A MAD Finish: LEC Week 3 Day 3 Recap
The final week of this portion of the LEC provided some exciting matches and a better understanding of which teams have a shot at the title. The fans in Berlin were lucky enough to see a tiebreaker match between Heretics and MAD Lions, but unfortunately one of them would be going home with their head in their hands.
Photo by Michal Konkol/Riot GamesTEAM BDS vs. EXCEL (1-0)
EXCEL's game plan coming into today was obvious, shut down Crownie. The BDS bot laner has been a massive win condition for the team and EXCEL did well to put him behind early. Adam whipped out a Sett pick and showed once more that he is incredibly proficient at these strange off-meta champions. Earning himself two solo kills onto Odoamne. Abbedagge's Gragas looked really clean and offered EXCEL a few picks in the mid game. But Crownie inevitably scaled back into relevancy and Adam's Sett was too much for EXCEL to handle, earning BDS a 7-2 record while EXCEL are eliminated at 2-7.
Photo by Michal Konkol/Riot GamesASTRALIS vs. FNATIC (1-0)
This game featured a scrappy early game on the top side. But the highlight of it all was how unbelievably well Astralis's bot lane played. JeongHoon's Blitzcrank picked Fnatic apart while Kobbe followed up with Xayah feathers. However Humanoid found himself with four kills on LeBlanc by 12:00, it was his chance to put Fnatic on his back. JeongHoon didn't care, he continued to hook the carries of Fnatic, eventually netting Astralis a Baron and a 3K gold powerplay. He ended the game with 84% kill participation and showed that future opponents should fear his Blitzcrank. Astralis finish at 6-3, Fnatic fall to 4-5.
Photo by Michal Konkol/Riot GamesHERETICS vs. SK GAMING (1-0)
This game was a must-win if Heretic wanted to force a tie breaker at the end of the day. They got off to an early lead and Ruby looked promising on Ahri. A 12:00 dragon fight completely blew the game open with a huge team fight win for Heretics. The gold stayed relatively even until Heretics were able to get their hands onto the Ocean Soul. They got themselves the Baron Buff at 29:00 and closed out the game from there. All that was left for Heretics to do was pray for a MAD Lions loss in order to earn a shot at making the next stage.
Photo by Michal Konkol/Riot GamesMAD LIONS vs. G2 ESPORTS (0-1)
Olaf has gained a lot of prevalence not only in the LEC but around the globe as well. BrokenBlade had a monster game on the pick, getting a solo kill onto Chasy at 6:30. With the help of a cross-map Ashe arrow from Mikyx, he beat down Chasy once again a few minutes later. G2 snowballed this lead and it seemed like MAD Lions never stood a chance. Which surely put a smile on the faces of the Heretics members. Caps had a phenomenal game on Sylas as him and Mikyx were picking people off left and right. At 23:00, BrokenBlade got a quadra kill on Olaf, G2 turned this into a Baron powerplay, and eventually a game-ending siege. Now MAD Lions versus Heretics would decide the final spot.
Photo by Michal Konkol/Riot GamesKOI vs. VITALITY (0-1)
Bo played to perfection in the early game. Displaying some genius pathing on Sejuani, and getting his laners ahead. While the game was falling apart around him, Szygenda had a filthy solo kill onto Photon. But he overstayed, and Bo made sure to punish him for the mistake. Meanwhile, Upset and Kaiser were making a fool out of the under performing bot lane of KOI. By 21:00 Vitality had taken five towers, displaying some beautiful macro. They claimed their Hextech Soul and proceeded to end the game. Vitality finish at 6-3 and KOI at 4-5.
Photo by Michal Konkol/Riot GamesHERETICS vs. MAD LIONS (0-1)
Our final game of the round robin stage was a tie-breaker banger. A botched bot dive gave Carzzy's Zeri a head start and he made sure to take advantage of it. He took over a team fight at 16:00 allowing MAD Lions to take a few turrets and a Baron. A failed attempt to end the game a few minutes later, gave the desperate Heretics members a glimmer of hope. Even a second Baron buff at 28:00 didn't get MAD any closer to ending the game. Jackspektra obliterated the MAD Lions and gave Heretics a few minutes to breathe. But a Hextech Soul and some fearless team-fighting from Carzzy eliminated Heretics from the LEC Spring Split and advanced the MAD Lions into the next round.
FINAL LEC STANDINGS
Leaderboard for LEC Spring Split 2023 Week 3 Day 3. Image capture from Strafe Esports.
Image Sources: Riot Games / LoL Esports