LEC Playoffs: Vitality Can't Kill Bwipo, Fnatic Move Forward

They began the season looking messy, but last years’ world finalists and pride of the EU in Fnatic found their groove in the second half of the Spring Split. Team Vitality, on the other hand, have a lot of unsecured potential. Regardless of dropping some key games down the stretch, Vitality managed to earn a spot in the playoffs. 

In the first best-of-five of the League of Legends European Championship Spring Split Playoffs, it is the return of top-tier Fnatic versus the Cabochard-led Team Vitality. Both teams have looked shaken in the season, and they both aim to make a statement in the first round. 

“For me it was a matter of time before we figure out how to play together, and once we did that, we started winning games,” said Fnatic’s ad-carry Rekkles during a post-game interview, in regards to the team’s turnaround in the second half of the spring season. 

The playoffs opened with some very exciting games, and the battle on the rift was enthralling. In a dominant sort of way. 

Bwipo the Undying

Game 1 between Team Vitality and Fnatic played out exactly as it should have according to the pick and ban phase. Vitality stunned Fnatic in the draft with the hard-counter flex of the Lucian in the top lane against Bwipo’s signature Gangplank. However, the entire Fnatic squad was geared for late-game heroics. Should they survive the laning phase, they’d be able to pull off the game 1 win. Which is precisely what they did. Oh, and there was also that bit about Bwipo not dying no matter the pressure or advantage that Vitality had. 

Thanks to some amazingly timed Karthus ultimates from Broxah, and the heavy snowball bottom lane of Rekkles’ Vayne and Hylissang’s Allistar, every moment of game 1 after the first 15 minutes belonged to Fnatic. The win was a lock, shy of any extreme failure, and none presented themselves.

Mowgli So Lonely

In their second game, the matchup grew up a bit. There wasn’t anything crazy in the draft, and it all came down to individual mistakes running headlong into team synergy. “Our trust is there now” said Bwipo in a recent lolesports podcast, and it shows up on the rift. The Fnatic teamplay and reliability in both the lane phase and in big team fights is on point right now, and this is the sole reason they are lifted above most others in terms of playoff potential. 

Fnatic built to a game 2 win on the back of a punishing roam game, which saw picks and kills taken from Vitality throughout the jungle. The pressure not to screw it all up grew too heavy for Vitality to grip, and their decent late-game draft crumbled in less than 30 minutes. Vitality’s jungler Mowgli got caught way too often roaming the bushes without an easy disengage or the ability to fight more than a one-on-one. 

Kayle is Good for You

It definitely looked like Vitality was able to gain some momentum and synergy over the course of the first two games, and they looked their best in game 3. Unfortunately, the team sitting across from them also had two games prior to warm-up, and they absolutely dominated the entire way through. The Fnatic train was not going to slow down no matter what composition Vitality threw at them.

Vitality had to try and pull something weird out of their hat now that they were up against being eliminated from the playoffs, but they had no real answer for Nemesis in the mid-lane on the reworked Kayle pick. Game 3 ended in a Kayle pentakill, and Nemesis truly deserves the match MVP, but it was also Broxah on his Rek’Sai with a 8/1/9 kda. It was a statement end to a 3-0 shutout of Team Vitality. 

Fnatic Move Onwards

Not only did the boys from Fnatic continue to prove that they are not the team that started the year poorly, but they did so by absolutely crushing Team Vitality. Due to their 3rd place seed, Fnatic had the choice of who they played in the first round, and many raised their eyebrows when it was Vitality that they selected. Now, since the match-up is over, it seems obvious. They had Vitality’s number. 

Next up for Fnatic will be the winner of the Splyce and SK Gaming head-to-head, but as that match will not arrive until the 5th of April, the boys at Fnatic have some time to prepare. 

Splyce has a difficult task ahead of them in facing SK Gaming, who come into the playoffs in the middle of a staggering stride. That matchup takes place tomorrow, March 30th, and will kick-off around 9:00 AM Pacific Time. Check out our LEC Playoffs preview for a breakdown of the match-ups, and our LEC Playoffs viewer guide for how to catch the action.