LEC: Sad Heretics, Excel and Fnatic go to Season Finals and G2 win another title

The European LEC has had another split and big things happened over the weekend. G2 Esports ended a dramatic weekend with another title to add to their collection.

A foursome of teams, a sure participant in the Season Finals and three hungry wolves fighting for the last two spots. This was the final weekend of the Summer Split, where the league champion and the remaining spots in the battle for World Qualification were determined.

Humanoid and Co. upset Team Heretics

Friday’s series between Fnatic and Team Heretics was an all-out series. Not only could the winner of this series further their title hopes, but they were also assured of a ticket to the Season Finals, where the teams for Worlds will be determined.

For both teams, participating in the Elite Four this season was a first. Some nervousness was rightfully very much felt on both sides.

However, Fnatic didn’t allow for much drama and lived up to their paper expectations. Despite Heretics playing tenaciously, with Evi in great form, Fnatic didn’t have that much work to do until the occasional moment.

Heretics, despite a great effort, couldn’t compete better compositionally and so there was a great sadness in the team camp after the 1-3 loss. The veteran Jankos did not hide his great disappointment afterwards in his post-match interview. Time will tell if this will be the last game for him this year.

But there was one consequence to this loss. Evi, a Japanese veteran and huge star of the local LJL, announced that he was quitting the Heretics.

Time will tell if the iconic topper, famous on the international stage for his thumbs up and the dramatic grimaces associated with it, will continue to move to Europe. However, as a performance uptick before the playoffs, it was already too late for the Heretics.

Excel outlasted Fnatic and knocked KOI out of contention for Worlds

Saturday continued with a battle between Excel and Fnatic. This series was crucial for Excel, as the team was still not assured of making the Season Finals. At the same time, they were competing remotely with KOI for that last Worlds qualification spot.

Excel showed how much of a performance surge the team had undergone during the split and handily outplayed their opponents. Fnatic tried to play differently than they did against Heretics. Unfortunately, the mentally tough Excel showed a lot of resilience.

Fnatic’s better success was hampered by a series of mistakes and inaccuracies, which Excel punished. Thus, the 3-1 result for Excel was fair in the end and gave Excel the right to fight for the title against G2, whom they fell to a week earlier. The KOI players must also have been sad, for whom Excel’s promotion marked the end of the season.

G2 didn’t give Excel the slightest chance and celebrated their eleventh title

Sunday’s final pitted the favoured G2 Esports and the surprise of the summer Excel against each other. G2 (3-2) had the better of the last match a week ago, and Excel wanted to try to make a surprise appearance again.

But G2 are no slouches. Even when the team is not doing well, they can regain their strength almost immediately. Excel tried to change their compositions. One time it was more focused on the later stages of the game, the other time it was more focused on the early stages of the game. Neither of these variations worked against the best European team in history.

G2 Esports played gracefully and didn’t give their opponent much space. The very quickly evenly matched games became a series for Excel, the college of League of Legends. G2 were sometimes almost professorial in teaching their opponents the basic aspects of the game.

The last game of the series in particular is a perfect example. G2 managed to steal the game for themselves in a matter of minutes. The resigned opponent fought back valiantly, but nothing could change the 3-0 result for G2.

G2 Esports thus won their eleventh LEC title and showed their complete dominance on the European scene. A European sure thing for international battles as well, they will go into the Season Finals as a huge favourite. For Excel, on the other hand, this series is a great lesson that they can use for the Season Finals, which will begin on August 19.

Source: LEC, Kaza LoL, Leaguepedia