FC Schalke 04 1 -- ROCCAT 0
FC Schalke 04 dismantled ROCCAT methodically during Day 2, Week 2 of the European League Championship Series in Berlin.
Like many recent matches on the current patch, both teams identified largely opposite strategies to kick-start Saturday's slate of games. On the side of ROCCAT (2-2), this meant a non-traditional bottom lane, with Martin "HeaQ" Kordmaa on Ziggs building an AP-focused composition. Schalke 04 opted for a more traditional strategy, still picking an AD Carry and support to round out the bottom lane.
The early game went decisively the way of S04, who quickly picked up several kills thanks to roaming assists from mid laner Erlend "Nukeduck" Holm on Lulu. With the team's early lead, S04 had an easy time taking early objectives, quickly putting the pressure onto ROCCAT. The enemy team responded by making questionable decisions, playing aggressively and taking unfavorable fights in an effort to get back into the game.
Although S04 had an extremely tight hold on the game, ROCCAT managed to withstand a number of assaults. Thanks to the team's waveclear-heavy composition, ROCCAT was able to stall the game out perhaps longer than most would have thought. Unfortunately, the lineup's earlier mistakes that resulted in a 10,000 gold lead for S04 became too much for ROCCAT to handle. At the 40-minute mark, S04 decided to finally make a coordinated attack, pushing down every tower and inhibitor before setting their sights on the Nexus.
ROCCAT will look to bounce back against GIANTS Gaming to kick off Week 3 of the EU LCS at 12:00 p.m. ET on Friday. Schalke 04 will have its work cut out for it when it takes on Misfits later that same day at 1:00 p.m. ET.
--Rotowire
Misfits 1 -- Giants 0
Misfits earned its place atop the standings with a dominant victory over Giants.
With different compositions going into the match, Giants and Misfits boasted unique strengths and opposing playstyles. Giants (1-3) opted for a late-game focused composition, picking Tristana for AD carry Pierre "Steeelback" Medjaldi. Misfits (4-0) went for a much more standard composition, building out an early game composition that was looking to skirmish and force fights early.
From the very start of the game it was clear that the teams were mismatched. Before minions had even spawned, Misfits found itself gaining a tangible lead. Forcing an early game skirmish, the team did not find any kills, but instead forced Giants jungler Charly "Djoko" Guillard to start his jungle on Camille without a leash. With support from his teammates, MSF jungler Nubar "Maxlore" Sarafian looked much more comfortable on Taliyah, picking up early kills and wreaking havoc.
The jungler difference didn't end at level one, with Maxlore easily taking over the map with the rest of his team -- and Djoko doing little more than farming and dying. Misfits shifted its sights to neutral objectives. By the 20-minute-mark, the team found itself a mountain dragon, an infernal dragon, and a Baron. The early and mid game success of Misfits meant disaster for Giants, who had no way to bounce back. Though the team found a pick onto a mispositioned carry, Giants could not capitalize on the kill.
After showing signs of life in a teamfight victory, Giants made a critical mistake, using all of its resources to try and take out the enemy support. As a result, Misfits quickly converged and picked up three kills and another Baron buff. With the lead, Misfits forced another teamfight and the result was a 33-minute victory to maintain the team's perfect record atop the standings.
Giants will face ROCCAT at 12:00 p.m. ET on Friday. Misfits will face Schalke 04 at 1:00 p.m. ET match that same day.
--Rotowire
G2 Esports 1 -- H2K 0
G2 continued its dominant streak, picking up yet another swift victory as the team decimated H2K Gaming.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it. G2 Esports (4-0) opted into the same composition it has been running with success for its previous matches this split. Once again going for the funnel composition, the team gave mid laner Luka "Perkz" Perković Lucian as the enemy had denied him Kai'Sa. H2K (0-4) attempted to put a stop to the composition with its Kai'Sa pick, but pivoted itself, opting for a more traditional bottom lane.
G2 could not have had a better start, finding an early kill on H2K's jungler Ilyas "Shook" Hartsema during an invade, with first blood going to Perkz. Already at an inherent disadvantage, H2K's mid laner Marcin "Selfie" Wolski struggled immensely in lane, doing all he could to simply not die.
