Does Fnatic Breed Champions?
Week 1 of the European League of Legends Championship series just concluded. In typical EU fashion, there were a number of upsets through the two days of action and most teams ended 1-1. It’s a far cry from the 5-way tie for 2nd in the Summer Split of 2013, but we can see that Europe is still topsy-turvy as ever.
The only teams to come away with spotless records were last split’s champions, Fnatic, and newcomers, Origen. Oddly enough, the makeup of these two teams couldn’t be more different.
While Fnatic is one of the longest standing organizations in the competitive LoL scene, only Bora “YellOwStaR” Kim remains of the classic roster. Nonetheless, he led a team of rookies to an LCS title last spring.
Origen is an entirely new organization formed late last year by former Fnatic mid laner Enrique “xPeke” Cedeño Martínez. However, the team is made up of LCS veterans. Aside from their rookie marksman, the Origen members have 12 splits of experience between them.
Now the only thing these teams have in common aside from currently being at the top of the standings, is that they’re built around classic Fnatic members. It seems that whether you’re currently in Fnatic (and in the case of 2014 Summer MVP Martin “Rekkles” Larsson, returning to the Fnatic), or you’ve spent most of your career on the team, you carry the heart and skill set of a champion with you.
With that in mind, here are a few reasons why the new age Fnatic squad and the revived veterans of Origen have what it takes to potentially dominate this split.
1. Mid Lane Monsters
Before we enter the games of week 1, we have to point out that Fnatic and Origen have two world class players manning the center of the map.
Representing the old guard is xPeke of backdoor fame. When we last saw this all-star on a big stage, he out-dueled one of Korea’s greatest mid laners, Bae “dade” Eojin.
But Fabian”Febiven” Diepstraten may have just one upped his predecessor by solo killing Lee “Faker” Sanghyeok, the greatest LoL player of all time, in the recently concluded Mid-Season Invitational.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXUugPMommA
2. Surprise Factor
The old Fnatic team once infamously swapped their top and support players to run an unusual Blitzcrank and Shen combo. While shenanigans on that level didn’t happen last week, Fnatic and Origen still had some trickery up their sleeves.
Heo “Huni” Seunghoon, named Rookie of the Split last spring, was known for his aggressive carry top laners like Rumble and Lissandra. So naturally, he opened this split with a full tank Gnar. Naysayers who called out Huni for weak play on standard tanks were surprised when the Korean meme machine put up a strong showing on the prehistoric yordle.
Meanwhile, Origen fielded a flex pick Morgana in their game against GIANTS! as a LeBlanc counter. Normally found as a support pick in today’s metagame landscape, xPeke used the Fallen Angel to shackle opponents left and right racked up a 5/0/7 scoreline.
3. Ruthless Aggression
The classic Fnatic team was focused dives, skirmishes, and ballsy play. Whether it’s Yellowstar’s young crew or xPeke’s veteran squad, both teams threw themselves at their opponents. Not much to say, just watch these highlights:
4. Putting the Carry back in ADC
Part of Fnatic’s dynamic style was that every lane had the opportunity to carry. But when it comes to racking up insane KDA, the bot lane is where it’s at, and Origen showed they too can play that game
Everyone called Rekkles the Europe’s best ADC when he debuted, decimated his opponents and racked up insane KDA numbers. He faltered on Elements last split, but his return to his old team has been triumphant. He was confident enough to bring out the reworked Ashe in both games last week, going a combined 14/1/15.
Origen have a neophyte ADC in Jesper “Niels” Svenningsen, and while he may not have an Rekkles’ pedigree, he chalked up a comparable 14/2/14 score last week. The kicker is that Niels picked Vayne, one of Rekkles’ old pocket picks from his debut split, and earned himself the week 1 MVP title.
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