Welcome to The LEC Review by us here at Gromp News.
Well, what an exciting day of action that has just concluded. We had shocks, disappointments, and domination. You couldn’t really ask for more! Before we delve into all the games today game, we here at Gromp News just want to thank everybody who has supported all of the articles that have been written on this new website. Thank you! Now, let’s review Week Two Day One of the LEC.
G2 victorious in an unexpected game
Many thought that G2 would steamroll over exceL, quite simple they were wrong. Despite G2 being victorious most peoples attention was on exceL’s unbelievable effort in trying to topple one of the split favorites. Teams now know how to weaken G2, you hit them hard and fast. The game started off tremendously straight from the draft. In essence, exceL had the perfect team comp in Sion, Nocturne, Galio, Xayah, and Rakan. G2, on the other hand, decided to yet again go for something a little bit different. No, it wasn’t perkz playing Zoe, this time it was Wunder playing Sejuani.
There are too many things to talk about during this game. Excel’s constant engages onto G2’s line-up, yet still being down in gold was only a small section in an excellent game. G2 controlled the game early on, not allowing exceL to unleash their engage composition. Until a brilliant combination of ultimates occurred in the 14th minute, killing four of G2’s team. MickyX was constantly being picked off on the Morgana by Caedrel who had a phenomenal game.
The best plays of the match had to be the Baron and the Elder Dragon steals. exceL had just lost their inhibitor and still, the Nocturne ultimate was used to peel away G2 from the Baron for Caedral to steal it and keep exceL in the game. The opposite then occurred three minutes later as Perkz’s draven ultimate stole the Elder Dragon, and quite possibly the game away from the British organisation. This 44-minute battle was back and forth throughout. Ultimately though it concluded with a team fight that left Expect trying to stop caps and Wunder winning the game. The crazy thing is, exceL almost held on but the minions finished the Nexus and ensured that G2 remained undefeated. caps was the standout player in this game on Akali, the former Fnatic player proved his worth as he put the game in G2’s favor towards the later ends of the match. If there where doubts as to whether caps fits into G2’s style of play, there won’t be any now. Perkz once again performed solidly on draven, his first none mid lane marksman, showing everybody they where wrong to doubt him. In all honestly, exceL performed unbelievably aswell and only a team fight cost them the game, which considering this is a new organisation is remarkable. The players should all be proud of their performances and if they play like this every game. We here at Gromp News may even consider them a playoff contender. But, only time will tell.
Fnatic woes continue
The first game of the day featured two teams looking to prove a point. Vitality wants to prove that they are a top tier team in this league. Whilst Fnatic wants to prove to themselves that their 0-2 record last week was a fluke. In the end, it was Vitlaity who came out victorious and Fnatic’s woes continued. The game started off well for Fnatic as it was Nemesis who proved that he could play Galio, by picking up the first blood on Jizuke five minutes in. However, whilst Fnatic were ahead on kills, Vitality was dominating the former LCS champions in farm and map control. Both teams performed better than they did in the previous week. However, Vitality felt more like a team and yet again Fnatic was unable to claim a gold lead, despite being the aggressors for the majority of the game. Vitality was willing to take risks throughout the game. The riskiest play being their 20-minute Baron play. Despite losing two members, Vitality came out with the Baron and the game looked out of reach for Rekless’ side. Nevertheless, Fnatic showed heart and determination and as the game went on it seemed as though momentum was going in their favor. Until Vitality won the one team fight they needed, aced Fnatic and claimed the Nexus.
Two players to point out during this game where Cabochard and Nemesis. Firstly, Cabochard played a near perfect Jayce game. He was constantly putting pressure around the map making Fnatic go on the offensive as towers were crumbling. In the early game he also dominated Bwipo. The player made use of his advantage as Fnatic had locked in poppy and nullified Bwipo throughout most of the match. While Vitality won, they weren’t perfect, and some calls could have been considered risky. Still, those players stuck to the calls and due to that they turned round bad plays and punished their opponents. Fnatic also played a lot better than last week. Nemesis especially stepped up and was arguably let down by his teams mates. Considering he was in a Galio vs Irelia match-up there wasn’t much more Nemesis could do. He was the key reason as to why Fnatic was still in with a fighting chance after the Baron had been taken. Still, there are certainly problems in this Fnatic side. All the players in their team have the quality but other organisations seem to have the upper hand when it comes to synergy. This is a worrying start for Fnatic coming into week two.
