League of Legends LEC Playoffs preview: Rogue vs. Schalke 04

The LEC Playoffs head into Round 2 with two more exciting match-ups between four heavyweights of European League of Legends. First up, it’s Rogue vs. Schalke 04!

Round 1 of the LEC Summer Split Playoffs provided two exciting League of Legends series that did not disappoint in the slightest. First, Rogue surprised the entire LEC audience by taking down Europe’s third best team, Splyce, in dominating fashion. Then, Schalke 04 quickly dispatched Team Vitality to mount their top two challenge and replicate their 2018 Summer finals run.

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Two new teams take to the Berlin stage on Saturday, Fnatic and G2 Esports, who will be battling it out for a bye to the LEC grand final in Athens. Before that, Rogue and Schalke will fight for a chance to contest Europe’s top two in the semi-final/first final next week. Both teams will undoubtedly be brimming with confidence after their terrific round 1 displays, but who will come out on top in their most important match of 2019?

Rogue: Surprise Contenders

To say Rogue’s win over third-place Splyce in round 1 was a shock would be a massive understatement. Every viewer, caster, and analyst was expecting a comprehensive Splyce victory, yet Rogue were more than happy to upset in the crucial match-up.

Intelligent drafts, a secure early game, and confident team fighting led Rogue to their first ever League of Legends playoffs win last week as Spring Split’s 10th-place roster proved that they’re now a top four team in Europe. While it’s clear that Rogue are playing with confidence and are an accomplished team fighting and early game squad, a lot of their success in their round 1 victory can be pinned to a game 1 draft that sent Splyce’s mental into orbit.

Garen + Yuumi. Until a few weeks ago, you’d be lucky to see this bottom lane combo in the depths of Bronze and Iron, but now it’s a must-ban lane match-up in the LEC. Woolite and Vander pulled these two champions out in game 1 against Splyce and were unkillable throughout the match, notching up a combined 35 KDA.

Rogue deserve praise for their incredible performances in their three-game series against Splyce, but if you were to pinpoint the moment they were destined to win the match-up, it would be the momentum gained from an excellent game 1 display led by the Garen and Yuumi bottom lane.

One to Watch: Kacper “Inspired” Słoma

Polish junglers are unstoppable in the LEC and Inspired is another name to add to the talented pool in Europe at the moment. If Rogue are to beat Schalke in their round 2 face-off this on Friday, their rookie jungler will be key.

His opponent, Trick, is one of the most experienced junglers in Europe at the moment and his performances during the regular season have fans rating him amongst the very best in the LEC. The South Korean’s ability to control the early game through information and intelligent pathing makes him a tricky obstacle to overcome for any jungler facing him.

Inspired will have his work cut out, but if his work in Rogue’s win over Splyce is anything to go by, he’ll have plenty of opportunities to open up the map for his team. Expect to see him pick early game junglers, such as Elise, Jarvan, and Olaf, then look to craft out potential ganks and roams to get mid and bot ahead. Trick will track Rogue’s jungler around the map, but brute forcing his way into mid lane and winning the 2v2 is certainly a win condition for Rogue in their vital match-up on Friday.