The top two teams in their respective groups took to the Summoner's Rift to defend their places at the top.
The permutations at the top of Group A are somewhat complicated, but for Fnatic, the task remained the same as it always has been: win games. Two early kills in the bottom for Roccat put Fnatic on the back foot in game one, however, thanks to a mid-lane and jungle gank. They followed it up with first tower gold, and despite a few kills for Fnatic, Roccat grew their lead with another tower. From there, things started to get scrappy, but Fnatic evened up the tower score, reducing Roccat’s gold lead - now based purely on kills - to under 2k. A shaky Baron attempt from Roccat didn’t help matters, but they maintained their advantage despite being forced out of the pit. The second attempt was successful, but it was Fnatic who took kill after kill, equalising the kills and putting a stop to Roccat’s momentum. The game turned completely, almost predictably, when Fnatic took down the second Baron and took down four enemies at the cost of Jesiz’ life, securing a 1-0 lead for themselves in the process.
Fnatic didn’t wait till the late game to take the lead in game two. Rekkles secured first blood before the minions had even spawned, thanks to some level one shenanigans. Roccat answered back quickly and took a small lead thanks to better creep score. The game stayed fairly even until Roccat snuck a Baron almost immediately upon spawn, but they looked as though they weren’t sure of what to do with it. Fnatic actually took the lead during the duration of the Baron buff thanks to some clever picks and better team fighting. Things got hectic as the game wore on, skirmish after skirmish went the way of Fnatic but they were still unable to finish. Roccat ushered Fnatic out of their base and, after picking off Soaz, they were able to take themselves a Baron. That was as good as it would get for Roccat, however. Fnatic crushed the following team fight in their own base and with post-45 minute death timers, were able to run down mid and finish the series.
Earlier in the day, H2K took a step towards securing top spot in Group B by defeating Vitality. Game one was a fairly one-sided, run of the mill affair, with the group leaders cruising to victory. Game two was a thrashing, which H2K ended mercifully quickly in 25 minutes in order to secure top spot for the time being. Unicorns of Love play tomorrow for a change to join them on 8-3.
Image courtesy of Fnatic's Twitter.
