The European LoL League LEC looks like a clear matter after just 3 weeks in 2020. G2 Esports seems unstoppable. They have now overrun their main rivals Fnatic and made it clear who is in charge of League of Legends in Europe. At the peak, 475,000 people were watching, a seasonal record.
It has been like this all these years: For a long time, Fnatic dominated the European League of Legends. Out of the first 6 championships, 5 went to Fnatic. But with G2 Esports, a rival emerged and both teams delivered exciting battles for the title in Europe.
This, however, changed after 2018, when the strong midlaner Caps switched from Fnatic to G2 Esports to form a kind of super team that would compete for the World Championship. Since then, G2 Esports has dominated.
This is the situation for G2 Esports: G2 Esports was only one series away from becoming World Champions last year. However, they lost that series against FunPlus Phoenix.
In 2020, they are competing with the same teams as last year. To bring some momentum, they have swapped 2 positions within the team. Perkz is now back in the mid lane and Caps has moved to the bot lane.
After a bit of a rough start in the first week, top laner Wunder complained about the official chairs, the team is now at operating temperature.
Bloodbath instead of a close match, as the bot lane collapses
This is how the match against Fnatic went: Fnatic was actually considered the team that had to beat G2 Esports to become champions again. They have one of the most prominent players in Europe, Rekkles, as ADC. Fnatic was the biggest team in the West in 2019, even more popular than G2 Esports in the regular season.
However, the match between the two top teams on February 8 turned out to be a bloodbath and was decided relatively early. G2 Esports won in only 30 minutes with 25-9.
The match started badly for Fnatic, as G2 Esports visited the bot lane early. From then on, G2 Esports had a gold lead and never relinquished it throughout the match.
After that, Fnatic fought back into the match and kept it relatively close until minute 22.
But a team fight broke out in the mid lane, which started out favorably for G2 Esports. After Fnatic’s ADC, Rekkles, used his stopwatch to briefly protect himself, there appeared to be a misunderstanding: His team fled, Rekkles was left isolated, and died.
Shortly thereafter, Perkz showed how to use the stopwatch correctly and survived getting focused by Fnatic.
Without the ADC, Fnatic had no chance in the next few seconds. After the fight, the score was 11-6 and G2 Esports was ahead by 5000 gold. At that point, it was basically over. In subsequent team fights, G2 Esports increased their kill count, leading to the bloodbath. The match ended in a one-sided 25-9.
Once again outstanding: Perkz on Ryze. He earned his 3rd MVP title in 6 games.
It was an overall strong performance from G2 Esports. Jankos on Elise made an impact in the jungle, Wunder achieved 7-1-4 with Aatrox, and the bot lane also won clearly.
The majority of the criticism at Fnatic was directed at the supporter Hylissang. On reddit , LoL viewers see him as a “coinflip” player: Sometimes he has a good day, sometimes a bad one. This time, a really terrible one. Hylissang died 8 times on Nautilus.
Rekkles also did not have a great day against G2 Esports.
The match was the expected hit with the audience. At its peak, 475,000 viewers watched, making it the most viewed match of the season so far.
G2 Esports perfect – Schalke 04 still winless
What’s the situation otherwise? The top spot in Europe seems already determined, as G2 Esports leads the league solidly with 6-0. Behind them, there are 4 teams tied for 2nd place with 4-2 wins, including Fnatic.
This year is going terribly for the German team in League of Legends, Schalke 04. There is no end in sight. Schalke took a risk before the season and recruited 3 new players to compensate for departures. Among the new signings was a 27-year-old Greek, who was once regarded as a star but difficult. Schalke apparently hoped he would lead the team.
With the new team, Schalke has not won a game yet and stands at 0-6 at the bottom of the LEC. Next Saturday, they will face G2 Esports.
