In just Round 1 of the LEC Summer Playoffs, we’ve already seen close matches in all 3 series. Two of the three series managed to go the full five games. We’ve even witnessed the first-ever pentakill for a jungler in the LEC. That being said, in case you missed it, here’s a short recap of everything you missed last weekend.
Rogue advance to semi-finals, with 3-2 over Misfits
The very first series of the LEC summer playoffs can only be described in one word: banger. Rogue went up against Misfits in Round 1, the first time Misfits made playoffs since spring in 2020. In that same playoffs, they were eliminated by Rogue 3-1.
Rogue opened up the series with a dominant win over the rabbits. In Game 1, the team already brought in some picks that were relatively unique this split. Odoamne brought the recently reworked Tahm Kench to the top lane, and Hans Sama piloted a Ziggs in the bot lane. By 15 minutes, the team had secured a 4k gold lead, as well as going up in kills 9 to 2. In some instances, Odoamne even managed to find solo kills against Hirit, who was on Gnar in the top laner.
Despite the dominance shown by Rogue in Game 1, the series would go back and forth between the two teams. They exchanged blow after blow as it went on. Misfits would secure Game 2, Rogue with Game 3, then Misfits in Game 4. As I said earlier, the very first series would already deliver the full fives games, putting on the Silver Scrapes.
Compared to the other games in the series, it was Game 5 that was the closest overall. By 15 minutes, Misfits secured a lead in every aspect, except kills. 2k gold lead, 2 towers to none, and 2 dragons to none. Rogue would eventually close this lead as the game went on, catching out isolated champions, and taking down towers.
Later on, in the fight for infernal soul for Misfits, Inspired showed why many saw him as a top jungler. Despite Misfits securing the soul, Rogue picked up 3 kills, with Inspired picking up two of them. This eventually led to a baron for Rogue, and it was the events after that many will remember this match for.
As Rogue used the baron to push out top, Misfits would try and stop their push. Razork and Vetheo would try and separate the Rogue lineup, but Rogue would hold their position. However, once the rabbits picked off most of the team, the fight looked to be all but over for Rogue. Inspired, on the other hand, had other plans for the team.
Going up against 3 members of Misfits, Inspired highlighted just how many years went into Viego’s gameplay. Despite the large numbers, and even health advantage, Inspired cleaned up the rest of the fight. With the Rogue jungler picking up the three kills, he secured not only the first pentakill of the LEC Summer Playoffs, but the first for any LEC jungler in history.
Rogue then proceeded to win the series, and become the first LEC team to lock their spot for Worlds.
MAD sends G2 to the lower bracket once again
In the second series of the LEC summer playoffs, G2 looked to continue the momentum they gained during the regular season. On the other hand, MAD looked to own up to their brand of being a different team during playoffs as their coach Mac said.
Game 1 of the series was pretty much dominated by G2, as they held onto their lead for the majority of the game. At the end of the game, the former dynasty picked up a 16-2 kill lead, 7-2 tower lead, and an 11k gold lead. Of the 16 kills on G2’s side, Rekkles was part of 15 of them. It looked like Rekkles was intent on delivering his “opera of death” like he said in a Youtube comment.
Sadly for G2, Game 1 would be the only game the team would pick up a win on. Game 2 would be a close fight between the two teams, but it was MAD who would come out on top. This was most thanks to their macro, picking up objective after objective, as well as catching out isolated G2 members.
Game 3 was a different story. At 20 minutes, kills were mostly dominated by G2, but it was MAD who was ahead in objectives. At exactly 20 minutes as well, we saw one of the most ruthless tower dives as well onto Armut.
Sadly, the kill leads were not enough. Humanoid showed why Twisted Fate was such a power pick, landing gold card after gold card on important G2 members. Game 3 looked to be too much for G2, as Game 4 looked to show why MAD was the spring split champions. Armut got his hands on Wukong, which was the same champion that started the reverse sweep during the spring split finals. The spring split champions eventually closed out the series, locking in both their spot in semi-finals and in Worlds.
FNATIC eliminate Vitality from playoffs, and advance to Round 2
In the final series of Round 1 of the LEC Summer Playoffs, both FNATIC and Vitality fought for their lives. Unfortunately, FNATIC’s top laner, Adam, would test positive for COVID-19, forcing the two teams to play online.
Just like the Rogue-Misfits series, the teams would go back and forth with each other. However, unlike the Rogue-Misfits series, none of the individual games were close. In each of the games, the team that was dominant managed to close out the game with a win. The most dominant of the games was Game 2, with FNATIC securing an almost 7k gold lead by 15 minutes. FNATIC closed out the game with a win at just over 24 minutes, with a 17k gold lead, and up by 20 kills.
In the end, it was FNATIC that secured the win over Vitality. With that win, Vitality would be eliminated from playoffs, and FNATIC would advance in the bracket
With one seed left to go to Worlds, the three remaining teams in the lower bracket have more stakes to play for. Round 2 will see FNATIC go up against Misfits, with G2 playing against the winner in Round 3. Tune in next weekend to see who will be eliminated, and who will go to Worlds.
