Fnatic punched its ticket to the 2018 European League Championship Series spring finals with a 3-1 win over Team Vitality on Saturday in Berlin.
After almost three years of pitfalls and mishaps, Fnatic has finally put together a string of incredible performances to get back to the EU LCS finals stage for the first time since 2015. Outside of a Game 3 loss, Fnatic continued what it started during the regular season with an incredibly clean and decisive series to shut down Vitality at every turn. The fact that it happened without top laner Paul "sOAZ" Boyer, who is benched due to a hand injury, is even more impressive.
From the very start of this series, it was clear Fnatic knew Vitality's lifeblood was Rookie of the Split mid laner Daniele "Jiizuké" di Mauro. After picking on him, this led to Jiizuké finishing with the most deaths across the four-game series at 15. After being bogged down, it looked as though Vitality had no idea how to stand up to Fnatic's pressure.
Vitality also handed Fnatic mid laner Rasmus "Caps" Winther the powerful Swain in three of the four games. Caps made expert use of the pick to the tune of a 16/7/21 KDA (kills/deaths/assists) in those three games. Even when Caps wasn't on Swain, he was given Zoe in the opening game and ended with a 5/0/4 KDA as he put the Vitality rookie in his place.
Credit to Vitality, however, as it did manage to pick up a win in this series. Despite Caps being on Swain in Game 3, Jiizuké managed to escape the early pressure and perform up to his usual level on Taliyah. Moreover, Vitality looked unafraid in teamfights -- something that couldn't be said during every other game in the series. Vitality jungler Erberk "Gilius" Demir looked especially strong with Olaf, leading an important teamfight win and picking up Baron at 29 minutes. While it wasn't a Cinderella-esque finish, Vitality showed it has what it takes to contend with the best Europe has to offer and will surely be back with a vengeance next split.
The stage is now set for a showdown between Fnatic and G2 Esports at 10:30 a.m. ET next Sunday in the EU LCS Finals. Vitality, meanwhile, will gear up to face Splyce in the third place match at 11 a.m. ET on Saturday.
--Wyatt Donigan