The Spring Playoffs in League of Legends started on April 3. The first match in Europe features the champion G2 Esports against MAD Lions. This encounter brought a big surprise.
What was played? In the Spring Playoffs, the 6 best teams from each region compete for a prize pool, the championship title, and participation in the MSI, an international tournament.
In the first match, the European champion and runner-up G2 Esports faced a chosen opponent.
They chose MAD Lions, who finished the Spring Split in a solid 4th place. The team consists of many young talents playing alongside the well-known mid-laner Humanoid from Team Splyce.
Everyone expected G2 to win the “Best of 5” decisively. The successful team only made a role swap, the players are the same as in the previous year. They ended the current split with 15 wins and 3 losses, one of those, however, against MAD Lions.
MAD Lions impress in the first duel
How was the first match? The very first duel of the teams, which was held online due to the Coronavirus like the last weeks of the season, started quite differently than many had expected.
At minute 4, a major fight broke out in the middle, where G2 Esports secured the first blood, but Shad0w, the mid-laner of MAD Lions, countered with a kill, making it 1:1. The match remained closely contested for a long time:
- At minute 15, the MAD Lions had 6 kills, their opponents a total of 5.
- G2 Esports was ahead by almost 1,000 gold.
However, with a team fight at minute 23, MAD Lions took control of the game. They defeated 3 opponents with a great action from the top laner Orome, who flanked the opposing team.
They subsequently secured the Baron buff and had the game under control. After 36 minutes, the surprise was complete. MAD Lions won the first match.
G2 Esports strikes back quickly twice
What happened next? The second match of the two teams was firmly in the hands of the champions from the start. After just 8 minutes, it was 5:0 in kills because they chose a very aggressive team for the early game.
G2 “played a bit with their food,” as the casters described, and ended the match after 34 minutes.
Who won Match 3? In the third match, the MAD Lions initially dominated and took a clear 1:5 lead in kills. Then G2 Esports fought back with good fights and equalized kills at 9:9. However, in gold, the champions suddenly led.
They were somewhat overzealous at times:
- Three team members of G2 attempted to destroy the inhibitor in the top lane at minute 39, but the MAD Lions were quicker and secured the mid-inhibitor thanks to the Baron buff.
- G2 Esports reacted aggressively with a team fight but lost it. Particularly, the mid-laner Perkz didn’t look good in this situation. The MAD Lions team took a 2:1 lead.
How did Match 4 go? Match 4 was almost a copy of the previous duel. The MAD Lions dominated the early game, G2 Esports fought back during the course. This time, however, the champions won a crucial team fight and ended the match after just 25 minutes.
In the decisive match, Caps makes the mistake
How did the decisive match go? In the last duel between the two teams, G2 Esports initially dominated. Supporter Mikyx secured the first blood in the jungle. At minute 10, the champions were leading 5:2 in kills and had a 1,000 gold lead.
In a strong team fight in the top lane, the underdog fought back, equalizing both kills and gold. From that point on, it was a back-and-forth for both teams until minute 25. Suddenly the match became very curious:
- The MAD Lions tried to secure the Baron buff. In response, top laner Wunder and Caps attacked an inhibitor in the bot lane and a Nexus tower together.
- The other members of G2 Esports, however, died while trying to interrupt the Baron buff.
- MAD Lions returned to base just in time and fended off the attackers before worse could happen. Nevertheless, the bot lane was now vulnerable.
G2 Esports attempted to attack the weak spot in several, sometimes desperate, actions. The best chance came from Caps and Mikyx, who together attacked the Nexus at minute 33.
Caps made a strange move as Ziggs, propelling himself away from the Nexus and thus missing an auto attack. Fatal, because the Nexus was below 10% health when both G2 players were defeated.
The MAD Lions, now on over 10,000 gold and 16 kills ahead, were then able to win a team fight and overwhelm the champions’ entire base.
And thus, the sensation was perfect.
MAD Lions secure at least 3rd place
What does this mean for the teams? G2 Esports has fallen into the loser bracket of the playoffs due to the defeat. There they have the chance to fight their way back to the top over several games. The path will now be significantly more difficult.
The MAD Lions, on the other hand, have already secured 3rd place due to the interesting bracket system. This is likely to please many in the young team.
The next matches continue today, April 4 at 5:00 PM, with the match between Fnatic and Origen. On Sunday, Misfits and Rogue will face each other. Both matches will also be played in the “Best of 5” format.