Schalke win the German clash
The clash of the German organisations can only be described as the game which shows why Schalke chose to make upset their star man. The ADC carried Schalke to SK’s nexus. Not only did he have 100% kill participation for 32 minutes but his engages turned around team fights and he was pivotal to Schalke’s Baron play earlier on in the game. In essence, the game didn’t have too many talking points. Nobody from both sides played particularly badly and that showed as it was a fairly even game, until Schalke took the baron around the 25-minute mark. In fact, the first kill only occurred 10 minutes into the matchup, as Crownshot was killed by Memento’s Camille. Abbedagge also continued to develop as a player and performed a vital role in the team fight that swung the game for Schalke. Overall, it was a solid clean victory. It may not have been as exciting as the other games this week. However, if you’re wanting to learn how to play League of Legends safely and with minimal risk, Schalke had the tactic nailed on.
SK Gaming will be very disappointed to lose this. As previously said, there wasn’t really a player who played badly. Still, nobody stood out as well. It was the fact that nobody could carry the game that allowed Schalke and more importantly Upset to control the match-up. SK Gaming still looked strong in the early game but as time went on their influence on the map became less and less. This is not too much of a worrying sign for SK fans though. Their side may have lost their last two games. However, if players like Crownshot, Selfmade and Werlyb continue to adapt themselves to the LEC, victories will come.
Misfits starve Origen to victory
Misfits yet again dominate another game as they take down Origen. The major discussion within the community was could Misfits perform at their level last week against tougher opposition. The short answer is yes. Yet again it was Hans Sama who was the major factor in Misfits’ win. The AD Carry finished the match 7/1/9, establishing himself as one of the deadliest bot laners in the LEC. However, Misfits did show small signs of weakness. Despite taking a 22 minute Baron, the side lost three of their members in a team fight three minutes later, showing that even gods can bleed. Nevertheless, the team rallied after that minor blow and finished the game off in style. What was most impressive in this game was Misfits’ objective control. The side finished with two barons and five dragons (three infernal and two mountain dragons), showing that it’s not only their mechanical ability that should be feared but their ability to starve opponents of every resource. After G2’s well-fought victory over exceL, are Misfits the top team in the LEC right now?
Little can be said for Origen, they never stopped in their attempt to turn the game around. However, small mistakes in the early game cost them. Mithy getting picked off while roaming was only the start of a constant avalanche of assaults by NuNu. In the end, the organisation will have to write this game off and focus on going 2-2 tomorrow. It’s early on in the season and if anything, at least Origen gave Misfits a game, which is something we hadn’t seen so far in this split.
Rogue remains winless
Rogue vs Splyce had everything at stake despite it being so early on in the season. While these sides aren’t competing for the title (or so it seems). Both sides will want to prove that they have what it takes to be a playoff contender. Neither team really impressed us at Gromp News last week and this match could have been the confidence booster that Rogue or Splyce needed. In the end, It was Splyce’s late game and slow play that ensured Kobbe’s side secured a well-fought victory over Rogue. However, more questions were raised than answered. Rogue felt sloppy throughout the game. Kikis on the Sejuani had multiple missed opportunities to shut down a Splyce member and HeaQ was never able to scale enough on the Ezreal to make an impact. From Splyce’s first kill in the top lane to their last team fight, there only seemed to be one winner. Which raises questions as to why Splyce needed to take 35 minutes and two Barons to seal the victory.
Rogues only major positive was the performance of Sencux, who for most of the game was the only player on his team still alive after fights. His mechanics helped him overcome a Karthus in the Jungle and Humanoid on Lysandra, who also had a solid game. The new organisation also were the only team this split to find a way to stop the Karthus, even if it did cost them their lives. Rogue as a whole have a lot of work to do and if these performances keep occurring, we here at Gromp News wouldn’t be shocked if we see Inspired replace Kikus as soon as next week. Splyce, on the other hand, have to be commended for winning, but also they will know that if they play this way against better opposition, they will struggle. The team as a whole played well. Kobbe looked dangerous throughout the game and the Karthus was yet again devastating as soon as the ultimate was triggered. Still, their inability to close out a game quicker could cost them tomorrow when they face Origen. Nevertheless, Splyce keeps winning despite not reaching their full potential making them even more deadlier as the weeks continue.
The top two reign supreme
Today supplied some high action games and some… not so high action games. But in the end, it remains G2 and Misfits undefeated. Whilst Fnatic and Rogue are still looking for their first win in the LEC. What today did tell everybody though is that upsets can happen, exceL were close to toppling Perk’s super team and Vitlaity proved that nobody should count them out just yet. Also with Schalke slowly gaining momentum, could they be the dark horse many expected them to be? More should be cleared up tomorrow but if things continue it’s only a matter of time before Misfits and G2 lose…right?
By Tom Daniels
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