G2 flawless in Week 1 of LEC Summer Playoffs
The LEC 2024 Summer Regular Season has come and gone, which saw SK Gaming and Team BDS take 1st and 2nd place, each with a record of 8 wins and 1 loss. Now, the 8 teams that qualified for the Summer Season playoffs face off in a thrilling set of matches.
We saw a lot of European League of Legends action over the weekend. Now that the first week of playoffs is over, we'd like to go over what the teams and match-ups had in store for us.
Day 1: A Hydrogen Bomb and the Lost Lions
SK Gaming vs Team Heretics
The LEC Summer Season playoffs launched off last Friday (July 12th) in a matchup that saw the Regular Season winners of SK Gaming face off against the struggling, but long-time beloved veterans of Team Heretics.
SK seemed determined to continue their good run of form, making quick work of the Heretics squad in Game 1 with a swift and sure-footed win in under 27 minutes. In what was a fairly low-kill game by European standards, SK showcased great control of the map to suffocate Team Heretics, whose Smolder bot and Varus mid experiment did not pan out.
Game 2 saw Team Heretics return to a more standard composition. The game played out a lot more evenly this time around, with Team Heretics grabbing a quick 3 dragons to none lead. Eventually, though, when the two teams squared off as Heretics looked to secure dragon soul, SK won a convincing team fight. Having obtained the ace, SK rushed to secure the Baron. From that moment on, it was all SK Gaming.
Result: SK Gaming 2 - 0 Team Heretics
Team BDS vs MAD Lions KOI
Game 1 saw MAD Lions KOI quick out of the gates. After grabbing an early lead in kills and gold, they never looked to relent on the aggression.
Team BDS' Ice decided to go with Twitch in the bottom lane. The unusual pick was constantly put to the test by MDK, as both teams looked ready to team fight at any given chance. In the end, the controversial pick did not work out and MAD Lions KOI secured a convincing first game win in 36 minutes.
Games 2 and 3 painted two very similar, disheartening images for the Lions. The team managed to get themselves sizeable gold leads in both games, and looked poised to take the series at any moment. Both leads, however, vanished after a bad set of decisions.
Particularly tragic was Game 3 of the series, where MAD stood at the gates of their enemies' nexus. Having taken down two inhibitors, MAD looked to press the issue in an attempt to end the game then and there.
However, the decision proved incredibly costly, as they ended up having to back away, losing mid laner Fresskowy in the process, and subsequently gifting BDS the Baron. Soon afterwards, top laner Myrwn got picked inside the BDS jungle, which BDS then took full advantage of by pushing into the MAD Lions base to attain the game, and series win.
Result: Team BDS 2 - 1 MAD Lions KOI
Day 2: GIANTX and Karmine Corp Can Hold Their Heads High
Fnatic vs GIANTX
GIANTX gave Fnatic a good fright to start the day. In game 1 of the series, the teams looked a little cold off the bat. After a long back and forth series of events, GIANTX managed to secure a couple of pivotal team fight wins. Behind their jungler Juhan's proactive play and innovative Amumu pick, GIANTX were able to punch first and take Game 1 for themselves.
Fnatic came out looking far more determined in Game 2. Spanish top laner Oscarinin decided to opt for an aggressive pick in Olaf, with which he struggled in the early game. Once settled, however, the pick proved to be uncontainable for GIANTX's double ADC team composition. Moreover, Fnatic did not fall asleep at the wheel and grabbed a convincing team fight to claim a 25-minute win and even up the score.
The team then carried this momentum over to the third game of the series. GIANTX were ultimately unable to overcome Razork's impressive early game and succumbed to Fnatic after 33 minutes of play.
G2 vs Karmine Corp
In a series marked by aggression and exciting picks, G2 and Karmine Corp seemed ready to end the day in style. Clearly, neither team was afraid to draw blood on the day. After 43 minutes of gameplay and a combined 44 kills, G2 breathed a sigh of relief after claiming Game 1 against a team that has only struggled since they entered the league earlier this year.
Game 2 saw G2 win the series after another chaotic game, in which KC's rookie mid laner Vladi shone bright on his second Yone pick of the day. Despite the loss, Karmine Corp showed a great attitude in putting up a good fight against a strong opponent.
Day 3: Fnatic and G2 Look To Remain Kings of Europe
Fnatic vs SK Gaming
Despite SK Gaming's impressive Regular Season, which saw them finish in first place, the team's relative playoffs inexperience was on display against Fnatic.
Game 1 was marked by Humanoid's oppressive Tristana gameplay, whose lane opponent, Nisqy, died a total of 8 times before the game was done. Razork's Zyra and his ubiquitous map presence proved invaluable yet again. Fnatic's jungler finished the game with a team-high 70% kill participation.
The second game of the series was nothing short of a statement from Fnatic. After a strong early game from SK, Fnatic were quick to find a way to turn the game.
Isma and Nisqy's much criticized Nidalee and Azir picks paired up for a combined score of 2/9/4 to end the game. Fnatic's pressure and aggression, complemented by Noah's star mechanics, saw the team take a 20-kill lead and eventually claim the game in just 27 minutes of play.
Result: Fnatic 2 - 0 SK Gaming
G2 vs Team BDS
Team BDS' single-game loss across the entire Regular Season saw itself tripled across two playoff series. After their first game loss against MAD Lions on Friday, BDS struggled against G2's remarkable ability to perform when it matters most.
G2's Caps claimed an early lead with the help of Yike, and swiftly took over Game 1. With an exciting performance on Lucian, Caps was simply too much for BDS, who were left without answers. Persistently dealing out an impressive amount of damage throughout the game, Team BDS eventually succumbed under the unrelenting pressure.
Game 2 saw Team BDS fly off to an incredible start. Under-farmed after an early lane-swap from BDS, Brokenblade's Jayce could not stand up to Adam's Malphite. Adam was quick to secure a couple of solo kills on Brokenblade, leading his team to a quick 3-0 lead in kills.
G2, however, would not go down easily. Grabbing a great set of picks with a team composition set up with that exact purpose in mind, the team swiftly evened up the score. After mounting up an admirable defense, Team BDS eventually fell to G2's slow-mounting pressure.
G2 celebrate their 2-0 win over Team BDS. (Credit: Michal Konkol/Riot Games)The series was ultimately marked by Adam's controversial set of picks and item builds, as the top laner failed to accumulate considerable enough amounts of armor against G2's double ADC compositions in both games.
LEC Summer Playoffs Resume This Sunday
The 2024 League of Legends LEC Summer Split Playoffs will be live-streamed on Twitch and YouTube. You can catch the next round of Playoffs starting with MAD Lions KOI vs Karmine Corp on Sunday (August 21st) at 5pm CET.
You can find a complete schedule and list of match-ups for the LEC Summer Playoffs here.
Image Source: Wojciech Wandzel/Riot Games
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LEC 2024 Summer Split Playoffs: All First Round Draws and Predictions