This article is part of our LoL Recap series.
Misfits opened up the second week of play in the European League of Legends Championship Series on Thursday in Berlin with a 2-0 sweep over Ninjas in Pyjamas to lock up the team's first win of the split.
Ninjas in Pyjamas was in a hole before the game even officially started due to inexplicably leaving Zac for Misfits jungler Nubar "Maxlore" Sarafian to instantly lock in. The Zac paired with Viktor for mid laner Tristan "PowerOfEvil" Schrage gave NiP fits during teamfights all game long. Despite the drafting errors, NiP did start off with a small lead in the early game thanks to picking up the first blood, but once the teamfights started, Misfits dominated. NiP simply didn't have enough power to keep up with Misfits' high-damage composition, leading to Misfits finding advantages all over the map. A 24-minute Baron coupled with a 3-for-0 teamfight win just as the buff was expiring allowed Misfits to lock up the 28-minute Game 1 win.
The teams both went with a more standard draft in Game 2, with neither team getting any particularly powerful picks. Once the action got under way, NiP once again got off to a nice start start with a first blood, but the advantage was mitigated when a sloppy fight broke out and ended up as a 4-for-3 in favor of Misfits. From then on, Misfits seemed to be fully in control of the game and poised to take an easy victory. NiP jungler Ilyas "Shook" Hartsema's Graves had other plans, however, stealing two consecutive Barons in the late game to almost flip the matchup in his team's favor. Despite the missteps, Misfits kept its hold on the game and managed to finally get a Baron at the 47-minute mark to and secure the nexus and the sweep.
Misfits will be back in action on Saturday to take on Team ROCCAT at 11 a.m. ET, while Ninjas in Pyjamas also play on Saturday against G2 Esports at 2 p.m. ET.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
In a matchup of European titans, Fnatic came out on top with a 2-1 win over G2 Esports on Thursday to close out the first day of Week 2 in the European League of Legends Championship Series in Berlin.
In Game 1, G2 (1-1, 3-3 match record) drafted a high-damage composition that could have easily dominated the late-game had it been given enough time to get going. And had G2 not fed Fnatic AD carry Martin "Rekkles" Larsson's Kennen three early kills, it certainly may have had the requisite time needed. Rekkles took the early advantage and ran with it, pushing Fnatic ahead from the early stages, never relinquishing the lead. Even a late teamfight win at 29 minutes wasn't enough for the defending EU LCS champions to get back in the contest, with Fnatic mid laner Rasmus "Caps" Winther pivotal on Orianna as FNC took one final 3-for-0 teamfight a few minutes later to help lock up the 33-minute win.
Fnatic (3-0, 6-1 match record) rode that wave of momentum into the second game and got off to a nice start with a Caps first blood, but G2 bounced back with a couple teamfight wins to keep things fairly even. G2 got a bit of breathing room in the form of two kills and an early 20-minute Baron, but wasn't able to push the advantage further with the buff. This allowed Rekkles to once again do damage with his Kennen, but as the game went on, G2 was finally able to scale into its late-game composition. Rekkles was unable to hold off G2 on his own, and Fnatic crumpled under G2's immense damage in the 39-minute G2 win.
G2 once again drafted a late-game composition in Game 3, and in a mirror of Game 1, wasn't allowed to unlock its potential. Fnatic jumped out of the gate with yet another first blood before Rekkles and his Kennen started to get into a groove. While G2 tried to use Ki "Expect" Dae-Han's Jarvan IV to roam around the map and pick up kills, it was no match for the unity of Fnatic. The team rarely split up, sticking together in bunches to easily win teamfight after teamfight and control the game. Rekkles finished with a 6/0/3 KDA (kills/deaths/assists) in Game 3, which brought his series KDA to 17/2/9 in Fnatic's monumental series victory.
Fnatic won't be back in action until next Thursday when it faces Team ROCCAT at 11 a.m. ET, while G2 Esports will play Saturday against Ninjas in Pyjamas at 2 p.m. ET.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Week 2, Day 2 of the European League Championship Series kicked off with Splyce finding a quick 2-0 sweep over Team Vitality on Friday in Berlin.
