G2 Bests Historic EU LCS Favorites Fnatic 3-1 for Finals Spot

This Split Will Mark The First In EU LCS History Without Fnatic In The Finals

Spring Split top seed G2 Esports have knocked out perennial EU LCS power players Fnatic to take on Origen in the Spring Split Finals next week and compete for a ticket to MSI. G2’s victory marks the first time in EU LCS history Fnatic will not make the Split finals, putting an end to a remarkable, record-setting streak. G2’s Finals berth can be added to their stack of accolades including first place in the Split Regular Season, Best Coach, Split MVP, and Outstanding Rookie.

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The games went back and forth, dictated in large part by the performance of the teams’ midlaners. Fnatic’s Fabian “Febiven” Diepstraten played extremely aggressively on both Lissandra and Zed, diving turret after turret to catch G2 players who dared to stray too far from their teammates. On G2’s side, Split Outstanding Rookie Luka “Perkz” Perkovic stood unassailable on Ryze for three games, rattling off spells and shrugging off Fnatic engages to set up fights for his teammates. Both midlaners played exceptionally, but in the end Perkz proved victorious through superior positioning and his heavily scaling Ryze play.

G2 toplaner Mateusz “Kikis” Szkudlarek led the charge in Game One, outputting nearly double the damage dealt to champions of any other player in the game on his Trundle, clobbering Fnatic into submission in the midgame. Glenn “Hybrid” Doornenbal engaged skirmishes and saved teammates with slick moves on Thresh. Fnatic tried to take control of the game with a Teleport flank reminiscent of yesterday’s CLG play, but G2 took advantage of Fnatic’s split positioning to divide and conquer, winning a decisive teamfight and pushing down the Nexus for the win.

Game Two saw Fnatic playing like a whole new team. Febiven’s Zed drew the attentions of nearly the entire G2 team, pulling Teleports and roams from Hybrid his way in an attempt to prevent him from snowballing on the deadly ninja. Febiven managed to slip out through shadows at every turn, avoiding even a single death despite the numerous attempts to shut him down.

The space Febiven created by pulling G2’s attention allowed room for toplaner Yeong-Jin “Gamsu” Noh, jungler Lee “Spirit” Da-yoon, and EU veteran AD Carry Martin “Rekkles” Larsson to farm and pick fights. All three players put up huge statlines, as Fnatic won in 16-4 team KDA stomp. Fnatic support Johan “Klaj” Olsson suffered three of his team’s four deaths, mostly falling in the heat of his engages on Alistar.

Game Three saw Perkz sticking with his Ryze despite the loss in Game Two, Hybrid once again on Thresh, and Kikis back on his terrifying Trundle. It didn’t take long for Kikis to get rolling, scoring a First Blood solo kill against Gamsu’s Poppy.

The players looked a little more raw and emotional after the back and forth of the first two games, with kills being traded back and forth from over-extensions on both sides. LCS caster Martin “Deficio” Lynge was quick to observed that G2 benefited from these “messy” trades due to the better scaling nature of their lineup. True to Deficio’s word, Perkz’ Ryze grew out of control as the game went on. The game turned dramatically in G2’s favor when Fnatic thought they had gotten a jump on Perkz at 22 minutes in, but Perkz’s Rod of Ages and Seraph’s Embrace gave him the fortitude to stand through the initial wave of Fnatic’s assault, as his team rallied to turn the fight for four kills. Fnatic held on by a thread with a favorable 2-1 kill trade at Baron as Gamsu landed a perfectly place Keeper’s Verdict Ultimate to knock Perkz out of the fight. However, Perkz’ displacement was merely temporary, and before long he was back at the front line, laying waste to Fnatic and pushing in to bring G2 to match point.

Game Four saw Perkz once again on Ryze, as Fnatic instead banned Kikis’ Trundle and control-focused champions Bard and Lulu. Three total support bans between both sides and a first-picked Thresh for Fnatic left Hybrid on Janna, in his first LCS game on the disengage-heavy “Storm’s Fury.” Hybrid made the most of his Janna debut by taking perhaps the most aggressive approach to the champion in competitive history, twice flashing towards opponents to land Howling Gale tornadoes, and consistently playing in on the front lines of engagements, slowing approaches and retreats with Zephyr.

Febiven on Lissandra seemed bent on killing Perkz as often as possible, throwing his Ultimate Frozen Tomb on Perkz seemingly on cooldown. The gambit worked initially, taking down Perkz’ Ryze twice early, but Febiven’s aggressive gambles began to pay off less and less as G2 responded faster and stronger with each successive attempt.

A 13 minute dive brought flashbacks to Game Three, as Perkz survived through Fnatic’s crowd control to turn the fight with the help of a Kikis Teleport. Febiven continued to hunt down Perkz, successfully killing him twice more as the game wore on, but once again G2’s lineup simply outscaled Fnatic’s pressure. A botched teamfight disengage by Fnatic in a 5-on-5 showdown in the midlane led to a 3-0 rundown by G2. Hybrid caught Spirit with to give G2 an uncontested shot at Baron and landed a surprise kill on an out-of-position Febiven to clear the way for G2’s game winning push. Hybrid finished the game with a 2-0-13 Janna KDA, and G2 advanced to the EU LCS Spring Split Finals.

Fans may be disappointed that they won’t get a chance to see a repeat of last years Fnatic vs. Origen showdown, but G2 cemented their status as the EU’s strongest team going into the finals. We’ll have previews and coverage of next week’s game on our EU LCS page at Blog of Legends!