Misfits picked up a big win over the reigning European League Championship Series champions Fnatic to close out Friday's action in Berlin.
While Fnatic came into this series riding high from its spring split championship and solid showing at the Mid-Season Invitational, it looked wholly unprepared for what the Misfits had in store during this game. Drafting a composition with just a single carry champion -- Kai'Sa for mid laner Rasmus "Caps" Winther -- Fnatic was completely outmatched by the frantic pace that Misfits set.
Fnatic may have only drafted one carry, but Misfits had plenty of weapons to choose from. Whether it was mid laner Chres "Sencux" Laursen's Lulu, Steven "Hans Sama" Liv's signature Draven, or Mihael "Mikyx" Mehle's Morgana, Misfits were able to reach into its bag of tricks at any point which left Fnatic scrambling in search of an answer. From the first blood just over two minutes into the game, it was clear that Misfits were looking to make a statement early and often. That single kill turned into four by the time eight minutes had passed and grew to an eventual 13-to-3 kill advantage by the game's end.
With no way to truly fight back against the high damage output of Misfits, especially that of Hans Sama and his pocket Draven that put together a 5/0/6 KDA (kills/deaths/assists), Fnatic looked dazed and confused as the game progressed. Whenever a fight broke out, Misfits simply dealt with Caps and then proceeded to run through the remaining members of the team. There was simply no avenue in which Fnatic could stage a comeback as it failed to pick up a single objective of any kind in the 26-minute game. Once Misfits had put together enough of a lead, it pulled the trigger and decimated Fnatic's base to close out the game in commanding fashion.
Fnatic will try and bounce back when it faces FC Schalke 04 at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday, while Misfits take on the Unicorns of Love earlier in the day at noon ET.
G2 Esports 1-0 ROCCAT
G2 Esports obliterated Team ROCCAT during the European League Championship Series summer split on Friday in Berlin.
Using the wacky 8.11 meta to the fullest extent, G2 had quite the explosive draft that featured a Dr. Mundo for top laner Martin "Wunder" Hansen, Zoe for mid laner Luka "Perkz" Perkovic, and the second Heimerdinger of the day for AD carry Petter "Hjarnan" Freyschuss. As expected, this team composition simply did whatever it wanted from start to finish, while never allowing ROCCAT to get off the ground.
The avalanche started when G2 picked up first blood just three minutes into the game and there was just no stopping G2 as the game progressed. ROCCAT, to its credit, did pick up a kill to try and slow things down a bit, but G2 responded with a 4-for-0 just a couple minutes later to completely snuff out ROCCAT's fire.
While some teams might have taken their foots off the gas with such a large lead, G2 did no such thing as it continued pushing the issue right into the ROCCAT base. Once G2 had razed five towers, it finally broke the base at 20 minutes to begin setting up for the win. By that point, it had amassed a 10,851-gold lead at 20 minutes, which set an EU LCS record. It was no surprise, then, that G2 just kept on pressuring ROCCAT before tallying one last ace to close out the game in just over 23 minutes.
G2 Esports will take on Splyce at 3 p.m. ET on Saturday to try and improve to 2-0 on the season, while ROCCAT hope to break even against H2k Gaming at 11 a.m. ET on Saturday.
Schalke 04 1-0 Unicorns of Love
FC Schalke 04 overcame an early deficit to take down the Unicorns of Love on Friday during the opening day of the 2018 European League Championship Series summer split in Berlin.
Both Schalke and Unicorns drafted fairly standard team compositions in this game, with Unicorns using the jungle-mid lane duo of Jonas "Kold" Andersen's Trundle and Fabian "Exileh" Schubert's Yasuo to dictate the pace of the early game. The two worked in perfect unison, executing gank after gank on both the top and mid lanes to much success. This translated to a combined 5/0/4 KDA (kills/deaths/assists) by the 19-minute mark, leading to a 5,000-gold lead.
