G2 vs Splyce: Who will advance to face the Final Boss?

Yesterday’s series saw  advance to the second round of the EU Regional qualifier in a shaky series against to face . In the end despite fierce competition  were able to rely on their team fighting and Kobbe’s late game consistency to bring the series home. During the series Wunder tweeted that  vs was just a ‘Show match’ as neither team stood a chance against  in the next round. Bold words for a man that got solo killed twice by Alphari’s Chogath in lane. But do Wunder’s claims hold water? Is the series going to be that one sided?

I’m certain that we will see a stronger , than the team we saw 3-0 in the Play Offs Quarterfinal. In the first and third game were battling deficits and unable to stop Misfit’s snowballing a lead. For example in the quarter final were down 3-4 thousand gold consistently from the fifteen minute mark. A lead that only grew as shut out , at the end of the game had only secured a single ocean drake and tower in a crushing defeat. In the third game gained a 5 thousand gold lead at fifteen minutes, a gap that widened slowly but surely as the cruised to their Semi-Final.

What worries me about is that in the second game they were up in gold at fifteen and equal for the majority of the game. They then lost to  in a team-fight, macro orientated game. Historically, when  have found success, it has been in controlled early games and well executed Macro play.  are no longer the powerhouse that took four EU LCS titles but the team still focuses on playing the same style. However that is also how  look to close out their games, succeeding where  failed in the Quarter-Final and managing to survive the  onslaught in a competitive five games.

have had three weeks to practice and improve. I hope that they have used this time to address their weaknesses, putting more power in the hands of Jankos ‘The first blood king’ and their renowned mid-laner in Perkz. With this in mind I would like to briefly highlight a few of the Match Ups that will be key for both teams in their bid to advance and challenge  for the third European seed at 2018 World Championship.

Mid Lane:

Perkz VS Nisqy. I wanted to highlight this match up as the most crucial for to win. Perkz has been known throughout his career at  as a dominant midlaner. The phrase ‘Lane Kingdom’ being coined to describe how well he controlled his opponents. For example in Game Two of the quarterfinals Perkz was up 30 cs against Sencux at 7 minutes.

But his recent performance has been plagued by errors in positioning that often cost his team at crucial moments. In that same game Perkz pushed past the river without appropriate vision of  . He was then ambushed by Alphari and Maxlore.  This cost the Cloud Drake and their momentum as the lead that they had developed shrank slowly into insignificance. I would like to see him fix these small mistakes against .

However Nisqy is a tier above Sencux and Perkz will struggle to gain his advantages organically against stronger opposition. Whichever midlaner gets a lead will be perfectly poised to stamp their authority on these games. As such it is here that I think the majority of Jungle attention will be situated.

Jungle:

In yesterdays first round of the Gauntlet, Maxlore attempted to put his team on his shoulders and carry them in the early the game. Xerxe was consistently in position to prevent or counter the plays that  were looking to make. This was crucial for  as they attempted to prevent dominating the early game.

I am confident that Xerxe will bring this same level of consistent performance against . In Jankos however I have less faith. Despite dominating the Jungle in EU for several years, Jankos has been inconsistent in the summer split. will need Jankos to show up and snowball his solo lanes. If he can do this, Wunder and Perkz should be able to dominate their lanes and take over the game.

Top Lane:

Finally we turn to Odoamne and Wunder. After the Quarter-Finals both top laners were criticised for under performing. Wunder  for being solo killed twice by Alphari and Odoamne for being caught out of position. Against Odoamne had a strong series on Sion, Maoki and Orrn enabling his team with engage and front line. This gives me confidence in as often rely on Wunder to create and abuse advantages wheras  will let Odoamne fall behind to gain advantages for Nisqy and Kobbe.

 Although  there isn’t a big skill disparity between these players,   needs Wunder to step up and carry as he has done in the past; on champions other than Gangplank. Otherwise  will have more points of pressure on the map.  If Odoamne can take a lead and control Wunder however I expect to see  take control of all three lanes if the game goes late.

Summary/Prediction:

I expect to see a Macro focused series in which the team that can gain early advantages will succeed. If Jankos can snowball his solo lanes, then will have an advantage, but if Xerxe can control or counter Jankos as he did Maxlore then  will become increasingly comfortable as the game progresses.

It’s a tough prediction to make as I can see both teams winning convincingly. I’m predicting  to take the series. Probably 3-1 as I see being able to neutralise the  solo lanes and Jungle whereas I do not think that the  bottom lane will be able to deny  the strength that is Kobbe in the late game.