The draft phase saw Splyce (1-1, 2-2 match record) focus on finding picks highlighted by support Mihael "Mikyx" Mehle opting for Thresh, while Team Vitality (0-2, 0-4 match record) drafted with a teamfighting focus. Vitality jungler Charly "Djoko" Guillard's Kha'Zix continued his 100 percent first blood rate from the 2017 Spring Split, picking up the first kill around the 3-minute mark. Splyce didn't let this early deficit affect it, however, as the team took down Rift Herald and pushed lanes to gain an advantage. Through smart counter plays and better map pressure, Splyce was able to mount a 4,000-gold lead by the mid game. Vitality managed to turn the game around after rushing Baron and using its newfound buff to knock down three towers with little resistance, but its lead didn't grow larger than 2,500 gold due to excellent teamfighting by Splyce. Despite the lack of teamfighting success, Vitality opted to initiate an aggressive teamfight that predictably backfired due to not protecting AD carry Pierre "Steelback" Medjaldi's Kalista. Instead, it was Splyce who would regain the advantage after a 4-for-1 teamfight victory, and the team was able to quickly end the game.
Game 2 was a lot of the same from both teams in the draft phase, and yet another first blood was secured by Djoko's Graves. As a result, Vitality pressed lanes aided by the jungle pressure of Djoko. It all went spiraling out of control soon after, as Djoko promptly fed five kills in a row to Splyce, giving way to a Splyce led. After Djojo's fall from prominence, Splyce jungler Jonas "Trashy" Andersen's Lee Sin started and killed Rift Herald, creating more map pressure for his team. With its overwhelming lane pressure, Splyce was able to completely negate the early game advantage Vitality had. A 24-minute Baron kill allowed Splyce to take complete control of the game and destroy the Vitality base. Taking turns dying, Vitality turned to hiding in its fountain as Splyce moved to complete the 2-0 sweep.
Splyce will return to the Rift on Sunday against Mysterious Monkeys at noon ET, while Team Vitality will return to play against Mysterious Monkeys on Thursday at noon.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Unicorns of Love swept the Mysterious Monkeys 2-0 on Friday in Berlin, despite a surprisingly close Game 2 to close out Week 2, Day 2 of the European League Championship Series.
The draft phase for Mysterious Monkeys was a teamfighting/pick hybrid composition, underlined by top laner Park "Jisu" Jin-cheol locking Jayce and mid laner Sofyan "CozQ" Rechchad taking Orianna onto the Rift. Unicorns of Love had a similar strategy, but brought out a surprise Blitzcrank pick on support Zdravets "Hylissang" Iliev Galabov. UoL got off to a hot start by punishing an overextension from Monkeys in the top lane. An angered Jisu looked to get revenge, teleporting back to lane and instantly started fighting Unicorns top laner Kiss "Vizicsacsi" Tamás's Shen. This didn't work out very well, leading to another death for Jisu and easy top side control for the Unicorns. Finding kill after kill, UoL quickly took hold of the game from there. Monkeys did take down Rift Herald and found a pair of kills in an attempt to comeback, but the Unicorns were simply too strong to consistently overcome. Led by AD carry Samuel "Samux" Fernández Fort's Twitch, UoL wiped out Mysterious Monkeys in a mid lane teamfight to effortlessly move into the Monkey's base, earning 1-0 series lead.
Game 2 saw the Monkeys mid laner CozQ locking in his signature Katarina, while Unicorns jungler Andrei "Xerxe" Dragomir locked in Warwick as setup for a strong teamfighting combo with Vizicsacsi's Galio. Jisu looked to continue his aggressive playstyle, this time on Jarvan IV, but this time it paid off with him earning first blood. This initiated a slugfest between the two teams, as they spent the entire early and mid game trading kills and objectives. The Unicorns looked like it broke away from the stalemate after slaying Baron at the 29-minute mark, but the Monkeys were able to win a 2-for-5 teamfight, all but eliminating the Baron buff. Another five minutes of trading kills was cut short by the Monkeys rushing Baron, but a clean teamfight victory by the Unicorns allowed it take down an inhibitor and Nexus turret. The teams then moved the action to the newly-spawned Elder Dragon, but a fantastic surprise flank by UoL's Xerxe directly led to a 5-for-1 teamfight victory, allowing the Unicorns to complete the sweep.
The Mysterious Monkeys will look to find its first win against Splyce on Sunday at noon ET, while Unicorns of Love will aim to keep its undefeated streak on the same day against H2k at 3 p.m ET.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Misfits overcame a slow start on Saturday to take a 2-1 series win over Team ROCCAT during the third day of Week 2 in the European League of Legends Championship Series in Berlinz.