Despite being in that early hole, however, Schalke never let itself get discouraged as everyone rallied together and simply bided their time while waiting for an opening. It started when Schalke picked up a couple isolated kills that managed to stall things out just enough for top laner Tamas "Vizicsacsi" Kiss's Cho'Gath to pick up enough items to completely flip the game on its head. He engaged at just the right time in the bottom lane at 25 minutes, which allowed Schalke to pick up three massive kills that allowed it to go right for Baron.
With the powerful buff in hand, Schalke evened up the gold lead while systematically picking apart the entire map and putting Unicorns on its back foot. Rather than push right into the base, Schalke looked for the right opening and simply walked into the base and overwhelmed the Unicorns to close out the 33-minute win.
Schalke will look to continue its hot start to the season against Fnatic at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday, while Unicorns will try and get a win over Misfits earlier on Saturday at noon ET.
Giants 1-0 H2k
The Giants stole a win right out from under H2k's nose on Friday to open its European League Championship Series summer split campaign.
While many teams across the world are fielding team compositions the likes of which we've never seen with the latest patch, it was an old mid lane favorite Azir that ended up being the difference in this game. Despite being off-meta, Giants had faith that Felix "Betsy" Edling could make the pick work and he delivered in the biggest way possible.
Giants drafted a teamfight-focused team composition for this game, which allowed it to take early control over proceedings once fights broke out. After picking up first blood nine minutes in, Giants also took the first major teamfight at 22 minutes with a 4-for-1 pickup, with Betsy taking three of his six kills in that fight alone.
From that point on, the Baron become a major focus, with both teams making it a priority to pick up the key objective. Try as it did, however, H2k could never make it over the hump and pick up one of its own as Giants secured both Barons in this game. Anytime H2k looked like it was about to start inching towards a major push, Giants struck it down -- and the final time this happened was fatal for H2k.
As the teams were in the midst of a teamfight coming out of a game pause, Betsy peeled off from the fray and snuck into the H2k base unnoticed. With a full wave of minions behind him and Azir's superb waveclear abilities, Betsy single-handedly took down the Nexus and picked up a big win for his team.
Giants will take the stage against Team Vitality at 1 p.m. ET on Saturday, while H2k will look forward to its match with Team ROCCAT at 11 a.m. ET on Saturday.
Team Vitality 1-0 Splyce
In a blistering 24-minute game, Team Vitality ran right through Splyce to kick off the 2018 European League Championship Series summer split on Friday in Berlin.
The new-look meta of Patch 8.11 was alive and well in the EU LCS as Vitality opted for a Heimerdinger/Fiddlesticks bottom lane for Amadeu "Attila" Carvalho and Jakub "Jactroll" Skurzynski, respectively. That decision paid off, as Attila picked up first blood on Kasper "Kobbe" Kobberup's Kai'Sa just six minutes into the game -- then it was off to the races.
By the time 15 minutes had passed, Vitality had full control over the entire map through both kills and objectives. It had secured three towers, the only dragon, Rift Herald, and even the scuttle crabs to go along with a 3-to-1 kill advantage. Vitality's stranglehold on the map left no room whatsoever for Splyce to maneuver. Splyce mid laner Yasin "Nisqy" Dincer's managed to pick up Splyce's single kill during the mid game, but it was nowhere near enough to stop Vitality from running away with the lead.
By the time Vitality was ready to set up for the win, the focus shifted to the top lane where Lucas "Cabochard" Simon-Meslet was dominating the matchup against Andrei "Odoamne" Pascu. After he had become fed through a couple kills in the mid game, Cabochard's Aatrox was ready to put the game away for good. Vitality pushed for the Baron at 22 minutes and though Splyce tried to contest, Cabochard came up with a triple kill as part of a 5-for-1 ace that shut Splyce down completely. Less than a minute later, Vitality marched right into the base and secured the 24-minute win.
Vitality will look for a 2-0 week when it faces the Vodafone Giants at 1 p.m. ET on Saturday, while Splyce hopes for a win against G2 Esports at 3 p.m. ET later that day.