From the mid-game on, it was clear that G2 was in full control, and H2K was no longer playing to win, but simply not to lose. The squad did what it could to stop the bleeding, but the situation quickly got out of hand as Perkz had free reign of the entire map, killing everything in his path.
With complete control of the map for the entire game, G2 was able to move methodically, eliminating enemy champions and leaving ruin in its path. In just 23-minutes, the team set sights on the enemy base, securing a swift victory while maintaining an undefeated record.
H2K Gaming faces off against Splyce at 2:00 p.m. ET on Friday. G2 will challenge Fnatic later that same day at 4:00 p.m. ET.
--Rotowire
Unicorns of Love 1 -- Splyce 0
It might have taken Unicorns of Loves (2-2) until Week 2 to finally pick up a win, but it's now 2-0 on the week, and looking much better than we've seen in some time. From the start of the game, Unicorns controlled the momentum with clean teamfighting -- and it paid off with a blazing fast win.
Unicorns got off on the right foot when AD carry Samuel "Samux" Fernandez Fort picked up first blood with Kai'Sa to record his first kill of the Summer Split -- he had a 0/8/11 KDA (kills/deaths/assists) through three games so far. From there, Unicorns pushed the tempo in just about every lane to completely put itself in the driver's seat. While Samux and support Eun "Totoro" Jong-seop's Pyke had a grip on the bottom lane, mid laner Fabian "Exileh" Schubert's Irelia had an 1,100-gold lead on his own by the time 12 minutes had passed.
With leads in just about every lane and complete control over the map, Unicorns wasted no time picking up objectives to grow its lead and start preparing for an early win. Once it felt comfortable enough to go for Baron at 23 minutes, it was the beginning of the end for Splyce (0-4). Unicorns picked up the Baron with little opposition and promptly won a 3-for-1 fight that paved the way for an eventual win.
Unicorns faces Team Vitality at 3 p.m. ET on Friday, while Splyce continues its search for that elusive first win against H2k Gaming in the preceding game at 2 p.m. ET.
--Rotowire
Fnatic 1 -- Vitality 0
Fnatic dominated Team Vitality on Saturday to close out Week 2 of the European League of Legends Championship Series Summer Split.
Friday's surprising announcement that Fnatic (2-2) would be swapping out longtime AD carry Martin "Rekkles" Larsson for substitute top laner Gabriel "Bwipo" Rau continued to pay dividends, as the team looks markedly improved since a mediocre Week 1. If viewers were expecting a relatively close matchup between a pair of 2-1 teams, nothing could have been further from what they got.
The entire story of this game can be told in a single one-and-a-half-minute span starting at the seven-minute mark. With no kills and the gold even, Fnatic jungler Mads "Broxah" Brock-Peterson ganked the bottom lane as Trundle for first blood onto Vitality AD carry Amadeu "Attila" Carvalho's Vladimir, just as Fnatic mid laner Rasmus "Caps" Winther's Yasuo roamed into the top lane for a kill onto a Flash-less Lucas "Cabochard" Simon-Meslet's Darius. As if that weren't enough, Attila immediately Teleported back from base to die a second time, while his mid laner Daniele "Jiizuke" di Mauro attempted to salvage the situation in the top lane as Irelia, only to give up another death. By eight-and-a-half minutes, the Fnatic bottom lane had even dove the Vitality support for a total of five kills.
Before the 10-minute mark, Fnatic found another three kills and the first turret in the mid lane, putting it ahead by nearly 5,000 gold. The game played out predictably after that; Vitality tried to come up with fights, and even managed a couple of close ones, but could never win out in the face of its massive gold deficit. Fnatic ended the game in just 25 minutes.
Fnatic's substitution has worked absolute wonders this week, ending with one of the most dominant performances in recent memory. It will undoubtedly go into its match against first-place G2 Esports with confidence when it starts at 4 p.m. ET on Friday, while Vitality looks to break away from its even record against Unicorns of Love at 3 p.m. ET that same day.
--Rotowire