LoL Recap: EU Week 2

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Updated on February 27, 2017 1:37PM EST

UoL vs. Origen

Matched up against a struggling Origen, Unicorns of Love continued its momentum from Week 1, emerging victorious in Week 2's opening match of the European League Championship Series. While Origen started each game strongly, UoL's dominating teamfighting and coordination gave them the upper hand and amounted to a 2-0 series sweep.

The series looked promising for Origen early in Game 1, with mid laner Yoo "NaeHyun" Nae-hyun's Cassiopeia picking up first blood with help from Kim "Wisdom" Tae-Wan's jungle Olaf. Origen looked good through the mid game, but UoL stormed back into the game with a series of kills, ultimately securing Baron. From then on, UoL was in complete control, repeatedly finding picks with Tempered Fates from support Zdravets "Hylissang" Iliev Galabov's Bard, while Kiss "Vizicsacsi" Tamas was an unkillable top lane monster on Shen. With the team firing on all cylinders, Unicorns of Love easily closed out the game on the back of a teleport flank from Vizicsacsi, giving Samuel "Samux" Fernandez Fort a triple kill on Jhin and taking Game 1 in just over 33 minutes.

Origen would again jump out to an early lead in Game 2, with Wisdom picking up first blood on Hecarim just two minutes in. Wisdom would continue to pick up kills and assists through the early game, but UoL would turn things around with a brilliant initiation from Vizicsacsi's Poppy, earning a teamfight win at 12:30, simultaneously erasing the gold deficit while picking up three crucial kills. Unicorns of Love would maintain a firm grip over the game, winning a 5-for-1 teamfight that translated into a Baron kill. UoL used the Baron buff and superior teamfighting to snowball, winning a clean 5-for-0 ace before taking a third teamfight 5-for-1 to stampede through Origen's base.

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Misfits vs. ROCCAT

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Fnatic vs. Giants

Fnatic came from behind to win a best-of-three series on Friday against Giants Gaming in the European League of Legends Championship Series in Berlin, Germany. The match took place on Week 2, Day 2 of the 2017 Spring Split.

Giants used a poke team composition to take down Fnatic in Game 1. Giants jungler Jonas "Memento" Elmarghichi's Kha'zix picked up three kills in the early game to help his team get out to an early lead. Stifling Fnatic's attack, Giants managed to secure both Barons to open up the Fnatic base and earn a massive gold lead.

A final teamfight that went in Giants' favor, 4-for-1, sealed the deal in Game 1.

Fnatic evened the series with a much better performance in Game 2. Close throughout, Fnatic finally broke free after a 4-for-0 teamfight win in the 29th minute of the game, as AD Carry Martin "Rekkles" Larsson's Jhin picked up a double kill. This led to an initial Baron kill and a 10,000 gold lead. Taking a second Baron and the Elder Dragon, Fnatic closed the game out to push the series into Game 3.

Fnatic jumped ahead early to snowball its way to a Game 3 victory. Mid laner Rasmus "Caps" Winther got out to an excellent start on Ryze, scaling early to dominate the game from an early stage. Fnatic took a 4-for-1 teamfight win in the 15th minute, with Caps picking up a double kill and a 5-for-1 teamfight win in the 20th minute to take a 7,000 gold lead, never relinquishing control to Giants.

Fnatic took the Baron in the 25th minute and used the Buff to close out the game with Caps and support Jesse "Jesiz" Le's Miss Fortune picking up double kills.

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Splyce vs. Vitality

Splyce swept Vitality during Friday's opening series on Week 2, Day 2 of the European League of Legends Championship Series, showing off superior macro play.

In Game 1, Splyce took control of the series, forcing a slower pace on its opponent. Splyce leveraged each of its kills into an objective, while Vitality struggled to match map pressure throughout the game.
Splyce's only mistake was allowing Vitality jungler Charly "Djoko" Guillard's Ivern to steal the first Baron of the game, but Splyce won the ensuing teamfight 2-for-0 and opened up the Vitality base. The Baron steal bought Vitality some time, but Splyce controlled the map throughout the entire game, biding its time to take the second Baron of the game and the Elder Dragon late and using the buffs to push into the Vitality base and end the game.

Game 2 was much more action-packed as Splyce dominated teamfights throughout the game to close out the series. On the back of mid laner Chres "Sencux" Laursen's surprising mid lane Mordekaiser pick, Splyce shut down Vitality in Game 2, winning teamfights start to finish in an easy win. They snowballed early, winning a teamfight 3-for-1 and using Mordekaiser's Children of the Grave on the Dragon to help push objectives throughout the victory. Vitality is left scratching its head as it has looked awful through the opening games of the EU LCS.

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UoL vs. H2K

On Day 3, Week 2 of the European League of Legends Championship Series, the Match of the Week saw H2K Gaming and Unicorns of Love, the two undefeated squads of Group B, battle for supremacy in Berlin, Germany. In a hard fought Saturday series from both sides, Unicorns of Love outlasted H2K to take home the 2-1 series win and gain sole possession of first place in Group B.

The series began with interesting champion picks from UoL, such as Fabian "Exileh" Schubert on mid lane Katarina, but H2K dictated the tempo throughout the early game. H2K made plays across the map but couldn't pull away from Unicorns, who created its signature atmosphere of chaos by finding small advantages throughout the mid game. H2K threw its lead when they tried to engage a teamfight at around 30 minutes which UoL won 4-for-2, blowing the game wide open for Unicorns. Relying on solid teamfighting, including a triple kill for Exileh in a clean ace at 36 minutes, UoL stampeded to a near 42-minute Game 1 win.

