Splyce 1, Giants 0
In the longest game of the 2018 European League of Legends Championship Series Summer Split, Splyce dug deep for a win over Giants Gaming on Friday.
While it certainly took some time, Splyce (4-5) was in control of its destiny for a large portion of this game. After picking up first blood just a few minutes in, Splyce continued winning fights all across the map as Giants (2-7) looked indecisive with its movements at every turn. Even when Giants would start a fight in the early game, Splyce would easily bounce back and end up with a bevy of kills without having to give up much in return.
After losing the first few fights of the game, however, Giants finally gained a bit of ground with a 4-for-1 teamfight win at the 15-minute mark when Splyce overcommitted on an engagement. That fight gave Giants enough breathing room to start picking up a few turrets, miraculously building a 4,000-gold lead. At that point, however, the indecision and miscues started to rear its ugly head. After securing a clean 2-for-0 teamfight, Giants mid laner Felix "Betsy" Edling found himself caught out, which prevented the team from moving onto the Baron right away. This gave Splyce a window to secure the Baron for itself at the 34-minute mark, wrestling back control of the game.
Even though the teams traded kills over the next 18 minutes, Splyce always held a small lead. Whether it was mid laner Yasin "Nisqy" Dincer or AD carry Kasper "Kobbe" Kobberup locking in big picks to keep Giants bogged down or Giants' inability to capitalize on any semblance of an advantage, Splyce finally bled out its opposition's resources to claim a 53-minute win.
Splyce will now turn towards its match against Team Vitality at 4 p.m. ET on Saturday, while Giants hope to bounce back against H2k Gaming in the preceding game at 3 p.m. ET.
--Wyatt Donigan
Schalke 04 1, H2k 0
While there were moments where H2k (0-9) had some hope at finally getting a win on the board, Schalke (5-4) quelled any thoughts of an upset with timely teamfighting prowess. H2k started the game well enough when support Hampus "promisq" Mikael Abrahamsson picked up first blood with his Tahm Kench, but it was never really able to turn that into any semblance of momentum as the game progressed.
After the teams jockeyed for position throughout the rest of the mid game, Schalke looked ready to claim a win near the 27-minute mark when mid laner Erlend "Nukeduck" Vatevik Holm helped earn a 3-for-0 teamfight that led right into a Baron attempt. The problem here was that Schalke's health bars were far too low to secure Baron, and by the time it realized, H2k stormed in, picked up a swift 4-for-0 and the Baron for itself. Despite the buff and a growing lead, H2k still managed to improperly take care of its advantage.
As the game progressed, Schalke seemed unconcerned with the objectives that H2k were racking up and continued securing kills to keep itself in the game. H2k, however, were set on trying to end this game after securing a second Baron, turning to the Elder Dragon to finalize its expected assault. It was at that point that the game was flipped on its head, though, as Schalke top laner Tamas "Vizicsacsi" Kiss perfectly used his Poppy ultimate to knock four H2k members out of the dragon pit, which allowed Schalke to steal away the Elder Dragon. If that wasn't enough, Nukeduck reared his head once again to help Schalke secure another 4-for-0 teamfight win that gave it a wide open window into the H2k base to secure the 37-minute win.
Schalke will look for a 2-0 week when it takes on the Unicorns of Love at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday, while H2k continue searching for its first win against Giants Gaming later that day at 4 p.m. ET.
--Wyatt Donigan
Misfits 1, ROCCAT 0
ROCCAT (4-5) might have secured a moral victory by winning a few scattered teamfights during this game, but there was nothing it could do to offset the dominance of Misfits (9-0), who have yet to find an equal this split. Misfits wasted no time getting the action going with two kills in the first 12 minutes before the contest settled into a lull during the mid game.
That lull was ended in a big way once the teams engaged in a messy teamfight around the Baron that ended in a 2-for-2 trade. What mattered most was that Misfits acquired the buff, as it allowed the team to continue building on its lead while winning even more teamfights. Even with an 8,000-gold lead in hand, there was still a chance that ROCCAT could perhaps flip the game with a big teamfight win especially considering ROCCAT AD carry Martin "HeaQ" Kordmaa's Ezreal was sitting at a clean 3/0/3 KDA (kills/deaths/assists).
Misfits didn't seem to care about HeaQ at all, though, as it tore through the rest of ROCCAT in a 4-for-0 teamfight win that put to rest any thoughts of a ROCCAT comeback. Misfits mid laner Chres "Sencux" Laursen was the hero of that fight, as his Yasuo picked up three kills and allowed his team to march right down the mid lane and close out the 36-minute win.
Misfits will look to keep the win streak alive when it faces Fnatic at 5 p.m. ET on Saturday, while ROCCAT will close out the week against G2 Esports at 6 p.m. ET.
--Wyatt Donigan
Fnatic 1, Unicorns of Love 0
Everyone on Fnatic (6-3) had at least a solid performance in this match, but ultimately this win came courtesy of mid laner Rasmus "Caps" Winther, who selected Irelia as a counter pick to Zoe. While he missed out on first blood by a couple minutes, he found a solo kill onto Unicorns of Love mid laner Fabian "Exileh" Schubert just six-and-a-half minutes into the game, which was just the tip of the iceberg.
Fnatic jungler Mads "Broxah" Brock-Pederson on Sejuani immediately capitalized on his mid laner's advantage, ganking for Caps to grant him a second kill just a minute later. Over the next several minutes, members of both teams swarmed the mid lane in an attempt to turn the balance, but Caps came out ahead every single time. With Fnatic's bottom lane also winning, Unicorns of Love (3-6) simply never had a chance. After finding four kills in the final teamfight, Caps ended with a stellar 15/0/3 KDA (kills/deaths/assists), breaking the record for the most kills by a single player in the Summer Split by three as Fnatic took a 26-minute win.
Unicorns of Love will look to regroup from a brutal defeat when it takes on Schalke 04 in the opening game of the day Saturday at 11 a.m. ET. Fnatic, meanwhile, will have no chance to rest on its laurels, as it faces off with the undefeated Misfits at 2 p.m. ET later that day.
--Brendan Hickey
G2 Esports 1, Vitality 0
G2 (7-2) returned to the funnel strategy that has brought it so much success this split, giving mid laner Luka "Perkz" Perkovic the dual income sources of mid lane and jungle as Taliyah. However, while Perkz quickly found himself ahead of his counterpart, Team Vitality (5-4) kept even as a whole before swinging into the lead after a fumbled tower dive from G2. Meanwhile, several members of Vitality had begun to itemize against the almost exclusively magic damage coming out of G2's draft, casting doubt on G2's chances for the remainder of the game.
With things looking grim for G2, support Kim "Wadid" Bae-in came to the rescue on Alistar. After finding a pair of picks for his team around the 25-minute mark, Wadid and the rest of G2 forced Vitality to respond to their Baron pressure, only for Wadid to engage once again and clean up the remaining members. Over and over, he timed and aimed his engagements immaculately, and with no one on Vitality acting as a dedicated tank, the singular damage of G2 was more than enough to follow up. In a game that started out close, Wadid's playmaking separated the two teams and gave G2 a solid 38-minute win.
Team Vitality now must look to break away from the middle of the pack as it takes on Splyce at 1 p.m. ET on Saturday. Later that day, G2 Esports will close out the week with a game against Team ROCCAT at 3 p.m. ET.
--Brendan Hickey