League of Legends LEC Playoffs preview: Rogue vs. Schalke 04
Schalke 04: Summer 18 Repeat?
Without doubt, one of the most impressive feats in recent European League of Legends has got to be Schalke 04’s miraculous playoffs run to contest Fnatic in the final of Summer 2018. That feat could be bested if Schalke somehow separate Europe’s top two and repeat their impressive achievement in 2019 Summer by making it to a second final in three splits.
They’re certainly on the right path to do so. Despite the fact that many had Schalke down as favourites in their round 1 match-up against Team Vitality, it was still surprising to see them put their opponents aside with such ease. S04 continued to showcase what made them so impressive in the regular season, an excellent early game, followed by strong team fighting around major objectives.
Although it’s clear that Schalke possess one of the strongest early games in the LEC at present, one area that’s often overlooked is the late game insurance provided by 2nd All-Pro LEC AD Carry Upset. If Schalke have failed to close out the game by 25 minutes, their marksman hitting a three-item power spike is certain to strike fear into the hearts of his opponents, and will definitely be in the back of Rogue’s minds throughout their series on Saturday.
One to Watch: Elias “Upset” Lipp
For three years we’ve been told that Upset is a top tier ADC in European League of Legends and for three years we’ve been disappointed as neither he or his teams have qualified for the World Championship and languished marginally below trophy after trophy. Is 2019 the year Upset finally proves the LEC audience wrong and challenges on the Worlds stage?
While all the plaudits go towards Trick’s control of the early game, Abbedagge’s massive improvement from Spring to Summer, and IgNar’s playmaking ability, Upset quietly lingers in the shadows and supplies consistent DPS and perfect positioning in team fights to get his team across the line. The second highest KDA (6.4), the highest damage share (31.3%), and the highest damage per minute (583) of any marksman in the LEC, Upset is proving why Schalke opted to build their roster around the German ADC.
If Schalke struggle to find their feet in the early game against Rogue, you can bet Upset will be quietly farming and preparing for the important late game team fights to out-perform his opposite number, Woolite. With an expansive champion pool and safe early laning, Upset is the perfect player to carry Schalke to their first ever appearance at World Championship this autumn.
LEC Playoff Prediction: Rogue 1 – 3 Schalke 04
Some might point towards Rogue’s victory against Splyce and say it was a fluke, but this team have gone from strength to strength in the Summer Split and are set to fight for a place at Worlds at the end of playoffs or in the gauntlet. There was nothing fluke-y about Schalke’s win though, as they’ll be hoping to comprehensively defeat Rogue just as well as they did to Team Vitality in round 1.
Ultimately, this game boils down to Schalke not losing their mental due to crafty Rogue drafts, and holding Inspired and Larssen back in the early game to safely transition into the mid game where they thrive around key objectives. The jungle match-up is the place to watch through the best-of-five series as both Inspired and Trick will be looking to find opportunities to push their team ahead before the first major team fight of the game.
Rogue definitely have a win in them, as proven by their victory over Splyce, but can they surmount two top tier European teams in consecutive weeks? Surely not. Schalke’s calm, patient, intelligent early game should be too much for Rogue to handle and shut down. Trick will rule the Rift and guide his team to the first dragon or Rift Herald of the game where Schalke can then snowball and do what they do best, set up and team fight around major objectives to close out the game.
Next. How the new Teamfight Tactics items will annihilate the meta. dark
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