LEC Spring Split Week 6 Recap & Rankings: Fnatic Firms Their Footing

Another action packed week in the LEC sees G2 wobble slightly, while Fnatic and Origen appear to be trading strength. The bottom two places on the leaderboard don’t look set to change much, but elsewhere there’s everything to play for as the Spring Split carries on.

G2 Esports (1st 12w-2l)

G2 Esports suffered their second loss of the Split this week, against SK Gaming. A surprising result for everyone, and one that is beginning to show Europe’s premiere team’s weaknesses. If Origen and SK Gaming are able to take games off of G2, then surely anyone can. Anyone, that is, except those near the bottom of the standings. G2’s other game this week was against Rogue, who were in no danger of posing a threat. G2 Esports retains their spot at the top of the standings, with a three win lead against Team Vitality in 2nd place. They’re not going anywhere just yet.

Team Vitality (2nd 9w-5l)

Another so-so week for Vitality, with a win and a loss against Misfits and Origen, respectively. Their 2nd place seat is safe, but Splyce and now Origen are not far behind. The coming weeks are going to be battle for 2nd place which should result in some really entertaining games. Next week Vitality is up against the best and worst of the LEC, G2 and Rogue. Can they take a point off G2 and close the distance to first place? We can’t wait to find out.

Splyce (=3rd 8w-6l) 

Splyce is desperately hanging on to 3rd place, while the teams around them fall down the table. A loss against Origen means they’re now at level pegging. Schalke 04 gave Splyce the win they needed to stay in place, but next week they’re up against G2 and SK Gaming. With SK displaying the skills needed to take down the G2 giants, Splyce will need to work hard to prepare for these games. 

Origen (=3rd 8w-6l) 

Origen seem to be bouncing back from their miserable week last week, taking a win from Splyce and joining them in 3rd place. The team also secured a win against Vitality, which contributed to their upward momentum. Don’t call it a comeback just yet, but it’s great to see Origen climbing out of the bottom half of the standings. With a game against Rogue set up for next week, they can be confident to come away with at least one win. They would hope.

Misfits Gaming (=5th 7w-7l) 

One win and one loss for Misfits this week demonstrates to us that they probably deserve their mid-tier placements in the standings. A win against exceL Esports and a loss against Vitality is about what we expecting going into this week’s games. Next week, however, they’re up against two fellow 5th place teams, Fnatic and Schalke 04. Considering Fnatic’s recent performance, we’d be surprised if Misfits came away with two wins. But you never can tell with the LEC...

Schalke 04 (=5th 7w-7l) 

Two bad weeks in a row for Schalke 04 see them tumble down to 5th place alongside Misfits, Fnatic and SK Gaming. Another week like this and they’ll likely be in the bottom three. With all the teams bundled so close together, anyone could climb up the standings with a decent week, but after four losses in a row Schalke 04 are going to be feeling dispirited. It’s up to them whether they use this coming week to rally themselves, or to succumb to the negative momentum. With a fight against exceL Esports coming next week, they have a good shot of getting at least one win, if they come in with the right attitude. 

Fnatic (=5th 7w-7l) 

Another great week for Fnatic means they’ve jumped up from 8th to joint 5th with three other teams. Considering they languished at the bottom of the standings not two weeks ago, that’s a significant improvement. Perhaps they were lucky that their opponents, Schalke 04 and Rogue had bad weeks, or perhaps they really are learning from their mistakes. Either way, they’ll need another couple of wins against exceL Esports and Misfits next week to convince us that they’re truly a top-three contender.

SK Gaming (=5th 7w-7l)

What a week for SK Gaming. Losing against 9th place team exceL Esports and winning against G2. That’s quite a mix of emotions they must be feeling. Despite their victory against the LEC’s first place team, SK still find themselves at joint 5th place. Knowing what they’re capable of should be enough to propel them higher. Can they win against the two 3rd-place teams next week? A victory against both Origen and Splyce would make mincemeat of the standings.

exceL Esports (9th 3w-11l) 

Excel Esports had a good enough week to separate them from Rogue, but their chances of climbing much higher aren’t looking great. A win against SK Gaming, who managed to take down G2 Esports this week, will be a nice ego boost for the team, but can it translate into wins against Schalke 04 and Fnatic next week?

Rogue (10th 2w-12l) 2l

Poor Rogue find themselves, once again, sitting at the bottom of the standings. Two losses this week means they’re all alone in 10th place. It’s unclear whether the team has what it takes to perform better in the future, as the majority of teams in the LEC appear to be getting stronger and learning from their mistakes. Who knows, though. We’ve been surprised before.

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With Week 7 coming up in the Spring Split, there's a lot left to prove and plenty more questions to answer all across the ladder. Be sure to stay tuned and also check out how the North American teams performed in Week 6 of the LCS Spring Split.