Both teams drafted teamfighting compositions with strong initiators in the support role for Game 1, but Team ROCCAT (0-2, 2-4 match record) jumped ahead when AD carry Petter "Hjarnan" Freyschuss picked up first blood as Kalista, with help from support Kim "Wadid" Bae-in's Rakan at just two minutes. From there, ROC's bottom lane snowballed the rest of the team with Wadid landing huge combos to initiate fights while Hjarnan dealt massive damage to finish them.
After a couple of mid-game fights went in ROCCAT's favor, ROC took a 29-minute Baron and turned to finish the game. They took a final 3-for-0 fight in Misfits' base after another flashy engage from Wadid, who finished with a phenomenal 3/0/12 KDA (kills/deaths/assists) for 94 percent kill participation, and ROCCAT earned a 33-minute Game 1 win without giving up a single tower.
In stark contrast to Game 1, Misfits (2-1, 4-3 match record) had a great start to Game 2, with mid laner Tristan "PowerOfEvil" Schrage's Cassiopeia picking up a triple kill at seven minutes, along with first blood. Misfits snowballed hard with its teamfighting composition, locking ROCCAT down while PowerOfEvil shredded them to pieces.
Taking a commanding lead into the mid game, Misfits used the threat of a Baron kill to pick up four kills on Roccat and, eventually, the Baron buff at 23 minutes to putt the game realistically out of reach. PowerOfEvil led the charge for Misfits with a 14/2/7 KDA for 87 percent kill participation as Misfits took Game 2 in 29 minutes -- forcing Game 3.
Misfits kept its groove going into Game 3, where it used a disgustingly efficient teamfighting composition to shut ROCCAT down early. Misfits sent two four-man dives to the bottom lane at eight and 11 minutes, respectively, giving Misfits a 5-to-1 kill lead at 13 minutes. It seemed too easy for Misfits throughout the game with ROCCAT having no means of initiating fights, especially when Misfits jungler Nubar "Maxlore" Sarafian could do so for his team from ludicrous ranges as Zac.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
G2 Esports bounced back from its loss to Fnatic earlier in the week with a dominating 2-0 sweep of Ninjas in Pyjamas on Saturday to close out Day 3 of Week 2 of the European League of Legends Championship Series in Berlin.
G2 (2-1, 5-3 match record) continues to defy the odds, somehow managing to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. It drafted a triple AD carry composition in Game 1 and got off to a horrendous start, with top laner Ki "Expect" Dae-han's Fiora and mid laner Luka "Perkz" Perković's Lucian gave up a total of eight kills between the two of them. With NiP (0-3, 0-6 match record) in full control of the game, capitalizing on G2's struggling solo lanes and owning an 11-to-3 kill advantage and 3,000-gold lead in the late game, it looked as though NiP was well on its way to victory. Inexplicably, NiP AD carry Martin "HeaQ" Kordmaa, playing on Ashe, attempted to take the Elder Dragon by himself and was easily picked off by G2, giving up the Elder Dragon and a Baron kill at 37 minutes. The play completely flipped the game on its head, as the dual buffs gave G2 the power it needed to push for the improbable 43-minute victory.
Game 2 followed a similar script to the first game of the series, with NiP taking an early lead and looking poised to pick up a win against the defending EU LCS champions. This time around, G2 just needed a bit of time for its late-game teamfight composition to unlock its potential. Once that point hit, it exploded ahead of NiP. Both Perkz's LeBlanc and AD carry Jesper "Zven" Svenningsen's Twitch doling out damage in droves to easily win teamfight after teamfight. It even got so far ahead that it toyed with NiP by sending three members into the fountain to give up three easy kills. NiP took it all in stride, however, even joining in the fun by having support Hampus "sprattel" Abrahamsson's Braum wait around in the bot lane to let Zven come down to pick up a pentakill that locked up the 37-minute win.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
In a battle of the two undefeated teams in Group B, Unicorns of Love took down H2K Gaming in a hard fought 2-1 series on Sunday, Day 2 of Week 4 of the European League of Legends Championship Series in Berlin.
