Image Courtesy of Fnatic
For the LEC, Legends European Championship, they marked the end of their Regional Qualifiers for the World Championship this weekend. The difference in one set was whether one team had a ticket punched directly to the Group Stage, or if they had to face the challenging and more difficult Play-In Stage. This was the case for both Fnatic and Splyce Gaming.
Having to fight earlier in the Gauntlet, Europe’s last chance qualifier for a spot to Worlds, Splyce wasn’t looking like a championship caliber team. Going into their first game on Friday, Splyce had many mistakes in their play, with squeaking out a 3-2 win against Origen. Saturday saw a more dominant Splyce team that won the series with a score of 3-0 against Shalke 04.
Number of 3-0 Series in the LEC Regionals
Championship Sunday
Berlin was abuzz with energy on Sunday as Fnatic, having become runner-ups for the Regional Championship just a week earlier was heavily favored. At the same time, Splyce was looking to dispel any doubt after a commanding win the night before and had two days of competition beforehand. All bets were off on who would emerge victorious.
In game one, Splyce decided to make a team composition for early game shenanigans to mess with Fnatic while Fnatic was looking to deny vision and cause chaos. Splyce got the first kill early in the game and looked strong in the beginning, making Fnatic start to fall behind slightly. Fnatic though kept aggression up in the early game going for tower dives and kills, getting near even in gold again and items/levels. Splyce though kept answering back with getting objectives first before Fnatic could answer in turn. Things quickly turned around when Fnatic took a team fight and was able to defeat four of the five Splyce players and taking Baron, a huge buff for the team. After a mostly even game, Fnatic takes down two inhibitors and defeated the Nexus towers and snowballed to set up for the first win of the series.
Game two started in a reversal with Fnatic getting the early kill and started the early objective focus and taking the lead. Splyce didn’t want to lose quickly though and began clawing back and taking good engages. Fnatic, with Baron Buff again in the mid game, soon pushed the middle lane and demolished Splyce’s team to push deep down the middle lane and into Splyce’s base. After twenty-eight minutes, Fnatic took a dominating win and did not let Splyce have a chance for a comeback.
Game three was going to go down to one of two ways. Either Splyce was going to start a comeback in the series, or Fnatic would guarantee a Group Stage showing at Worlds 2019. Splyce, having rotated three players to the bottom lane, would take an early kill on Fnatic and start to go for a lead. Fnatic answered back, wiping out Splyce’s bottom lane duo to show they were not going to back down. Fnatic would continue to dominate game three, taking Baron and pushing the two side lanes while Splyce was working on the middle lane. Fnatic looking to end the game, started to attack the Splyce base and has was strong, but after a few players fell backed up for the time being before taking one more team fight to take the win 3-0.
What’s Next?
Fnatic having won the Regional Qualifiers has secured a spot directly into Group Stage and no longer worries about needing to fight to qualify for that stage. Splyce in the meantime, has to fight in the Play-In Stage to try and qualify for Group Stage. While Splyce technically will be going to Worlds 2019, they have a much tougher journey ahead.
About the Author
Brandon Gonzales
Student - Fall 2019
Brandon is a big fan of anime and video games. Brandon is an avid esports enthusiast and is pursuing an esports career himself.
