LEC Playoffs: Fnatic Fall as Origen Advance to LEC Finals

It took a lot to get here for Fnatic, but the complete reversal of their early season fates only had Origen in the way. In this battle of fire against stone-cold conductors, who would win? It was Fnatic versus Origen in the 2019 LEC Spring Split Semifinals. 

Origen has been under-rated all season long. There are so many reasons why they ended up near the top of the standings at the end of the regular Spring Split. Sure, they looked pretty soft in their defeat at the hands of G2 Esports last week, but Origen doesn’t get shaken easily. Or ever, it seems. Could the composed veterans make raise their names beyond 2nd-tier and into the upper-echelon of European League of Legends? Or would the World Finalists in Fnatic punch their ticket to the finals?

Fnatic did what no one else had in making it all the way to the final match of Worlds in 2018. Off the ramp of their back-to-back European Championships, they righted their earlier list and aimed beyond their own stars in 2019. On paper, and in practice, Fnatic are a scary team to try and beat in a do-or-die scenario. That is if their star players show up.

Fever Dreams

The cheeky drafts came out of the inside coat pockets early in the LEC Semifinals. Game 1 saw Fnatic pick the trusty patch 9.6 Sona and Taric bot-lane, with large smiles across the players’ faces. Unfortunately, Origen -- the ever composed and prepared -- had something waiting for that bot-lane draft. Picking up a Zed for Nukeduck in the mid-lane, and Mithy on Blitzcrank in support. 

After a level 1 invasion gank from Blitz, Mithy played out of his mind in Game 1. It turns out, the best way to counter this cheesy Sona/Taric bot is to pull them away from their farm. 

The snowball got large, and completely out of control very quickly. Pushing into nexus towers, OG had a 13k gold lead and a 5 kill lead before the clock even hit the 30-minute mark. Taking the second Baron of the game at 31-minutes, Origen made one final push to win the game and stunned the crowd at the Ahoy Arena in Rotterdam. 

The Fnatic that were the heavy favorites heading into this series slumped off the stage and back to the green room. 

Bag of Tricks

If you thought that Game 1 was going to be the only home for unconventional draft choices, you’d be sorely mistaken. Not only did Origen steal away the very Sona and Taric bot-lane that they just finished shutting down, but Fnatic had their own answer to it. Jumping back 4 years, Rekkles and Hylissang took Twitch and Annie in their counter. 

“Fnatic have really reached into this Mary Poppins bag to pull out this Twitch/Annie,” - Froskurinn

No matter what they tried, OG looked lost in the first 15-minutes of Game 2. Fnatic was full-steam ahead towards tying this series up. In a twist of fate, and to spite all of the predictions, Origen flipped the switch on their Ryse and Sona/Taric duo to completely turn things on their heads. Fnatic has looked uncharacteristically out of sync at times, diving in the wrong moments, or going in on fights they are destined to lose. The fiery Fnatic couldn’t seem to catch fire in the first two games. 

Traveling to the rift for Game 3, Fnatic face elimination. Desperation brewed and not many teams are scarier when backed into a corner than Fnatic is. 

Tricks Are For Kids

Picking up some comfort champions in Game 3 and banning out part of the Sona/Taric combo, it was obvious that Fnatic wanted to get back to playing what they are best at. 

With that comfort, Fnatic looked in complete control through the first 15-minutes. Up 9 kills to 0, 3 towers to 0, and with a 7k gold lead, the reigning EU champions finally look like they woke up. On the back of an astounding game from Broxah on Rek’Sai in the jungle and Nemesis’ Lissandra, Fnatic kept the pressure up until the OG walls crumbled. 

It was hard to tell after Game 3 whether or not Fnatic had stolen momentum, or if Origen had surrendered it. There was no doubt in the faithful inside Ahoy! Arena that come Game 4, we’d have our answer. 

Reckless Abandon

Heading back into the big comfy chairs, Fnatic dressed some of their best champions. Though, star ADC drafted Kai’Sa regardless of “better options” being on the table. Just as the team of Fnatic needed their leader to step up, Rekkles looked like their weakest piece. In all 4 games in this series. 

The composure of Origen showed up big-time in the Semifinals. Their truest salvation throughout the regular season became their ship to sail upon after taking a beating from G2 just a week prior to Saturday. Even after losing Game 3 in rather convincing fashion, Origen looked like smooth operators of strategy as they built their snowball by rolling it slowly. 

It was a painful and drawn-out end to Fnatic’s amazing latter half of the season. Origen being methodical in their deconstruction of the defending EU Champions became hard to watch as Fnatic became more desperate. 

Incoming Nuke

Looking back at the rather quick series between Origen and Fnatic it’s hard to decipher what the real hiccups were. Fnatic looked asleep in the first few games, and even upon waking couldn’t truly find their footing. Bwipo got messy, and Broxah couldn’t strong-arm his way to wins. There was no clutch in the favored Fnatic. 

Origen moves forward to face G2 Esports in a rematch in the 2019 Spring Finals in Rotterdam. They will need to bring their gameplay from today if they’re going to have a chance to win tomorrow. Mid-laner Nukeduck played extremely well across the board and seems to be heading into the Grand Finals with some confidence.

“It’s time for Origen to rewrite history. We will win tomorrow,” - Nukeduck, Origen

They play slow, they show up prepared, and they seem unwavering in their calm. Regardless of what happens tomorrow against G2 Esports, Origen have proven that there’s a new contender in the LEC, and one that many will try and copy in future splits. 

This OG is not the same OG we faced last week. They are so good #LEC

— Marcin Jankowski (@G2Jankos) April 13, 2019

There does live one downside in this result, however, and that’s the idea that Fnatic may have been the only fiery bomb that was unpredictable enough to beat G2 Esports in the finals. Origen being composed and practiced may make them, once again, easy pickings for the league-leaders.

The finals will take place Sunday, April 14th, and will begin approximately at 8:00 AM Pacific Time. Check out our LEC Finals viewing guide for more info.

Do you think Origen can take it to G2 tomorrow? Or will league MVP Caps claim his third LEC Championship in a row?