting up G2 to take objectives, participating in all of G2's kills through the early game. Support Alfonso "mithy" Aguirre Rodriguez was on fire as well, using Zyra to find several picks for G2, including a brilliant flank that gave G2 two free kills and a Baron. Mithy came up big for G2, finishing with a KDA (kills/deaths/assists) of 1/2/8 and 82 percent kill participation as G2 took their time, winning Game 1.
Wanting to make up for a lackluster Game 1, Rasmus "Caps" Winther stepped up in Game 2 on Ryze, picking up first blood at with an impressive solo kill outplay against Luka "Perkz" Perkovic. After another outplay from Caps that resulted in a second solo-kill on PerkZ, Caps looked poised to take over the game, but G2's superior map presence kept them in the game. In a wild back-and-forth affair, the lead would swing with every teamfight, but a brilliant Realm Warp from Caps at 49 minutes would allow Fnatic to backdoor G2's Nexus to tie the series at 1-1.
Game 3 began in slow fashion, with Trick's Ivern disrupting Fnatic while they repeatedly ganked and killed Perkz. Thanks to Martin "Rekkles" Larson's Kennen controlling side waves and kiting, Fnatic jumped out to a minor gold lead. But G2 would bounce back on the heels of a risky Baron call, using the buff to take two inhibitors and prevent Fnatic from splitpushing. In a third consecutive 40+ minute game, G2 showed great patience before finishing the game to take the series 2-1.
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Misfits vs. Unicorns of Love
Misfits overcame Game 1 jitters to defeat Giants Gaming 2-1 during its debut series in the European League Championship Series Spring Split.
It was clear Misfits felt the pressure of the big stage during its first match of the series as the 2016 Challenger Series squad dominated early in the game only to lose late. Giants flipped the script thanks to solid teamfighting in the midgame that secured the first Baron of the game. The key moment came when Jonas "Memento" Elmarghichi on Rek'sai stole a Baron near the 45-minute mark, followed by a two-for-one teamfight win for Giants that allowed the group to open Misfit's base and end the game. Morgan "Hustlin" Granberg finished with a game-high 14 assists on Nautilus in the comeback win.
Misfits came back to win a fairly clean Game 2, starting the game off with a first blood kill that directly led to the first turret blood in the top lane. Lee "KaKAO" Byung-Kwon dominated the game on Kha'zix, controlling objectives and snowballing his laners much more effectively compared to the first game. His play helped Misfits sneak into the Baron uncontested and use the buff to initiate a 4-for-0 teamfight around the 26th minute and end the game.
Poised to win its first series of the season, Misfits kicked off Game 3 with a colossal mistake, securing first blood with a three-man dive only to give away three kills shortly after. That mistake set Misfits back only for a moment, as it dominated the subsequent teamfights, taking objective control away from Giants. Memento, this time as Kha'zix, came up clutch for Giants once again, stealing a late-game Baron, but Misfits' gold lead was just too high to overcome. The newcomers to the LCS took control of the final teamfight and blitzed through the Nexus en route to a 2-1 series win.
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UoL vs. Vitality
Unicorns of Love easily swept Team Vitality in their opening series of the 2017 European League Championship Series Spring Split, living up to their preseason hype.
Unicorns of Love won a clean Game 1 against Vitality, taking 11 kills while giving away only two. Andrei "Xerxe" Dragomir used Ivern to secure first blood in his EU LCS debut to get the ball rolling. Unicorns dominated team fights from there thanks to excellent performances from Kiss "Vizicsacsi" Tamas' Poppy and Fabian "Exileh" Schubert's Kassadin. The duo gave Vitality no chance in teamfights as the two players combined for an 8/0/8 KDA (kills/deaths/assists).
UoL had to come from behind in Game 2 as Vitality got off to a better start. Vizicsacsi was the driving force of the comeback, using Camille (who surprisingly slipped through the banning phase) to destroy Lucas "Cabochard" Simon-Meslet early in lane and scale heavily into the late game.
Still it was Vitality who dominated teamfights in the mid game behind Cabochard's triple kill on Fiora. Only after Charly "Djoko" Guillard's Olaf was executed while attempting to take the Baron was UoL able to make a strong push, sneaking in and using the buff to end the game. Despite the loss, Pierre "Steeelback" Medjaldi did finish Game 2 with a 5/1/7 KDA on Jhin, a bit of a silver lining in an otherwise dreadful performance for Vitality.
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G2 vs. Roccat
G2 Esports dispatched ROCCAT in simple fashion during Week 1, Day 3 of the European League Championship Series on Saturday.
G2 won a straightforward Game 1, taking a gold lead early and never relinquishing control. Luca "Perkz" Perkovic started fast on LeBlanc and snowballed hard through the mid game as G2 dominated teamfights. G2 secured the Baron in the late game, winning a teamfight 3-for-0 before taking the buff and slowly closing out a clean win.
G2 won cleanly again in Game 2, taking a decisive series sweep. Thanks to an early first-blood turret, G2 capitalized on an early gold lead, never allowing ROCCAT a chance to get into the game.
Last year's Summer Split champions dominated the teamfights, culminating in a clean ace before securing Baron to finish the game. G2's Kim "Trick" Gang-Yun was excellent in controlling drakes in the game and finished with a 6/0/3 KDA as Lee Sin.
While the loss was expected, ROCCAT can take some solace in the play of Ambroz "Phaxi" Hren, who picked up three solo kills in the series.
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H2k Splyce
H2K dominated teamfights throughout their 2-0 series win against Splyce on Saturday, rising to the top of European League of Legends Championship Series Group B on Week 1, Day 3.
H2K destroyed Splyce in Game 1, taking control of the series. Marcin "Jankos" Jankowski's Lee Sin was impactful from an early stage, getting his laners ahead and dominating map control. Splyce stood no chance after falling behind early and were outclassed by H2K in teamfights from the onset.
H2K's Fabian "Febiven" Diepstraten's masterful Jayce performance was the talk of the game, as the mid laner finished with an absurd 9/0/10 KDA (kills/deaths/assists).
H2K once again vanquished Splyce in teamfights before taking Game 2 and sweeping the series. H2K controlled the game from the mid game forward, taking a 4-for-0 teamfight win in the 19th minute to swing a 6,500 gold lead they would never relinquish.
Febiven's Cassiopeia and Jankos' Kha'zix were influential once again, carrying H2K to a win. H2K's Choi "Chei" Sun-ho kept his team safe on Tahm Kench, devouring his teammates to keep them from dying, while setting up a game-high 12 assists.
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