The final of the LEC Spring Playoffs 2020 in League of Legends was a viewer magnet. However, the duel between the best teams in Europe, G2 ESports and Fnatic, was brutally one-sided. Nevertheless, at peak 813,000 people watched on platforms like Twitch, setting a record.
What fascinates about the match? In the final of the Spring Playoffs, the two most well-known and strongest European teams faced off. The duel between Fnatic and G2 Esports was anticipated by most, even though G2 surprisingly stumbled at the start of the playoffs.
Since the formation of the LEC, one of the two teams has always won the playoffs, with one exception in summer 2014. 7 championships went to Fnatic, 6 to G2, as the LEC graphic shows:
Many fans were therefore hoping for an exciting evening and a close Best of 5. But reality looked different.
The match proceeds one-sidedly, especially Caps impresses
This is how the match went: G2 dominated the opponent. Especially the bot laner Caps, who played for Fnatic until 2018, turned on in matches 2 and 3.
While the first duel against Fnatic was carried by mid laner Perkz and his good performance with Azir, Caps impressed with Kog’Maw (7 kills) and Aphelios (11 kills) in matches 2 and 3.
Why is this interesting? Before the season, many had doubts about Caps, as he switched roles, which many initially thought was a joke. Caps and Perkz are both “trained” mid laners in LoL. In 2019, Perkz played on the bot lane as the AD carry. This year, it was the other way around, Caps suddenly started on the bot lane, which occasionally led to problems.
For example, G2 lost to Schalke 04, a team that otherwise could hardly convince in the Spring Split. But in the final, Caps did everything right, leading G2 to victory in record time.
Playoffs set a new viewer record
How many watched the match? The final between G2 Esports and Fnatic set a new record despite the one-sided course.
According to the analysis website Esports Charts, at peak around 5:30 PM, 813,638 people watched the final – 545,992 watched alone on Twitch. This is by far the best value that the Spring Playoffs have achieved so far.
Only one event in the regular season had more viewers so far: the Summer Playoffs 2019. At that time, in peak around 7:50 PM, 841,147 people watched the events (via Esports Charts). The duel between Fnatic and G2 Esports went the full length of 5 games in 2019.
How popular is the LEC? In international comparison, the European league is far ahead. Yesterday’s final of the American LCS between Cloud 9 and FlyQuest was only watched by 379,426 at peak (via Esports Charts).
Currently, the EU final of the Summer Split 2019 is the most viewed event of the regular season worldwide (excluding China, as there are no concrete numbers according to Esports Charts).
Only the Worlds have stronger numbers. The semifinal between G2 ESports and SKT1 had almost 4 million simultaneous viewers in 2019 and is thus the most viewed esports event of all time.
