Week 7 of the European League of Legends Championship Series shapes up as a hotly contested battle, with teams looking to pull away from the pack as they inch closer and closer to the playoffs.
Fnatic on a roll
Fnatic (9-3) will look to continue their winning ways, with match-ups against both the struggling Misfits, who are 2-4 over the past three weeks, and Vitality, who have lost four in a row. Fnatic have won seven straight, with their last defeat coming at the hands of Misfits back in Week 3.
Fnatic, alongside G2 Esports, have been the hottest team in the league and appear to have finally found chemistry with new Support Hylissang. Paired with AD Carry Rekkles in the bottom lane, the combination has continued to improve as the season has progressed, with Mid laner Caps being the rock for the team.
Unfortunately for Fnatic, an upcoming meta shift in patch 8.4 could hurt them, given their dominance and control of the 8.3 meta thus far. Yet a line-up compiled of this much experience and talent should continue to maintain their first-place status moving forward.
H2K looking to maintain momentum
Arguably the most under the radar team in the league is H2K Gaming (4-8) who, after an atrocious start, have now won three of four, with their only loss in this streak coming against Fnatic.
H2K have a fairly easy schedule this week, with last place Unicorns of Love and the aforementioned Misfits on the menu. H2K’s bold roster moves have finally paid off, with the team looking like a top end outfit ever since the addition of Shook to the Jungle.
Shook’s stability has brought a much-needed balance to the line-up, while the addition of Selfie has produced even better results than anticipated given he was replacing a decent player in Caedral. Given the trajectory of H2K, they should have no issues until Week 8, when they meet up against current second place team G2 Esports.
Schalke outside the playoffs
FC Schalke (5-7), while failing to live up to their pre-season hype up until this point, could be poised for a good weekend, with Team Vitality and Unicorns of Love on the schedule.
Schalke have been wildly inconsistent, especially for a team who had top three aspirations entering the year. While the talent remains there, team cohesion and execution continue to plague this roster, with questions of overall chemistry beginning to come about. However, two struggling sides could be just what the doctor ordered for FC Schalke, who still have a solid shot at making the playoffs (where they could still be incredibly dangerous).
For FC Schalke to prevail, Mid laner Nukeduck, who was an MVP candidate earlier in the year, will need to have a dominant performance.
Giants looking for a split
One team expected to continue their slide is Giants (6-6), who have lost three of four including a reverse against Unicorns of Love. Giants have a decent shot against ROCCAT given both have been more down than up as of late, but a match-up against G2 Esports will be a tough task for them.
Initially performing better than expected, Giants have fallen back to earth recently, lacking the innovation and decisiveness that helped fuel their early season results. The key players all season long have been the veterans of Betsy and Steeelback, with Betsy in particular shining whenever they secure a victory.
Originally using counter picks such as Veigar in order to secure a laning advantage, Giants have trended towards more standard picks, excluding their selection of Kassadin against UOL. However, this was at the cost of giving away arguably the best champion in the game in Zoe, and that standardisation tends to limit Betsy’s ability to overtake the game.
If Giants are to find a win against ROCCAT, realistically their only shot this week given G2’s form, a strong Mid laner counter and a late game scaling AD Carry for Steeelback should be the core of their strategy.
With six teams to qualify for the playoffs and no team more than two games out of a playoff place, there’s still lots to play for ahead of the final three weeks of group competition.
