Enhanced Recall: EU LCS Week 7

Enhanced Recall is an article taking a quick [look] back at the biggest stories from the week’s LCS matches with reaction and analysis.

Wow! What a match!

The Game of the Week between Fnatic and Origen did not disappoint as it was edge-of-your-seat, box office feature material that included high stakes, bragging rights between former teammates, back and forth game action, intense team fights, an epic comeback, and even a deja vu Xpeke backdoor attempt for old time’s sake. Fnatic vs Origen is worth a rewatch or two, but probably more like ten. Just wow!

Fnatic set record, secure first seed

It was far from easy. The LCS schedule pitted Fnatic against the second and third place teams, H2K and Origen, heading into Week 7. Both opponents put Fnatic on the ropes, but Fnatic pulled two come from behind victories and proved why they are the team to the team to beat in Europe.

Fnatic now hold the LCS consecutive win streak to start a split at 14-0 and secured the first seed and bye for the Summer Playoffs with still two weeks remaining. What an impressive accomplishment. 

Origen proves it belongs

Although the lost a heartbreaker against Fnatic, the members of Origen should hold their heads high as they head into Week 8, having reclaimed sole possession of second place in the standings, one game ahead of H2K. Origen proved that they can stand toe-to-toe against the top squad in Europe and had a resounding victory over a worthy opponent in the Giants on Day 1.

Rough week for H2K

The first day featured a duel between the top two squads in the standings heading into the day. H2K got off to a hot start against undefeated Fnatic, ambushing Fnatic, who attempted an early game 5-man jungle invade, for a 2-0 kill lead, which snowballed into a 5k gold and 8-1 kill lead at the 20 minute mark in favor of H2K.

But, it was all downhill from there. Poor positioning lead to a pick Loulex, and Fnatic showed superior team fighting from that point on, quickly erasing H2K’s lead and dismantling H2K with a team composition that just put out more damage than H2K could in team fights.

In a bounce-back opportunity against a lesser ranked opponent in ROCCAT on Day 2, H2K made sloppy decisions and did not look like the H2K team that had been on a tear this split and dominated ROCCAT in Week 1. This was a much closer match. H2K held a slight gold lead and dragon advantage throughout the game, but a poor engage to stop the ROCCAT’s baron attempt led to a 4-for-1 and baron buff in favor of ROCCAT, which sealed the game. H2K finished the week 0-2 and fell to third place.

Head-scratching decision. H2K’s choice to pick Lucian against Fnatic may come back to haunt them. It was no secret to everyone that Lucian had a 0-10 in LCS going into the match, not to mention one of the lowest solo queue win rates for ADCs that hovered around 44%. Although H2K held a lead against Fnatic, it was evident that Hjarnan’s Lucian failed to put out enough damage in mid-game team fights, which cost them chance a victory.

R.I.P. CW

Week 7 was likely the nail in the coffin for the mismanaged, drama-filled circus show that is also known as the Copenhagen Wolves. On the brink of relegation, CW was listless on Day 1, getting trampled by the Unicorns of Love. Day 2 offered CW a golden opportunity to against SK Gaming to dig themselves out of last place. A victory would have meant a tie for 9th place and secured a 2-0 head-to-head tiebreaker against SK, but CW barely put up a fight.

CW was dismantled in both matches, finishing the week with an ugly slash line of 6/33/20 and an extremely embarrassing 30.8k gold deficit. CW is clearly not LCS-caliber, and relegation is all but a forgone conclusion despite two weeks to play.

SK breathes a temporary sigh of relief

It is easy to forget that SK Gaming finished in first place during the Spring’s Regular Season as the team currently sits second from the bottom. Fortunately, SK was gifted on a silver platter an abysmal opponent in CW and won soundly. The team secured a firm grasp on 9th place to avoid automatic relegation, and for now, still has a fighting chance for a seat in next season’s LCS.

What’s Next?

Things to look out for heading into next week’s EU LCS:

• Can Fnatic continue its undefeated season?
• How will the middle of the standings play out?
• Day 1 match to watch: Giants (7-7) vs H2K (9-5). Can H2K bounce back from a demoralizing Week 7 or will Giants gain ground in the standings?
• Day 2 match to watch: Giants (7-7) vs ROCCAT (6-8). This match can have major implications on the standings heading into the final week.

Image courtesy of Riot Games’s Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/100899330@N03/