H2K (2-1, 5-2 match record) gave up Xayah and Rakan to get its jungler, Marcin "Jankos" Jankowski, Zac, in the draft of Game 1. The trade worked out well for H2K as Jankos' early game ganks were successful and secured small advantages for the solo laners. The successful draft maneuvers were only solidified as Unicorns of Love's (3-0, 6-1 match record) strategy to funnel resources into AD carry Samuel "Samux" Fernandez Fort failed to provide the necessary damage in late game teamfights. H2K ran away with an advantage and was constantly applying pressure into the late game. A second Baron kill spelled the end of Game 1, as H2K quickly marched through UoL's Nexus. H2K's mid laner Fabian "Febiven" Diepstraten was a tremendous source of damage in Game 1 as his Lucian dealt 1027 damage per minute, over twice the average DPM for Lucian, and finished with a 6/1/4 KDA (kills/deaths/assists).
Unicorns of Love stuck with the Xayah and Rakan bottom lane duo in Game 2, while H2K responded with Kalista and Thresh. The Kalista-Thresh didn't pan out as H2K's bottom lane duo swapped with top early, avoiding the losing matchup and initiating the first skirmish. While H2K won the first trade, it struggled to coordinate competent engages the rest of Game 2. UoL finally came alive around the 12-minute-mark, as it forced fights whenever it saw H2K, winning them and then taking objectives. H2K struggled to deal with the pressure, falling further behind as time passed eventually retreating to its base with only an Ocean Drake secured. Samux redeemed himself on Xayah in Game 2 as he earned an impressive 11/1/8 KDA.
In the final draft of the series, H2K opted to pick a split pushing team composition that lacked a true tank. The risky team composition meant H2K needed to secure early leads from kills, and that is exactly what it accomplished, turning an early top lane rotation into two kills and first turret gold. H2K continued to press its advantage, growing its lead in turrets and gold. But that lead may have gave H2K a false sense of security, as it went for a risky Baron play near the 23-minute-mark. With expert precision, UoL interrupted the maneuver, scoring an ace as well as securing the Baron kill. Everything tumbled away after that, as H2K failed to put together a winning engage in multiple teamfights, struggling to deal with Samux's Twitch early in teamfights. The Unicorns simply became unstoppable as it slaughtered H2K in its base before finishing off Game 3 in just over 32 minutes.
The Unicorns of Love will try to keep the ball rolling against Splyce on Friday at 2 p.m. ET while H2K's next matchup won't be until next Sunday at 2 p.m. ET against Team Vitality.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Splyce dispatched Mysterious Monkeys quickly on Sunday, picking up a series sweep on Week 2, Day 4 of the European League of Legends Championship Series Summer split in Berlin.
In the Game 1 draft, Splyce (2-1, 4-2 match record) put priority on Galio by taking him with the first pick. Using Galio as a flex pick for its mid laner Chres "Sencux" Laursen, Splyce set up its top laner Martin "Wunder" Hansen to counter pick Jarvan IV with Kled. Splyce played the early game wonderfully, as jungler Jonas "Trashy" Andersen's Lee Sin successful ganks set up kills for Wunder and Sencux, gaining a substantial advantage early on. Trashy's job was made easier thanks to the fact that he didn't have to help the bottom lane as AD carry Kasper "Kobbe" Kobberup ran up a 40 CS lead on Varus by poking his opponents out of lane. Mysterious Monkeys (0-3, 0-6 match record) tried to fight back throughout the mid game but lost every trade, and every loss cost it objectives. While the team did die a handful of times, Splyce didn't lose a single objective to the Monkeys and finished off Game 1 after a Baron power play.
Mysterious Monkeys drafted a better teamfighting composition in Game 2, opting to take Splyce's pivotal pick in Game 1, Galio, with its first pick. However the Monkeys draft didn't do anything to help it in the early game as pretty much all lanes were pushed, ending with small CS deficits. Splyce used its early gold advantage to rotate around the Rift, securing turrets and Rift Herald in the first 12-minutes. The Mysterious Monkeys answered with some kills and a turret of its own, but it didn't cut much into its gold deficit. Thanks to intense split pushing pressure, Sencux dominated the later stages of Game 2, running up a 11/0/4 KDA and a 48 percent share of Splyce's damage dealt to champions. After Splyce scored an ace it quickly crushed the Monkeys' base and finished off the series.
The Mysterious Monkeys will look for its first win of the Summer Split against Team Vitality on Thursday at 11 a.m. ET. Splyce next faces off with the Unicorns of Love on Friday at approximately 2 p.m. ET.
