Explosive Action Fills Day 1 of EU LCS Week 3

Unicorns of Love – H2k

A team can only go so long without a win before something snaps. For UoL, the frustration of not putting anything on the board almost certainly contributed in lighting a fire inside to perform better. Unfortunately for H2K, this fire consumed them.  A solid 35 minute game in which UoL clinically disposed of H2K, taking every single neutral objective, even taking every turret and inhibitor of H2K, while losing very little of their own. Stand out performance goes to UoL’s mid laner Fabian “Exileh” Schubert, who demonstrated that just because an opponent manages to get a so called “OP pick”, doesn’t mean they will automatically win. Demonstrating a supreme mastery of Ryze, Exileh was the driving force behind his team’s victory here.

Giants – Roccat

Another close game between these two teams sitting at the top of the ladder. The gold advantage managed to switch sides several times throughout, before finally Giants was able to pull ahead after a fight that went their way allowed them to nearly ace Roccat, before taking several towers and inhibitors in rapid succession. After that it was another slow push, with Giants opting to prioritize more objective control, before a final blow-out team fight in the Roccat base sealed the victory for Giants.

Schalke – Vitality

This game was best described as close, until it wasn’t. Schalke managed to hold a slim gold advantage for the early game, but that proved inconsequential in the face of Vitality, who quickly flipped the tables, along with a rapid succession of map objectives. Another stand out performance from Daniele “Jiizuke” di Mauro and the rest of Vitality as they slowly crushed out Schalke’s ability to leave the base, before finally diving to close out the game before Schalke could even look like they might come back.

G2 – Splyce

Another game full of ups and downs, as G2 quickly climbed to a lead over Splyce in the early game. However, Splyce was able to return the favour in the mid game, snatching several key objectives to swing the gold lead firmly to their side. Never to be outdone though, G2 was able to grind the game out and neutralise the advantage the Splyce built, before retaking the gold lead and map control. After that, it was a relatively bloodless event until the very end, when Luka “Perkz” Perković managed to rapidly burn down his opponents, giving G2 the win.

Fnatic – Misfits

What can be said about this game apart from “Oh. My. God.” A match that was punctuated by brutal ambush style tactics and a desire by both teams to secure neutral objectives, gave us one of the bloodiest matches we’ve seen so far. Misfits managed to eke out a small lead, but Fnatic was well prepared to counter this, turning a huge team fight into a gold swing that allowed them to put massive pressure on the base of Misfits. The fighting would continue for some time however, as Misfits was able to hold onto their meagre defences, and even take the opportunities afforded to them to roam out and snag map objectives of their own. You would be forgiven for thinking that it ends there, but wait, there’s more. Misfits would be repeatedly forced to return and defend their base, despite regaining a sizeable gold lead, before Fnatic finally tripped up, in a fight that saw Misfits wipe away the entirety of Fnatic before cruising down and ending the game on the spot.

These were the games of day 1 from the European League of Legends Championship Series. For more EU LCS action, check out the recap from week 2, as well as the official EU LCS standings to see how your favourite team is doing so far.