Lead drops, heart stops and roster swaps. Get ready for some more action as the EU LCS returns for the week everyone’s been waiting for.
The week where the two undefeated te…oh wait.
Games to Watch
Day 1: Origen (5-1) vs Fnatic (6-0)
Thanks to Roccat’s systematic takedown of Origen last week, the original narrative of the two unstoppable titans facing off against each other has now been altered slightly. But despite the hit to OG’s record, the weight of the upcoming “game of week” is no different. If anything it’s heavier.
Prior to the Roccat loss, Origen were obliterating teams and making a hurricane like sweep through the LCS. Whereas Fnatic have had more of a modest climb to the top, beating out all competition but in a less convincing and more hard fought fashion. Origen would have looked like the favourite in this matchup, but with the sudden revelation that they are in fact mortal, things aren’t as clear cut as they used to seem.
In all honesty I expect this game to be a glorious bloodbath come the mid game when big objectives start coming into play. Laning phase may be a bit more docile and will likely be swung in the direction of the more prevalent jungler. Reignover will likely be paying Huni a visit against Soaz, but can Amazing work around it?
Lane for lane this game is the rare kind of game that can’t be written off due to individual strength, aside from Huni being just a bit more impactful as a player than Soaz I believe every single role has an even matchup. The probability of a 50 minute fiesta is just as probable as a 30 min snowball because of how strong both teams are when at their best.
Prediction: FNC
This is a hard one but I’ll go with FNC after a 50 minute spectacle which is decided by some weird misplay at Baron and Amazing dying or something to that effect.
Day 1: Giants Gaming (4-2) vs Gambit Gaming (2-4)
This game is a weird one for a couple of reasons, let’s start with Gambit.
Gambit are 2-4, but two of those losses are against Fnatic and H2k which are perfectly understandable, one was against Roccat who are a great team but struggled with Woolite to keep a hold of games, the last was against Elements who aren’t even sure themselves what they’re supposed to be. When you look at it, Gambit haven’t really underperformed too badly considering they needed time to adjust with Forgiven and had problems in the first week. It’s too early to say they’ve recovered but a win here against currently-on-form Giants would go a long way to maybe proving that they have.
Giants now are a case no one really saw coming, but now that we’ve got to this point it’s not too hard to figure out.
They have wins against the critically inconsistent Wolves, mess of potential and non-effective staffing Elements, broken without a carry SK and Woolite Roccat. All pretty easily winnable games for a team that has paid attention to improving objective based gameplay, exploitation of weak points and team co-ordination/kill spreading. Pepiinero is still the top dog but he’s no longer the whole team by himself, the rest are pulling weight and sharing resources and kills equally.
Now Giants’ losses are against two of the top teams in EU right now, so what we’ve learnt is that Giants are now fully capable of exploiting and beating out teams with weaknesses, but don’t have enough raw talent to beat out the best, making them a solid middle of the pack team.
Following the trend of Giants games so far, I wouldn’t be surprised if they pick up another win here as Gambit still haven’t fully found themselves. It’s all about whether or not Gambit show up riding the momentum of last week or with the same flaws they’ve shown for the first two weeks. Lane for lane Gambit are overflowing with potential, but Giants have proven this split that individual talent can only take you to the end of the laning phase, then it’s a whole new game.
Prediction: GMB
3-4given please.
Both Roccat (2-4) games: Day 1- vs Elements (1-5) / Day 2- vs SK Gaming (0-6)
Woolite’s inability to position correctly was an issue every fan knew of, every caster knew of, pretty much everyone seemed to know except Roccat and Woolite himself. Every week it was a game for me to count how many times he mis-positioned in and around fights and crucial moments. This problem costed Roccat at least two games this split and a load of them last split but yet they remained adamant in letting it continue. However, it seems the shell shock of beating Origen has finally allowed Roccat management to realise they CAN do better and replacing Woolite with ex Supa Hot Crew star MrRallez is a hundred steps in the right direction. Now armed with a carry that can actually position himself to carry, Roccat might be able to win the team fights, build the comps and play the games they never could before.
This change couldn’t have come at a better time too as Rallez and the new hungrier Roccat now have the two weakest teams in the EU LCS at the moment to prove themselves against. With pretty much the perfect schedule to showcase and adjust to a new roster with; I expect a 2-0 from Roccat here and true display of this team’s potential, after a whole split and 3 weeks of waiting.
Prediction: Catphoria
Special upset mention: Day 2: Gambit Gaming (2-4) vs Unicorns of Love (3-3)
The Unicorns’ three losses are against the three top teams in EU: Origen, Fnatic and H2k
Their wins are against Elements, Woolite Roccat and Dentist-less Wolves.
It’s hard to get a picture on this team as they can beat the crippled teams and lose to the in-form teams, a bit like Giants are doing at the moment. The Unicorns will be coming into this game as the favourites but it’s possible that an in-form winning streak Gambit can catch them off guard. If Gambit can take down Giants this game shouldn’t be too much of a stretch for them either.
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