LEC Summer Split : SK-FNC and G2-BDS

On the third day of the LEC Summer Split playoffs - League of Legends EMEA Championship-, the regular season top 4 teams will clash to secure themselves a spot in the upper bracket final. The first BO3 will face SK Gaming against Fnatic, while the second one will face Team BDS against current LEC champion G2. The winners of these matches will be a series away from reaching the Summer Split final. Nevertheless, the teams who go through a defeat won't be eliminated as they will have to make a lower bracket run.

The first 2 days of playoffs have a been a display of the true colors of the european teams. Fnatic is going through a rough patch. After their regular season loss against G2, the Black and Orange have not been able to show what they are really capable of. Specially Marek "Humanoid" Brázda, who has had some questionable performances individually. Fnatics looks to have lost the confidence on themselves. The only way to bounce back seemed to be obtaining a win in order to bring the moral up.

Therefore, the second day of playoffs Fnatic faced the anglo-spanish organization GIANTX looking to redeem themselves and get a boost of confidence. But GX defied any set expectations winning the first map of the series convincingly. Game 2 had a lot of ups and downs for both teams, but the Black and Orange finally found a way to score a win and then demolish Game 3. Although Fnatic has started to regain momentum, it is yet to be seen how they will respond, as their recent performances have arisen doubts from the fans.

SK on the other hand have had a smooth ride until now. Although the German organization was not one of the favourites at the start of the split, they managed to secured the 1st place during the regular season and they were able to win against Team Heretics without much difficulty. The knew korean botlane, composed by Lee "Luon" Hyun-ho and Cho "Rahel" Min-seong, seem to be the missing piece to complet the SK puzzle. Since their addition SK has found great success and their topside feels to be much more solid too. Whether SK will be able to keep up the good work when it matters most is the true question.

G2 had a tumultuous start to their summer split. They were able to turn things around though after week 2, regaining their peak form slowly but surely. After not having shined notoriously at the Esports World Cup only winning agaist Flyquest, the Samurais won 2-0 against KC on the second day of playoffs. Nevertheless, this match felt shakier than expected for G2, specially Game 1, which went on for 43 minutes.

Their opponents also showed non-convincing games the day before. Team BDS were very close to losing against Mad Lions KOI in Game 3 on the first day of playoffs. The Spanish team lost the game despite having a 10k gold lead and having secured an elder dragon. The swiss organization found a miracle and were able to grasp a win and continue their upper bracket run. These results though are not good enough for the organization who aim to conquer the league after a 8-1 finish and 2nd place regular season.

Although both teams have probably been the two most consistent teams in Europe throughout the year, they both have showed signs of weakness at a certain point of the competition. It is crucial for both teams to come out victorious from this match as this win can be considered as a statement of how solid these teams might be in the incoming matches.