H2K bounced back in Game 2, with AD carry Shin "Nuclear" Jung-hyun picking up first blood on Varus near the 10-minute mark. While H2K made questionable decisions, UoL were unable to punish, allowing H2K's high damage poke composition to take several easy towers. With massive damage coming from Nuclear's Varus and Fabian "Febiven" Diepstraten's mid lane Corki, H2K would end the game after turning an initiation from UoL jungler Andrei "Xerxe" Dragomir's Zac into a 5-for-1 ace and a Game 2 win in a decisive 32 minutes.

While H2K's Marcin "Jankos" Jankowski's Lee Sin fell behind due to a blue buff steal from UoL support Zdravets "Hylissang" Galabov's Malzahar early on, he would got his revenge a few minutes later by picking up a double kill in the bot lane to kickstart Game 3. H2K nearly ran away with the game after winning a 4-for-1 teamfight around 22 minutes, but couldn't meaningfully capitalize on its lead. UoL took control, using a series of Baron baits to stymie H2K before killing the Baron at 33 minutes, but struggled to break through H2K's defenses, despite securing the Elder Dragon and a gold lead of nearly 7,000 gold. Eventually, Unicorns drew H2K out of their base with a Baron bait and won a 5-for-1 teamfight to finish Game 3 and the series win in just under 42 minutes.

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Giants vs. ROCCAT

Giants Gaming picked up a toppling victory against Group A bottom-dwellers ROCCAT during Week 2 of the European League Championship Series in Berlin.

Giants controlled Game 1 from the start, taking a 5-for-0 teamfight win that led to a 4,000 gold lead, first turret blood, and an infernal drake. Giants' jungler Jonas "Memento" Elmarghichi dominated on Kha'Zix, picking up multiple double kills throughout teamfights while controlling objectives, securing three infernal drakes and two uncontested Baron kills. Taking a 3-for-0 teamfight win after securing Baron, Giants stormed into ROCCAT's base to take home the first win.

ROCCAT flipped the script with a 40-minute win in Game 2, controlling the majority of the game, winning teamfights and objectives. Their only mistake was allowing Memento to steal a Baron kill, but Giants could not do much with the buff to turn the game around. ROCCAT took a 2-for-0 teamfight win and mid laner Felix "Betsy" Edling picked up a double kill on Ryze while taking down the Nexus to even the series at 1-1.

Memento looked to repeat his Game 1 performance on Kha'Zix, picking up four early kills. ROCCAT took control in the mid game, biding their time before securing Baron with AD Carry Petter "Hjarnan" Freyschuss' Varus. Giants would claw their way back into the lead, however, regaining the gold lead after a 4-for-1 teamfight win on the back of a Memento triple kill. This lead to both Baron and Elder Dragon being taken by Giants, giving them the edge they needed to crack open the base in the third game.

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Vitality vs. Origen

Two teams with winless records -- Vitality and Origen -- battled it out in Berlin during the second week of the European League of Legends Championship Series. While it wasn't pretty, Vitality claimed victory in the first match on Sunday with a 2-0 series sweep.

Vitality took control of the series with a clean Game 1 win, dominating Origen with superior jungle pressure. Jungler Charly "Djoko" Guillard had an excellent start on Kha'zix, getting involved in four kills to start the Vitality snowball. Vitality crushed a teamfight, taking a 4-for-0 win and opening up the Origen base. A 3-for-0 teamfight to follow allowed Vitality to march into the Origen base and close out Game 1.

Djoko had a hot start again in Game 2 as Olaf, killing Origen jungler Kim "Wisdom" Tae-Wan's Kha'zix three times to kick off the game. Things looked good for Vitality until a botched turret dive handed Origen a 4-for-1 teamfight win on the back of AD Carry Erik "Tabzz" van Helvert's triple kill on Varus. In a game that featured several back-and-forth teamfight wins for both sides, Vitality eventually closed out the game with a 3-for-1 teamfight win.

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Misfits vs. G2

G2 got a little challenge from Misfits on Day 3, Week 2 of the European League of Legends Championship Series in Berlin, Germany, on Saturday, but the "Kings of Europe" would ultimately bounce back to take two straight maps in solid fashion to claim victory.

The first game of the series started out brilliantly for Misfits, with a five-man dive in the bot lane resulting in first blood and a second kill for Misfits mid laner Tristan "PowerOfEvil" Schrage's LeBlanc, as well as the first tower. PowerOfEvil then picked up a triple kill six minutes later to start out with a 5/0/0 KDA (kills, deaths, assists). The game stalled a bit afterwards, but while Misfits had a hard time pushing their lead, they never dropped it. Eventually, Misfits were able to pick up a Baron to start taking down structures, and won the game off a final teamfight win minutes later.

Game 2's early phase was the polar opposite of Game 1, as no kills were found by either team until 17 minutes in, when G2's mid laner Luka "Perkz" Perkoviæ's Ryze finally grabbed first blood onto Alphari in the top lane in a three-man gank. From then on, Perkz would slowly but surely take over the game. Misfits struggled to deal with his damage or the shielding provided by jungler Kim "Trick" Gang-yun's Ivern in teamfights, and after winning several in a row, G2 casually strolled into Misfits' base to take the Nexus.

The deciding Game 3 looked very much like a repeat of Game 2. With Trick once again on Ivern, G2 had superior late-game 5-vs-5's, and Misfits failed to capitalize on the early-game weaknesses of the champion. They found a couple of early kills, including first blood in the bottom lane, but were never able to compete with G2 in teamfights. Ultimately, Misfits were forced to cede an uncontested Baron to G2, who would use it to end the game.