Pentakills In Europe: An Explosive Recap Of Week 2 Of The EU LCS

In the European League of Legends Championship Series, only one thing is really certain. No matter who wins, the matches are always exciting to watch. If you missed the games from week two, fear not, here’s a brief rundown of how all the action turned out.

The first match of the week between Giants and G2 Esports proved that the Europeans can get just as explosive as their North American counterparts. G2 managed to take an early lead thanks to some crafty map rotations by their jungler Marcin "Jankos" Jankowski, before solidifying their position with some early objectives. This trend would continue for quite some time, with G2 taking map objectives while at worst, losing a few individual champions to kills in small skirmishes. Unfortunately for G2, this could not continue. The Giants made an excellent resurgence in the mid game, winning a team fight through top-laner Kim "Ruin" Hyeong-min’s big moves on Gnar. After catching G2’s Jankos out of position, Giants were able to take the precious Baron buff and begin to rein in the gold differential through map objectives of their own. In the end, Giants proved too powerful for G2, with the gold lead swinging firmly back into their favour by the end of the game.

Coming hot on their heels was another exciting struggle between Splyce and Roccat. Splyce was able to take an early game lead through some excellent objective control, though the game was a fairly quiet affair for quite some time. It wasn’t until Roccat was able to make a key play against Splyce in the top lane that things really got heated, with Roccat top-laner Kim "Profit" Jun-hyung making a huge play to keep Splyce from escaping. This power swing allowed Roccat to begin to extend a gold lead of their own, and before long it was the all-Roccat show. Patience proved to be the key, as Roccat slowly took map objective after map objective before ultimately a crushing team fight allowed them to walk away with the win.

After two back-to-back red hot games, Misfits and H2k allowed fans to take a small breather, with a game that proved to be slow-paced, right up until a sudden moment when it wasn’t. Everything in the game appeared to be fairly standard with Misfits and H2K trading map objectives as expected. An issue with the computer used by Misfits top-laner Barney "Alphari" Morris caused both teams to have to pause, which was only the calm before the storm. Once play resumed, H2k attempted to start Baron, however were caught out by Misfits in the pit. The Misfits capitalized and H2k fell one by one until there was nothing left. Misfits would go on to rush H2k’s base, ending the game before the crowd and casters could catch their breath.

Our next match saw Fnatic taking on Vitality in a game that was all about Vitality’s mid-laner Daniele "Jiizuke" di Mauro. Vitality came into this game with a plan to keep FNC’s Rasmus "Caps" Winther down, and allow Jiizuke to flourish, and boy did it ever work. While the early game was a back and forth struggle between the two teams, it would ultimately come down to a showcase of Vitality’s mid lane and mid-game power. From taking key map objectives to catching their opponents out of place, this was the Vitality show, but more aptly, it was the Jiizuke show. Vitality has shown its teeth, and the EU LCS better watch out.

The final match of day one was interesting to say the least, with the Unicorns of Love taking on FC Schalke 04. Schalke kicked things off with an early game lead that would prove impossible for the Unicorns to overcome. Good early and mid-game map rotations, excellent objective control, and an ability to neutralise any advantage the Unicorns gained, showcased why Schalke is a team to fear. While it may not have been the cleanest game, it wasn’t boring to watch, with Schalke putting on a masterclass in how to maintain a lead throughout the game.

Game one for day 2 was another showcase of Giants' ability to get back up when knocked down. That said, things are rarely as dire as they seem, with Giants never really being at too much of a disadvantage against H2K. Another slow burn starter, much like when Misfits played against H2K, Giants seemed to kick into gear around the 26-minute mark, taking several key objectives to take a gold advantage, before a push into the base of H2K left Giants the only ones standing tall.

It was the battle of the animals for game two of day two, with Roccat taking on the Unicorns of Love in another demonstration of mind over matter. While the Unicorns may have gained an early gold advantage, it was Roccat calling the shots, with map rotations designed to maximise their gains while minimising their losses. That’s not to say that UoL went down without a fight however, taking several key map objectives of their own, but once Roccat set their sights on the victory, there was little to stop them. Repeated objectives taken, repeated team fights won, Roccat would ultimately go on to sweep UoL off their feet in a victory that showed that sometimes all you need to do to win, is allow your opponent to lose.

Game three between Misfits and Vitality showed us that just because a team gains an early lead, doesn’t mean that they can hold onto it. A fairly sedate early game would ultimately flip when Vitality quickly managed to take several important map objectives back-to-back, leading them all the way to Misfits base in what seemed poised to be another Jiizuke rampage and another extremely quick game. Unfortunately, Vitality quickly ran out of steam, and Misfits were able to turn the table on their opponents, taking more key objectives and pushing Vitality back into their own base. From there, it was just two quick fights punctuated with the deaths of key Vitality members before Misfits finally rose up to claim victory.

The second to last game of the day brought Splyce and Schalke together in a match that may have started slow, but certainly didn’t finish that way. An extremely even early game may have led viewers to believe that these teams were going to play it safe, however as the game began to unfold, we were treated with a rarity, the team that managed to gain a gold lead actually kept it for a change. Splyce took control of the map objectives and initiated a series of small skirmishes designed to pressure Schalke into making mistakes. While their success on that point may be arguable, the results of the game are not, with Splyce’s Kasper "Kobbe" Kobberup proving critical to his team’s victory. In a team fight that seemed poised to go Schalke’s way, Kobbe was able to step up to the plate, and boy did he hit a home run, killing all five members of Schalke and achieving the first pentakill of this EU LCS split. With such a decisive fight, it took only seconds for Splyce to claim victory.

The last game of week 2 was a battle of bitter rivals, as the two teams with a claim to the title of “Kings of Europe”, Fnatic and G2, faced off in game sure to test the nerves of fans everywhere. With G2 taking an early lead, it fell upon Fnatic to maintain their composure and keep their hopes of victory alive. A few mid-game skirmishes that proved too even to really call one way or another should have sounded alarm bells for G2 as their gold advantage slowly faded away. In the end it was the superior map rotations of Fnatic that allowed them to close the gap and seize victory, taking more and more important map objectives before a final battle in the base of G2 sealed their fate.

The European League of Legends Championship Series has always been a league of upsets, and this week proved no different. For more information on how the standings are shaping up, head on over to LoL Esports to see where the teams are ranked. Don't forget to catch up on coverage of where teams ended up in the North American LCS as well!