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.