Although Fnatic hadn’t locked in their spot in the 2021 LEC Spring Split playoffs heading into the final week of the split, many fans assumed that they’d easily qualify today with a win against a slumping Schalke 04. But the boys in blue had different plans and pulled off a huge upset behind a surprise Urgot pick.
Before this match, many League of Legends fans weren’t expecting much from Schalke since they had lost seven of their last eight games. Fnatic, on the other hand, were coming into the week on a two-game winning streak, having won their last two games against Excel Esports and SK Gaming.
Schalke’s recent scrims went well, according to the team’s top laner Broken Blade, and their confidence was able to translate over to the Rift today. The 21-year-old was an integral part to the team’s success, leading the roster with nine kills, eight assists, and only one death.
After the game, he explained that Urgot can be strong in today’s meta if you can survive his weak early game. Once he’s able to get items, he can easily take over teamfights with his constant DPS and relative tankiness. His ultimate can also turn a teamfight drastically by executing a low-health enemy while fearing every other opponent around him at the same time.
A well-timed ultimate combined with a flash into an enemy team could end with a multi-man fear, which would allow the rest of his team to follow up with their own damage and crowd control. It did help that Fnatic had little CC of their own to lock him down, which allowed him to constantly walk up and flip an enemy into his own team.
Another honorable mention on Schalke’s roster was LIMIT, who was fearless in his engages on Alistar. He was usually the one to start off the teamfights by jumping in or flashing onto the enemy carries or onto Fnatic’s own Tahm Kench.
With this loss, Fnatic must now look to secure a spot in the playoffs in their next two matches. If they somehow manage to drop their game against Misfits tomorrow, they’ll be hard-pressed to find a win against Rogue, who are the second-best team in the LEC right now.
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