We are done with regular season LCS game play for another year! The end of Summer means Worlds is quickly approaching yet again. Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves, though. Before we can get our hopes crushed by SKT in the semi-finals we must find out which European teams will be participating at the North American hosted Worlds event this year.
Quarter Final Match-ups
The teams competing for the 2016 EU LCS Summer Championship are G2, Splyce, Giants, Unicorns of Love, H2K, and Fnatic, with G2 and Splyce earning a bye directly into the semi-finals after finishing first and second respectively. This means that our quarter finals match-ups look like this: Giants versus Unicorns of Love, and H2K versus Fnatic.
Anybody who watched a lot of EU LCS last year may be surprised about the absence of teams like Origen and Vitality. Both of these teams were considered top contenders in Spring but have since fallen off a cliff. Without these European staples competing in Summer playoffs we will have the opportunity to see some new and improved teams prove how strong they are.
GIANTS! Versus Unicorns of Love
What a difference a split makes. In Spring, Giants were depressing to watch. Spring marked the beginning of the end for a handful of original Giants teammates xPepi and Adryh. Loss after loss, the Giants organization began to slowly experiment with their roster until finally settling on the current iteration set to compete against Unicorns of Love in the quarter finals.
This split was much different for Unicorns of Love. Unlike Giants, who intentionally blew up their roster, Unicorns were unable to keep their existing team intact. Diamondprox suffered Visa issues, Fox left for Schalke 04, and Steelback for Roccat. The Unicorns were left to fill the holes in their roster and hope for the best. Securing a playoff spot under these conditions is pretty much the best possible scenario, so it’s safe to say they accomplished their goals.
The winner is…
This will be a fun series to watch between two relatively even strength teams. Unicorns of Love have been strong over the past 4 weeks, defeating Splyce, Roccat, Giants, and Origen 2-0, while splitting games against Fnatic and Schalke 04. Giants haven’t proven to be as hot, but they do have the stats advantage. For example, Unicorns of Love finished the split with 416 kills and 469 deaths, while Giants had 414 kills, but only 408 deaths. Giants also have a first blood rate of 61%, compare to UoL’s 44%. Giants are ahead in nearly every stat listed on Oracle’s Elixir.
Prediction: 3-2 Giants. As hot as Unicorns have been as of late, I’m putting my trust in the numbers.
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H2K Versus Fnatic
The return of YellowStar hasn’t been all that Fnatic was hoping for. The veteran shot caller hasn’t been able to be the glue that brings together each one of the talented members of Fnatic. It turns out Gamsu wasn’t the problem either. Replacing the Korean top laner with former G2 top laner Kikis appeared to be an excellent move in the short term, but that honeymoon magic has since fizzled out.
Bringing back old teammates has worked out excellently for H2K, who recently brought Forg1ven back from the dead to replace an injured Freeze. In the small sample size of a single weekend Forg1ven assisted H2K in winning all 5 games played. How long does this last? It’s no secret that Forg1ven is a ticking time bomb of toxicity capable of burning the bridges at any moment. The good news for H2K is that he usually waits until after the season is over.
The winner is…
It’s tough to say just how good H2K with Forg1ven is after only a single weekend, but that’s not all H2K has going for them. The showings we’ve seen from Ryu as of late have been excellent. Although Fnatic can adjust their pick and ban phase to prevent Ryu from playing his favorite mobile assassins, H2K has to feel good having a multi-threat team for the first time in a while. Fnatic looks too lost and H2K is too hot.
Prediction: 3-1 H2K. The Fnatic playoff buff left the team with xPeke. Another 2 weeks of practicing with Forg1ven will be huge for H2K. Unless Febiven can solo carry Fnatic in multiple games, H2K wins this series.
GIANTS! will play Unicorns of Love in a Best of 5 series on August 13th, 2016, at 11AM EST. H2K will face off against Fnatic in a Best of 5 series on August 14th, 2016, at 11AM EST.
