EU LCS Playoffs Recap

With Supa Hot Crew and Millenium already set for relegation matches, we had Gambit Gaming, Copenhagen Wolves, Alliance and Roccat fighting over their summer split spot as the overall loser of those four would have to play in relegations next week. Fnatic and SK Gaming, having been at the top of last week's standings, were safe from relegation and would fight over the entrance to the grandfinals. But let's see what actually happened, with some games being rather close while others were clearly dominated by one team, we had a great set of action-packed games!

Tuesday

With the teams fighting for a spot the next LCS Summer Split, this day was very intense for all of them. While two of them could secure their spot, Gambit and Copenhagen Wolves were sent off to a 5th/6th place match for the next day, with one of them surely facing relegation.

Alliance vs. Copenhagen Wolves - Alliance win 2-1 - Overall match value: 4 on 5

What a series this has been! With all the teams playing a BO3, fans had to sit at the edge of their seats starting with game one in this match-up. With game two and game three being really close, this was an intense round of matches to watch for both Alliance and Copenhagen Wolves fans out of which Alliance advanced to the semifinals.

Best match: With game one being very dominated by the Wolves and game three being dominated by Alliance, game two has to be the best one. Wolves, one win in, playing it safe, same goes for Alliance who did not want to get relegated. In the end, Baron Nashor at 38 minutes into the game followed by 3 kills for Alliance sealed the deal here.

MVP: Undoubtedly, this one goes to Alliance's Tabbz. Playing Lucian in two games and going 7/0/3 as well as 4/0/6 and a game as Twitch with stats of 6/3/2 show just how strong he is as an AD Carry, even if he didn't use to main this role. But not only is his Lucian good, he landed a few critical Spray and Pray's when playing Twitch on the enemy team, tilting team fights in his team's favor, letting them finish the series as the victor.

Roccat vs. Gambit Gaming - Roccat win 2-0 - Overall match value: 3 on 5

This game has probably been the biggest upset of the playoffs, with Gambit just getting dominated by Roccat. Fans were sure it would be a hard fight against the Poles, but what then happened in the games was just unbelievable. Roccat did not even let Gambit touch lategame, as both matches had been finished under the 35 minute mark.

Best match: There wasn't a best match per se, as both matches had been more or less the same in terms of dominance over Gambit, map pressure and objective control, all of which were really well executed by Roccat. The Polish team showed once again that they are LCS material and took a well deserved victory over Gambit Gaming.

MVP: Jankos on Elise. A lot of people wondered why Gambit would even let Elise open for him, as it is one of his best, if not the best, champions and in this series, he has proven that again to his fans. Elise will surely be a considered ban for teams facing off Roccat from now on. With great ganks, sieging as well as pick-off power, he helped his team claim the victory in a smooth 2-0 best-of-three.

Wednesday

Fighting for a spot in the finals, we had two exciting best-of-threes between Fnatic and Alliance as well as SK Gaming and Roccat. The most important match of the day though was the 5th/6th place match between Gambit Gaming and Copenhagen Wolves, as the jobs of the team that gets relegated are on the line.

Alliance vs. Fnatic - Fnatic win 2-1 - Overall match value: 3,5 on 5

Two giants facing in the semifinals, but only one could be victorious. In this matchup it was Fnatic who came out on top and advanced to the grandfinals, that doesn't mean that Alliance didn't put up a fight though. Clawing their way back in in match two, the third match didn't go in their favour and they lost to Fnatic.

Best match: The most interesting game here was match 2 for sure. If you want to see Fnatic clearly being superior to Alliance go see games 1 and 3, but game 2 was a back and forth between the two teams, with Alliance really showing their strength in turning games around and being patient. While the early-game looked better for Fnatic, Alliance played the objective game right and was thus able to get a lead to then close out the series.

MVP: This is a hard one between Cyanide and Rekkles but in the end it has to be Cyanide. The jungler for Fnatic had great impact on the lanes and helped to secure objectives such as Dragon and Baron as well as towers and picked up some kills for himself. Playing a strong set of 3 games, he is catching up to the top of the jungle ladder.

SK Gaming vs. Team ROCCAT - SK win 2-1 - Overall match value: 3,5 on 5

The winner of the regular season was facing an incredibly strong contender in the face of ROCCAT. The Poles delivered the biggest upset in the playoffs by eliminating theoretical favorites Gambit and secured their participation in the Summer split. What is more, the aggressive Polish style contrasted perfectly once pitted against SK's rotational, more calculated approach to the game.

Best match: The jewel in the series was game three were action broke out at level one. ROCCAT scored early kills and amounted a small gold lead. Despite the sloppy executions, SK Gaming caught up and managed to surpass their opponents in gold, but traded kills in the process. While the Polish squad racked kill after kill they were less effective once it came to taking objectives as their counterpart took towers, dragon and buffs every chance they got. With a superior gold count once late game came, SK Gaming won two decisive fights and walked out victorious from the clash.

MVP: SK's own CandyPanda once again showcased why he was one of the best AD Carries in the Spring split. The bot laner was a key piece in his line-up, always in the right place at the right time. As the Poles tended to focus more on shutting down fredy122, the German took advantage of that and farmed up as fast as he could and hit his power spike in the right moment, swinging the game in his team's favor. Finishing without a death in the deciding game, CandyPanda's Lucian was a terror in the face of ROCCAT, a true MVP performance.

Copenhagen Wolves vs. Gambit Gaming (5th/6th place match) - Gambit win 2-1 - Overall match value: 4 on 5

Backs against the wall, the Russians for the first time had to defend their LCS spot. Their sub-par performance was heavily punished by ROCCAT which meant that now, Gambit had to face the Copenhagen Wolves and win, in order to ensure their participation in the Summer split. The Wolves had a strong showing against Alliance which meant that they are no pushover. The team lead by Forg1ven was against a weak and lost Russian team, a chance one does not get every day.

