Photo credits go to: youtube
Fnatic and Origen squared off for one of the last games of the 2016 European LCS Spring Split. The winner of this game will earn fourth place for the split, with a Unicorns of Love loss.
It works out this way because in the event of tie after a Fnatic win, Fnatic would have a 2-0 head-to-head record versus them, but in the event of an Origen win, they would just have the outright better record. Regardless of the intricacies though, this game was at high stakes for both teams and they treated it as such.
After the pick and ban phase, this was what each team looked like:
Photo taken from LoL Esports
It began slowly, with no kills or major objective secures or tower pushes in the first 8 minutes. A fight top lane just after 8 minutes gave Origen first blood, but neither team could get any more despite many members being at low health. Following that in bot lane, Martin "Rekkles" Larsson cut it close, blowing a flash to escape a 2v1 kill attempt. Another fight in top lane resulted in a stalemate with each team trading kills with Johan "Klaj" Olsson going down for Fnatic and Maurice "Amazing" Stückenschneider going down for Origen.
Fnatic were able to secure the first dragon, despite Origen maintaining a 2k gold lead as we approached the 15 minute mark. As this game shaped up, it was clear that a lot of pressure was on each team's mid and ADC to get fed and deal the damage that the team compositions needed. Specifically, Enrique "xPeke" Cedeno and Rekkles were key players on each team that needed to perform well to earn a victory on the last day of the split.
Origen and Fnatic continued to feel each other out as the game progressed. Despite the lack of kills, there was not a lack of action. Many skirmishes ended with no kills, but some minor objective were obtained. Origen was able to secure the second dragon and netted them an overall 6k gold advantage as xPeke picked up a solo kill bot lane. This game was not over by any means though, as a team fight netted both team kills and gave Fnatic some hope. Despite getting caught out and dropping a low health support, DaYun "Spirit" Lee flanked Origen and kicked Jesper "Zven" Svenningsen into his oncoming team.
The team fights were not as one sided as the overall 7k gold differential, five to one turret count, and two dragon to one leads for Origen would suggest they would be. A baron bait just before the 30 minute mark gave them 3 kills and two turrets, including an inhibitor. A few minutes later, Origen were able to secure Baron and looked to end the game. Fnatic were able to catch Paul "sOAZ" Boyer out, but it cost them another inhibitor,making it two down at the time. On the back-end of that play, Origen picked up another dragon, putting them at three for the game. Despite a strong start for Fnatic in what would be the last team fight of the game, Origen secured the ace and destroyed the nexus in just under 36 minutes
Photo credits go to: lolesports' flickr
It was a dominant performance for Origen , ending the game with a 15k gold differential and a 15-6 kill spread. All members of Origen did well, but if a single performance stood out, it would have to be xPeke. He held down the mid lane and provided what his team needed going into the mid and late game.
The results of this game leave Origen at 4th place, Unicorns of Love at 5th place, and Fnatic at 6th place. These teams are aiming for 1st next split, as to them anything less is unacceptable.
