This article is part of our LoL Recap series.
Starting its 2017 European League of Legends Championship Series Summer Split in emphatic fashion on Thursday, Fnatic took a clean 2-0 sweep over Misfits to close out Week 1, Day 1 in Berlin.
Misfits drafted a heavy initiation composition in Game 1, but Fnatic struck first with first blood going to top laner Paul "sOAZ" Boyer's Galio at nine minutes. Fnatic (1-0, 2-0 match record) snowballed almost immediately after that, finding picks and knocking down towers throughout the first 16 minutes to accrue a 2,500-gold lead. Fnatic's disengage-based comp hindered it in the mid game as it struggled to press its advantage, settling for repeatedly faking a Baron attempt to bait Misfits in for a kill or two. Fnatic mid laner Rasmus "Caps" Winther's Taliyah was crucial in this stage of the game, using his Weaver's Wall to split Misfits apart for easy kills and an eventual Baron secure at 35 minutes. After sweeping through Misfits' base with the Baron buff and increasing its gold lead with a plus-6,879 gold Baron power play, Fnatic took a massive Elder Dragon, supercharged by two Infernal Drakes, and rolled into a 4-for-0 teamfight win and 41-minute Game 1 win.
Fnatic's tried-and-true strategy of getting AD carry Martin "Rekkles" Larsson ahead and playing around him isn't exactly new, but was still awesome to behold in Game 2. Rekkles' Tristana got ridiculously far ahead with first blood and a triple kill at just six minutes, giving Fnatic a gold lead of over 2,000 gold by seven minutes. Rotating around the map with Rekkles, Fnatic shredded through several towers, including a huge Rift Herald play to take down all three mid lane towers at 10 minutes. Fnatic was unstoppable in the "mid" game, winning teamfights with impunity and never allowing a dazed and confused Misfits squad any avenue back into the game. After taking all three inhibitors by 21 minutes, Fnatic went for the win with a 22-minute Baron that gave it the final push for a clean ace to finish up the 23-minute clinic. Rekkles finished the series with a kills/deaths/assists total of 11/0/11.
Misfits will have a long week to stew over this loss before taking on Ninjas in Pyjamas on Thursday at 10 a.m ET, while Fnatic concludes its week with a 1 p.m ET series against the newly promoted NiP on Saturday.
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The 2017 European League of Legends Championship Series Summer Split kicked off Thursday as H2k Gaming made quick work of Splyce, securing a decisive 2-0 sweep to begin Week 1, Day 1 in Berlin.
Game 1 of the series started with H2k jungler Marcin "Jankos" Jankowski's Graves getting punished by Splyce (0-1, 0-2 match record) for first blood during risky counter-jungling. Splyce's team composition excelled in short skirmishes, which Splyce continuously forced to mount a solid gold lead. H2k (1-0, 2-0 match record) struck back at the 22-minute mark with a five-man play in the bot lane, netting H2k two kills and some much-needed tempo. After that, H2k chipped away at Splyce's gold lead, pulling ahead after a Baron kill and a 3-for-1 teamfight. With its oppressive map control around 38 minutes, H2k took down the Elder Dragon and a second Baron, giving H2k the power it needed to storm into Splyce's base and go up 1-0 in the series.
H2k rode its momentum from the first game into Game 2, firing on all cylinders from the opening minute. H2k top laner Andrei "Odoamne" Pascu's Fiora led the way for H2k in the first 15 minutes of the game, picking up kills against a surprise Akali pick from Splyce top laner Martin "Wunder" Hansen and eventually finishing with an 8/2/2 KDA (kills/deaths/assists). Splyce looked lost throughout the match, losing skirmishes, objective trades, and all-out teamfights across the map. By the 20-minute mark, H2k's standard splitpushing composition had earned a lead of 12,000 gold, 15 kills, and eight towers. A 23-minute Baron kill was merely the icing on the cake as it pushed through the bottom lane to wipe Splyce off the map and complete the 2-0 sweep in a blistering 24 minutes.
H2k will finish out the Week 1 against newcomers Mysterious Monkeys on Sunday at 12 p.m ET, while Splyce will next return to the Rift next week to take on Team Vitality on Friday, June 9 at 12 p.m ET.
