LEC Playoffs: Fnatic take down MAD Lions 3-1, moves on to face Rogue

Fnatic continues their run of playoffs series wins by taking down the MAD Lions 3-1 today in the League of Legends European Championship (LEC) 2022 summer playoffs. Fnatic moves on to play Rogue in Malmö, Sweden; MAD are confirmed to be playing in the Worlds 2022 Play-ins stage held in Mexico.

The #LEC Summer Playoffs Bracket after Round 2! pic.twitter.com/AvGxm2R4nx

— LEC (@LEC) September 4, 2022

Fnatic tame the lions

Game 1 was an outright stomp from Fnatic. MAD attempted a draft similar to LNG Esports with a Kennen top and a Nocturne mid, as well as drafting Nilah but Fnatic were having none of it. As Fnatic continued to snowball they never gave MAD any room to breathe in this game with pressure being applied everywhere. The end came when Fnatic summoned the second Rift Herald on top lane and countered MAD’s engage, taking down three members. This gave the Herald time to charge down four structures and with this, Fnatic sealed a jaw-dropping 19 minute win. 1-0 to Fnatic.

that was quick pic.twitter.com/besRMKXCCW

— LEC (@LEC) September 4, 2022

The MAD Lions were, well, mad at how things went in the first game and went all out in punishing Fnatic top laner Martin “Wunder” Nordahl Hansen for picking Gwen without Flash or Ghost, dying three times at six minutes to MAD’s top and jungle combo. Unlike Game 1, MAD were in the driver’s seat for this game with advantages all over the map. Barring some errors which gave Fnatic a chance to remain in the game, MAD utilised their lead to eventually secure Baron at 31 minutes in and closed out the game soon thereafter. 1-1. Game 3 saw Fnatic bot laner Elias “Upset” Lipp getting his hands on Kalista while MAD mid laner Yasin “Nisqy” Dinçer picked an old favourite of his in Cassiopeia. This saw Fnatic’s bot lane duo constantly pressuring their opposition with Upset accruing a 2.1k gold advantage over William “UNF0RGIVEN” Nieminen at 14 minutes in. MAD still kept the gold close from other lanes but the stalemate would be broken at 24 minutes with Fnatic finding three kills, their second drake and a Baron in their pocket. MAD were unable to fight back from there and with Fnatic securing an Ace against MAD over the second Baron, they proceeded to end the game. 2-1 and match point to Fnatic. It was do or die for MAD, and they once more relied on two comfort picks for Game 4: Lee Sin for jungler Javier “Elyoya” Prades Batalla and Twisted Fate for Nisqy. The game began with Fnatic coordinating a 4-man dive onto bottom lane and secured an early three kills, two going over to Upset’s Lucian. They didn’t stop there and completely took over the early game and punished MAD for every misstep, breaking open MAD’s inhibitor at 18 minutes. MAD would not take that lying down and somehow managed to find two excellent teamfights in a row to stay in the game. However, they would hand the lead firmly back to Fnatic after a Baron fight gone wrong and after another fight going Fnatic’s way over the third drake at 28 minutes, that was all the orange and black army needed to finish the game. 3-1 to Fnatic.

TOP 3 ✅@FNATIC beat @MADLions_EN and secure their spot in Malmö! #LEC pic.twitter.com/LhCNyJEuzF

— LEC (@LEC) September 4, 2022

Post-match comments from Fnatic mid laner Marek “Humanoid” Brázda

Fnatic mid laner joined Laure “Bulii” Valée for a post-match interview after the series concluded. There, he talked how it felt to face — and defeat his old team — in MAD Lions. “Winning a best-of-five against my old team, it feels pretty good, I guess,” he said. “But I’m also sad for them that they can’t be in Malmö, Sweden with me. But overall, it feels nice.” Humanoid also said that he felt his overall performance was fine, but since Viktor involved a lot of farming, it was a bit boring. He also adds that the match had friendly banter going on in-game, but nothing out of line. When asked about what experiences he gained in Fnatic’s playoffs run, Humanoid believes that the team has actually greatly benefited from having to play more best-of-fives. “I think for us it was better that we finished fifth [in the regular season] so we can play more best-of-fives because I think the experience on stage is pretty important,” he said. “I think G2 Esports has only played one or two best-of-fives, and since we’ve played more than them, we will have the edge!” And his response to G2 head coach Dylan Falco wanting to meet Fnatic in the finals? “I’m gonna go there and I’m gonna stomp them,” he said. The LEC 2022 summer playoffs will resume next week on September 10th with Fnatic taking on Rogue.

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