Best match: A fight for a LCS spot has never been more fierce! Both teams offered us a true spectacle in terms of suspense, tactical superiority and quality action. Game three was by far the best match of the series not only because of the significance of the outcome, but also the visible step-up from certain members in both line-ups that glued us to our screens until a nexus was destroyed. From the face cams you could clearly see the determination and eagerness of both teams to remain among the elite. If you are a fan of a tense game, full of swings and non-stop action, heart-stopping fights and pentakills then Game 3 is your cup of tea!

MVP: Alexey Ichetovkin - the man in the mid lane came up big once it mattered the most. The dynamo behind the Russian squad rounded up his teammates together in game 2 and became the "X Factor" for his team, racking up kills, setting up opportunities and creating chances for his team on multiple occasions. Despite the rocky regular season for Alexey, during this clash, he completely outclassed his counterpart and in game 3, the Gambit leader was "in the zone", demolishing the Wolves with his Orianna. After his stellar performance and Genja's pentakill, Gambit Gaming have ensured a spot int he Summer split of the European LCS.

Friday

The last day of the playoffs featured the 3rd/4th place match between Team ROCCAT and Alliance and the long-awaited Grand Final between SK Gaming and Fnatic. The latter duo were making history - Fnatic were now a part of every EU LCS final thus far, while SK are the first team in Europe to make it into the finals in their debut season.

Alliance vs. Team ROCCAT (3rd/4th place match) - ROCCAT win 2-0 - Overall match value: 3 on 5

Missing the finals by a whisker, both squads assured everyone that coming into the 3rd/4th place match, they were looking only for victory. Two aggressive teams pinned against each other definitely promised a show. However, the Poles had different plans...

Best match: Despite the 2-0 score line game two offered very entertaining plays. With Froggen picking Fizz and Overpow claiming Nidalee, we were in for a mechanically intensive match-up which promised a lot of action. Froggen's 4v1 chase did deliver as the sneaky Dane managed to juke four Poles for a good minute before falling to Overpow. Speaking of the devil, the Pole punished an out of position Shook by following the Nocturne from mid, through Dragon pit and finally ended his misery on bot lane. Aside from that, ROCCAT never stopped pressuring Alliance who succumbed early and decided to adopt a reactive play style, hoping that the Polish team would slip-up. That mistake never came, though as they claimed objective after objective and finally took down the enemy nexus to claim the third place in their debut season.

MVP: Despite being in the shadows for the better part of the split, Celaver shined in this match. The AD Carry was merciless and took advantage of every chance he got. Excelling in both games with Jinx and Lucian, respectively, the Pole finished the series without dying and carried his team to victory and an impressive third place finish.

Grand final: SK Gaming vs. Fnatic - Fnatic win 3-1 - Overall match value 4 on 5

The "El Classico" of eSports was the final of this split. The eternal battle between the organisations started from Quake, StarCraft, WarCraft 3, Counter-Strike and has now moved onto the Summoner's Rift. The Fnatics continued their incredible playoff form and got into their 3rd consecutive final. Prior to the match, the players expressed their relief that the mid-season slip-up was simply a minor incident and how satisfied they were with their progress ever since. For Rekkles, this was a big moment as the youngster is only 17, but is already in his first LCS final. O

On the other hand, SK were coming into this match as the heavy underdogs. Despite the regular season win, many deemed the team under-qualified to dethrone Fnatic. Their rotation-based play style was not on a good enough level to counteract the calculated and aggressive moves of the opposition. Regardless, the match began under a round of cheers for both sides.

Best match: As the European final always brings out the best in each contender here we have two games. The first highlight clash was match number 2. After the regular lane swap, Rekkles and Yellowstar miscalculated a tower dive which allowed fredy122 not only to pick up a kill on the overeager Swede, but also keep his tower safe. That way, SK amounted a huge lead, spearheading in gold, tower count and map control. In that moment, instead of adopting an aggressive play style in order to starve the Fnatic line-up, SK decided to stay back and "get more ahead". This proved to be the wrong choice as their opponents completely shut down their rotation and trade attempts and were content with sitting back and farming-up. Eventually, SK made the mistake of committing too much resources to a top lane turret. At that moment a brilliant engage for Fnatic completely turned the match around and won them the game.

The final game of the series, game four, showcased the dominant style of Fnatic. SK once again left Nidalee unbanned and xPeke made sure to punish that careless act. The Spaniard came big for the third final in a row, obliterating his opponents and landing spear after spear, much to the awe of the crowd. The perfectly executed siege-comp was effective even outside this scenario as incredible performances by Cyanide and Yellowstar made sure that the solo laners and the AD Carry were ahead early. With nowhere left to run, SK tried to defend, but once the spears started raining, defeat came swiftly.

MVP: Despite Rekkles' great performance, xPeke was the inspiration behind the convincing victory from his team. The Spanish maestro fulfilled his duties with precision and was a factor even in their only loss in game 3. Game four, however was his time to shine as the crowd went wild after he flanked the SK team and landed a deadly spear onto Jesiz, eliminating the Dane and further solidifying his team's lead. A playoff player, Peke stepped up right when his team needed it and for his valiant efforts, he was rewarded with a third LCS title in a row.

The story continues

In just a week's time, the promotion/relegation matches will commence! As the brackets were revealed yesterday, we can expect a great show with three best-of-five matches for the precious LCS spot. Millenium vs. Ninjas in Pyjamas, Supa Hot Crew vs. Cloud9 Eclipse and Copenhagen Wolves vs. Denial eSports will be the matches. The post-LCS action continues and you can follow all the news, updates and matches here on onGamers.com!

Images courtesy of lolesports.com and fnatic.com