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Between the short vacations being taken by G2 Esports' South Korean players and its mid laner calling in sick, expectations were low for the substitute-filled roster. Nevertheless, G2 managed to take down ROCCAT 2-1 in its opening series of the European League of Legends Championship Series split in Berlin on Friday.
ROCCAT's bot lane was the story of champ select for Game 1, as the first-pick Xayah for Petter "Hjarnan" Freyschuss and last-pick Rakan for Kim "Wadid" Bae-in set them up for success in the duo lane. Indeed, 18 minutes in, Hjarnan found a kill onto the Lulu of G2's Alfonso "mithy" Aguirre Rodriguez. ROC turned this lead into the first two towers and grabbed a Baron at 31 minutes, using it to break the G2 base. From there, ROCCAT had no trouble winning every subsequent fight, taking all three inhibitors and ending the game in 40 minutes.
Game 2 was all about the Lucian mid pick for ROCCAT's Felix "Betsy" Edling, which fell flat on its face. Early misplays from Betsy allowed Jin "Blanc" Seong-min's Orianna to snowball, going 6/0/4 (kills/deaths/assists) before finally giving up a death. With G2 AD carry Jesper "Zven" Svenningsen's Kog'Maw also massively ahead, G2 was able to find two kills at 23 minutes and easily secure Baron afterward. ROCCAT did a decent job of delaying the inevitable, but with a second Baron buff, and more than 10,000 gold ahead, G2 took the ROC Nexus at 35 minutes.
Blanc made an impact again early on in Game 3 on Fizz, grabbing a pair of kills in the top lane just seven minutes in. This quickly became a problem for all of ROCCAT, as he went on to find kills in every single lane in the mid game. Again, Zven was quick to join Blanc as a second carry, pulling off strong flanks on Twitch to decimate ROCCAT in teamfights. G2 snowballed its way to an easy victory, albeit a 41-minute one.
G2 will be happy to have escaped win from their subs; the full starting roster should return next week to take on Fnatic at 2 p.m. ET on Thursday, June 8. ROCCAT will look to recover against Misfits on Saturday, June 10 at 11 a.m.
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Unicorns of Love began its run in the 2017 European League of Legends Championship Series Summer Split on Friday in Berlin with a dominating 2-0 sweep of Team Vitality.
The story of Game 1 revolved around the execution of each team's strategy, with the Unicorns of Love executing its teamfighting composition to perfection. Vitality tried to go with a split push-focused gameplan with top laner Lucas "Cabochard" Simon-Meslet's Kled and mid laner Erlend "Nukeduck" Våtevik Holm's Ekko picks, but it was never fully realized due to the Unicorns' immense pressure. Vitality came out of the gate strong, securing first blood and a Rift Herald, which it then tried to convert into mid lane pressure. Unfortunately, Vitality didn't account for the prowess of Unicorns mid laner Fabian "Exileh" Schubert's Syndra, who simply shrugged off the pressure and fired back with a vengeance. As the game progressed, Exileh was key in teamfights, shutting down Vitality at every turn. VIT engaged quite a few times in the second half of the game, but each one was handily won by Unicorns, with Exileh and his 9/0/4 KDA (kills/deaths/assists) helping Unicorns secure the 29-minute win.
Unicorns rode its strong draft from Game 1 right into the second frame with another dynamic composition, this time with the likes of jungler Andrei "Xerxe" Dragomir's Zac and top laner Kiss "Vizicsacsi" Tamás' Galio. The high-flying champions made it incredibly easy for Unicorns to push Vitality around in each and every engagement. Despite Vitality once again managing to pick up first blood and the Rift Herald, those plays mattered even less in this game than it did in the first. Immediately after picking up the Herald buff, Xerxe bounced right in with Zac's ultimate to control the pace of the teamfight, netting Unicorns three kills. The rest of the fights followed a similar script, with both Xerxe and Vizicsacsi providing tons of engage while AD carry Samuel "Samux" Fernández Fort's Caitlyn cleaned things up on his way to a 7/0/6 KDA in the 28-minute win.
Both teams are done for the week and will come back next Friday, with Vitality taking on Splyce at 11 a.m. ET and Unicorns of Love facing the Mysterious Monkeys at 2 p.m. ET.
