RESULTS: Fnatic Draw First Blood in Their Victory over Vitality

With G2 Esports already set for a finals showdown, all that remained was to determine which team would be facing them. Fnatic made the early moves to gain advantage over Vitality, and have set themselves up nicely in this series. Here’s a brief breakdown of the match.

Fnatic claimed first blood in the mid lane with Vitality pushing just a tad too far forward, allowing Fnatic to collapse inwards in time to pick up the kill. Fnatic made the call to snowball the lane, sending two additional members to the mid lane to pick up another kill and keep the ball rolling. Vitality answered in the bot lane, applying pressure after picking up a kill of their own.

With Fnatic continuing to apply pressure in the mid lane, Vitality moved to secure the Rift Herald for extra pushing power. Both teams clashed in the bot lane when Fnatic pushed to claim the first turret, however it was a bloodless fight that both teams withdrew from. Fnatic continued to put pressure in the mid lane, claiming yet another kill to keep the pressure high.  Vitality finally answered the pressure in the mid lane, sending multiple members to force an engage and claim a kill before using the Rift Herald to damage the outer turret. Fnatic did not let it go unanswered however, picking up yet another kill when their reinforcements arrived.

Fnatic transferred the pressure they’d built in the mid lane, sending multiple members top side to pick up two quick kills before destroying the outer turret there. Fnatic continued their pressure in the mid lane by taking down the outer turret there, however when they attempted to rotate to attack the bot lane, they found themselves unable to secure the kills before Vitality could respond, and in the resulting team fight Vitality managed to pick up three quick kills before pushing back in the mod and bot lanes.

Fnatic make the call to head towards Baron, and though Vitality are able to move to contest, they are only able to pick up a single kill while the rest of Fnatic escape with the buff. Fnatic use the power of Baron to pressure multiple lanes at once, picking up three more kills before destroying the first inhibitor of the game. With Vitality unable to defend their base, Fnatic move in and end the game.

Fnatic put down a very dominant performance in this match, ending the game in just over 25 minutes as they steamrolled their lead to almost 11k gold by the end. With Fnatic seeming dead set on ending the series as quickly as possible, Vitality will need to pull something special out to keep this series alive. You can catch more EU LCS action with the recap from yesterday’s semi-final match between G2 Esports and Splyce, and for more information on the post season, check out the Official Schedule page, here.