EU LCS Quarterfinals Match Preview – Vitality vs H2K
By Zac Cameron ·
The second Quarterfinal match of the EU LCS will be the final showdown between H2K and Team Vitality. What lies in store for the match-up between these two playoff contenders?
Much like the previous Quarterfinal match between ROCCAT and Splyce, Vitality and H2K have also managed to end the EU LCS Spring Split Regular Season with a 1-1 record. Vitality managed to draw first blood in the season long battle, with H2K getting revenge after their mid-season roster shuffle. Ever since they made the roster swap, H2K has looked stronger than ever, rising from the bottom of the league to actually make playoffs.
Meanwhile, Vitality started out quite strong, but they have faded towards the middle of the season and barely managed to recover in time to remain in contention for playoffs. Both of these teams have shown the ability to surprise their enemies, so it will be interesting to see if they can translate this to a longer best-of-five series.
The first time these teams clashed was a complete wash by Vitality, gaining control of the map early and putting pressure on H2K from the get go. Their early game has typically been quite good, so if they can manage to gain an early lead, they’re skilled enough to maintain it throughout the game.
The second time these teams clashed was a very interesting match indeed. H2K secured an early lead, but Vitality actually managed to rein it in over time. There was very little actual team combat in this game until after the 20 minute mark when the teams clashed over major objectives such as Baron. While H2K would be the team applying pressure across the map, Vitality actually kept he match quite close, even winning a crucial team fight that saw them wipe H2K off the map. This would have been the end of the game for H2K is they had not built up such an early lead, so they will need to make sure they don’t make similar mistakes here, as losing a team fight this badly can easily cost a team the game.
The ultimate victor of this series will be whichever team can adapt to the change in format the quickest. It’s very possible that one of these team might have a surprise pick, or a “cheesy” composition, but that is the kind of strategy that can only work once, so they will both need to have their fundamentals down pat.
Want to know more about how the last match between H2K and Vitality went down? Check out the previous match recap, and don't forget to check out when these two teams will be playing with the Official EU LCS Schedule page, here.