LEC: Jackies star on opening night, a wake-up call for Karmine Corp and a humiliating loss for Heretics

The first day of the LEC Winter Split offered us the first taste of the qualities and ambitions of individual participants. The LEC kicked off its 2024 season in a new arena that added to the improvements and overall fan experience. The new stand thus kicked off the first third of the season – the winter split. In it, ten teams with different ambitions wanted to get off to the best possible start and handle the rigors of the huge package of changes the game received at the end of the year.

A new Czech iron in the fire helped start the season with a win

GiantX, the unit formed by the merger of Excel and former LEC participant Giants, was not in a strong position to succeed before the season, according to experts. While the guild combined familiar and experienced faces, there was a big question mark over jungle and mid.

Many experts and fans considered this part of the team as unreadable and weak, even considering the current competition. Still, GiantX didn’t want to be left behind and show their qualities in their opening match against Vitality.

Their opponent definitely wanted to make up for the disastrous attempt at a European superteam from last year and set a new direction with a more balanced lineup on paper. At the same time, the bout was attractive for Czech fans, as in his debut among the elite – the Jackies’ middie, he challenged the experienced marksman Carzzy from a distance.

It was Jackies, over whom probably according to the experts the biggest question mark hung before the start of the season, started his LEC debut in a great way. A cautious start was replaced by great exchanges on both sides, with both units trying to critically slow down and beat their opponent.

The Jackies were able to show good reading of the game with their Neeko in several duels and help their teammates in critical moments. GiantX outplayed Vitality with a better team performance to register their first win in 2024.

As a reward for his good performance, Jackies was then named Player of the Match by the fans. Hopefully a good start will help our new hope gain confidence and courage for the next games.

Karmine Corp’s debut among the elite was let down by a lack of play

The main draw of the first day was the debut of French giant Karmine Corp against Fnatic. KCorp’s entry among the elite proved to be a huge magnet for the crowd. The clash with Fnatic kicked off the season with a viewership record for this split, surpassing 600,000 viewers in total viewership.

Fans of the French team were expecting a massive entry of their darlings into the LEC. The huge campaign and hype before the start of the season was meant to lure changes to the established order in the league. The team on paper was certainly not going to play second fiddle. However, the experts were more cautious and certainly didn’t want to get carried away with over-optimism.

KCorp’s debut among the elite started promisingly and the French team kept up with the traditional European powerhouse Fnatic for half of the match. However, Fnatic showed better concentration after that and increased their accuracy in important fights. Moreover, the French team started to pile up inaccuracies and any major cohesion completely evaporated from the team.

Fnatic, who last year salvaged their worst season ever with radical lineup experiments, showed the path the team has taken since the end of the 2023 Spring Split. Even Fnatic’s new addition, Korean support Jun with LCK experience, showed a promising start and stability.

KCorp fans, who are known for their very emotional cheering but also sometimes hypocritical or inappropriate behavior, had to watch their team lose. But the players have to bounce back very quickly. The next battle on Sunday will be against the best European team – G2 Esports. In terms of viewership, it will definitely be a great spectacle.

The MAD Lions surprised the Heretics with a clear win

MAD Lions KOI and Team Heretics were practically a clash of generations and a Spanish derby. Only Elyoya remained from last season’s original European duo, who were joined by a quartet of rookies waiting to make their LEC debut. Paper predictions spoke, at the very least, that the Lions would be at the bottom of the table with this experiment, initially.

Their challenger in particular, on the other hand, was brimming with the league’s most experienced lineup. Combine the core of G2’s golden generation (Wunder, Jankos, Perkz) from 2019, add another former member of that illustrious organization (Flakked), and combine one of the veterans in a support role (Kaiser). Heretics were not supposed to crush the competition immediately but a gradual path to good results was expected. Still, they were the favorites against the MAD Lions.

But as is sometimes the case, the newcomers to the LEC wanted to prove themselves. However, no one expected the style in which the MAD Lions would crush their opponent. The events may not have met the strictest of standards but courage combined with effort and innovation brought the MAD Lions a clear victory.

Heretics were a step behind everywhere and highlighted the toughest problem this unit will have to iron out – chemistry. Thus, the most ambiguous match of the first day’s play was definitely pleasing to Elyoyu, who took a leadership role in the team and gave out smiles after the match. A nice confidence boost for the young guns of MAD Lions.

Source: LEC, Leaguepedia, Kaza LoL