Recapping Week 2 of the League of Legends European Championship

G2 Esports sits alone at the top of the League of Legends European Championship (LEC) following big wins against Origen and Vitality in Week 2. Fnatic, Origen, and Rogue are all tied for second place after mixed results in the second week of action.

Let’s take a look at some of the most significant moments from Week 2 of the LEC.

Fnatic defeats Schalke 04

Fnatic vs. Schalke 04 was one of the most anticipated matchups of the week, with Konstantinos-Napoleon “Forg1ven” Tzortiou up against Martin “Rekkles” Larsson.

Rekkles and Forg1ven are arguably the best ADC’s Europe has produced, so seeing them face-off is always going to be something to watch. Forg1ven has come back into the LEC with a lot of expectations on him — after previously being regarded as one of the best in the position.

The last time he faced Rekkles was in 2016, and his age showed in Week 1 where he picked some ‘older’ picks instead of the current meta picks. You could argue he had quite a shaky start with Shalke finishing the first week of the Spring Split 0-2, but with a KDA of 7/6/9 you cannot put it down to Forg1ven. His mechanics aren’t all there, his positioning had been questionable at times, but he still holds promise especially with the incredible reactions the team have seen. Once Schalke 04 have had time to iron out any creases, they can jump onto Forg1ven’s back. Forg1ven can, and will, shine. Especially once those cobwebs have been shaken off.

the team talk about Forg1ven’s old picks in Xayah and Varus, and then Shalke 04 first pick Senna for him against Fnatic, blowing that conversation out the water. Sett was also picked up by Gabriel “Bwipo” Rau, with Aatrox picked into it which had done well in the matchup earlier in the day. With Tim “Nemesis” Lipovsek on Cassiopeia, Shalke’s answer of Jarvan IV and Leblanc was a strong response, but this is Nemesis’ Cassiopeia.

The game started with a pause, soon followed by a level 3 gank bot from Fnatic. Zdravets “Hylissang” Galabrov’s Thresh was clean, a lantern to Oskar “Selfmade” Boderek’s Gragas ended in a kill onto Minkook “Dreams” Han’s Braum. Selfmade then walked to the river to get the Scuttle Crab, but Hylissang wasn’t finished. Just half a minute after the kill on Dreams, who was still walking to lane, a Flash Flay onto Forg1ven gave Fnatic, and Rekkles, their second kill of the game, with Selfmade walking over wards to help secure it. the team can praise Hylissang for the play, but Forg1ven should not have stuck around in what was basically a 1v3. This is one of those mistakes he needs to clean up.

Schalke seemed a bit slow on the tempo, getting Rift Herald but saving it rather than dropping it before Fnatic could respond. When it was eventually dropped, none of Shalke were nearby to earn the gold from the Turret Plates being destroyed. Even when Schalke was being proactive, Fnatic was reading it and predicting it. A play from Jarvan IV and Leblanc onto Nemesis ended with the entirety of Fnatic around the midlane, and another kill going over. By 6 minutes Rekkles was 2/0/2 on Miss Fortune, with a steady 2k gold lead over Forg1ven.