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Week 1, Day 3 of the European League of Legends Championship Series kicked off with the Mysterious Monkeys making its unimpressive debut Saturday, getting smashed by H2K in a 2-0 series sweep in Berlin.
LCS newcomers Mysterious Monkeys (0-1, 0-2 match record) had a good start to Game 1 as top laner Park "Jisu" Jin-cheol's Galio turned a gank around for first blood in a 1-for-1 trade, but MM was unable to capitalize on its early kill lead. While the Monkeys held a kill lead of 8-to-3 at 21 minutes, its inability to take down objectives meant that it was only up by 800 gold at the time, with its only tower kill coming after an impressive Rift Herald steal and usage. This allowed H2K's double AD-carry composition to start scaling into the late game with a massive 3-for-2 teamfight win and Infernal Drake, turning the tides for H2K at 22 minutes. The name of the game was objective control for H2K as it secured two Infernal Drakes, two ocean drakes, and a 9-to-1 tower lead before eventually knocking down MM's Nexus after a 4-for-2 fight at 36 minutes, taking Game 1.
After a slow start to Game 1, H2K wasted little time jumping ahead in Game 2 as jungler Marcin "Jankos" Jankowski's Elise picked up first blood in the top lane at just three minutes. H2K (2-0, 4-0 match record) outclassed Mysterious Monkeys throughout the match, snowballing ahead after a 3-for-0 teamfight and Ocean Drake capture at 13 minutes. H2K held complete control of the map, not allowing a single tower to fall while MM tried unsuccessfully to find kills. A 21-minute H2K Baron gave the team the power to push into MM's base, knocking down the bottom lane inhibitor after a 3-for-1 teamfight win. H2K AD carry Sin "Nuclear" Jeong-hyeon's Lucian and top laner Andrei "Odoamne" Pascu's Galio were huge for H2K down the stretch, both going deathless in Game 2 as a final 5-for-0 teamfight at 27 minutes allowed H2K to take down the Nexus with upwards of a 16,000-gold lead to close out the series.
Mysterious Monkeys takes to the Rift to battle the Unicorns of Love on Friday at 2 p.m ET, while H2K will wait to battle the Unicorns of Love on Sunday at 2 p.m ET.
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On the final day of Week 1, Ninjas in Pyjamas had its re-debut into the European League of Legends Championship Series spoiled Saturday in a demoralizing 2-0 sweep at the hands of Fnatic in Berlin.
In Ninjas in Pyjamas' opening game of its return to the EU LCS, it was clear that there were some growing pains. NiP (0-1, 0-2 match record) went for a teamfighting composition with AD carry Martin "HeaQ" Kordmaa's Ashe and mid laner Kim "Nagne" Sang-moon's Galio, but Fnatic (2-0, 4-0 match record) never let the newcomers get into a groove. Fnatic instead initiated fights on its own terms, gaining control of the game. To the pyjama-clad ninjas' credit, it kept things pretty even into the mid game after Fnatic tried to jump out ahead early. Once the late game hit, Fnatic began to snowball through the teamfights that NiP were never able to get a hold of. The snowball crescendoed with a 4-for-0 teamfight win at 28 minutes, giving Fnatic Baron which it used shortly after to break open NiP's base for the Game 1 win.
Despite getting handled in the first game, Ninjas in Pyjamas came out with a renewed energy in the second game. With both teams taking team compositions filled with disengage and shielding options, a close battle was sure to transpire. NiP started off with a first blood in the top lane for an early lead, but that didn't last very long. The teams settled into a bit of a stalemate in the mid game before NiP showed some misplaced aggression near the 28-minute mark with an overextension, losing three members and a Baron in the process. NiP didn't simply lie down and give up, however. Mid laner Nagne's Taliyah stole the second Baron at 35 minutes to give the team a new lease on life. While it prolonged the game as long as possible, Fnatic mid laner Rasmus "Caps" Winther's Syndra simply put out far too much damage to handle, leading to the 41-minute win to secure the series sweep.
Ninjas in Pyjamas and Fnatic will both hit the Rift again next Thursday, with the Ninjas looking to bounce back against Misfits at 11 a.m. ET and Fnatic taking on G2 Esports in what is sure to be an exciting tilt at 2 p.m. ET.
