LoL: NAVI fall in LEC debut, Fnatic prevail after scare against Heretics

The 2025 LEC Summer Split kicked off with two best-of-threes. Karmine Corp swept Natus Vincere in the Ukrainian organization’s LEC debut, followed by a close 2-1 victory for Fnatic over Team Heretics. NAVI had a rough start, struggling to generate momentum against KC’s dominance. Players of the Series were Caliste "Caliste" Henry-Hennebert for the first series and Yoon "Poby" Sung-won for the second, marking an impressive debut in the LEC.

August 2 marked a few debuts in the League of Legends EMEA Championship. First, NAVI played their inaugural series after acquiring Rogue’s slot and retaining most of their roster—three players stayed, while two new additions joined: Francisco "Thayger" Mazo Sánchez and Lee "Hans SamD" Jae-hoon. In the second series of the day, Poby made his debut in Fnatic’s midlane, stepping in for Marek "Humanoid" Brázda, who was recently moved to the team’s inactive roster.

In the first series of the day, KC completely dominated NAVI. In Game 1, Hans SamD picked Yunara—the first time the champion has been played not just in the LEC, but across all five major regions (the champion is currently disabled in the LCK). On KC’s side, the Xayah–Rakan botlane ran over the game, while Kim "Canna" Chang-dong delivered a strong performance on Sion, a champion with high draft priority across most regions worldwide.

In Game 2, KC’s botlane quickly took control. Although Kim "Malrang" Geun-seong has some experience on support, it’s still not his natural role, and it showed during the laning phase. Caliste had a standout game on Ezreal, and NAVI were unable to take anything beyond a few kills and a single turret—no neutral objectives at all.

The series between Fnatic and Team Heretics was much closer than the day's opener. In Game 1, Heretics held the early lead, driven by solid plays from Théo "Sheo" Borile. Victor "Flakked" Lirola picked Yunara, but Elias "Upset" Lipp’s Kai’Sa counter pick proved highly effective. Poby also impressed on Orianna, dominating the laning phase with a significant CS lead and consistent control throughout the game.

Game 2 saw a strong response from Heretics, with Paul "Stend" Lardin shining on Thresh—participating in 18 of his team's 19 kills. Though rarely picked, Thresh brought energy and creativity to the draft. For Game 3, Fnatic moved to blue side for the first time and completely took over. Aside from an early drake, Heretics couldn’t claim anything on the map. Poby delivered once again on a control mage, finishing 6/0/5 on Syndra with over 300 CS. Despite some early struggles, Fnatic closed out the series with confidence, kicking off their Summer Split with a promising debut for their new midlaner.

This Sunday, August 3, three teams will make their Summer Split debut. First, GIANTX will face KC, who will look to secure a second straight win and move closer to locking in a playoff spot. The second best-of-three will feature Team BDS and SK Gaming, two teams that made several roster changes coming into the split. With both squads expected to compete in the same part of the standings, this series could have a major impact on the trajectory of their season.