LEC Summer Week 1 Roundup: Are Misfits the real deal?

The LEC Summer split kicked off, and the standings are starting to take shape after a fierce week 1. Before kicking off week 2, let us take a dive on each team’s performance during the opening week of the split.

1st: (3-0) +-

The only team in the LEC to go 3-0 this week. Misfits Gaming showcased incredible execution, composure, a talented roster, and a glimpse of what to expect from the organization going forward. 

The MVP for all three of their matches was none other than 18-year old Vincent "Vetheo" Berrié. The Frenchman comes into the LEC after spending around a year with LDLC OL competing in the LFL. He didn’t waste any time in sending a warning to the rest of the league of what is to come from Misfits Gaming for the rest of the Summer split

2nd: (2-1) +-

Nikolay "Zanzarah" Akatov is known for his passionate love for Skarner, the Crystal Vanguard. He plays him whenever he can. However, this week, it looks like he found a new crush. The Russian jungler for Astralis was key in the two victories they managed to get on the board through his Trundle.

Their only loss came against MAD Lions, after a strong showing from Carzzy and Humanoid during that game. Astralis continue to be an annoying team to play against who are capable of beating anyone on their day. At the same time, they seem to implode for no reason at times. Whether they can snowball this 2-1 record into something bigger is yet to be seen.

3rd: (2-1) +-

G2 Esports, the darlings of the LEC and everyone’s crush, had their 18-0 Summer split dreams crushed by Schalke 04 of all people. With every passing split, the roster seems to drift away from their former signature chaotic playstyle to a more composed and calculated approach. This managed to gather them two wins against SK Gaming and MAD Lions. 

The former game is not to be overlooked as it is one of the difficult fixtures of the schedule. G2 Esports getting that early win over them will help in the long term for sure. I doubt there is much to say about the game when G2 Wunder goes 0/7, and probably screams “worth” after each one.

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4th: (2-1) +-

The LEC Spring split champions and MSI 2021 3rd placed team after a 5-game series against Worlds 2020 champions, Damwon KIA. You guessed it, it is MAD Lions. Although their loss against G2 Esports was the opening game of the split, the team regathered their focus and got two wins on the board.

Not just any two wins, against FNATIC and Astralis as well. Since İrfan Berk "Armut" Tükek joined the team in Spring from SuperMassive and MAD Lions have been a scary team. The issue is whether it was a honeymoon period where everyone is overperforming or will they keep the momentum going till they reach Worlds.

5th: (2-1) +-

Rogue managed to pick up wins against EXCEL and Team Vitality before falling victim to FNATIC Nisqy’s masterclass. The roster is still probably recovering from the reverse sweep they suffered on the hands of MAD Lions in the LEC Spring Finals. However, their 2-1 record so far might just be what they need to get themselves going and never look back.

Their week 2 matchups are no easy task. Rogue will go up against the only unbeaten team in the LEC so far, Misfits Gaming, and G2 Esports. Two teams who if Rogue manages to snatch a win from will flip the standings in their favor for the rest of the split.

6th: (1-2) +-

It was a rough start to life in the summer split for Excel. The UK based organisation went 1-2 to start the split with two of those losses coming in a rough manner. The first game on the cards for Excel came against arguably the best team in the LEC in Rogue. While this was not a perfect game as far as the kills/objectives went, this was not a close game and there was very little for Excel to learn from in this one. The match ended in 25 minutes with only nine kills split across the board in this game. 

Excel's second match came against a team that is expected to be competing near the bottom of the standings in Astralis. This was not a good game for Excel with the LEC side with yet another 25 minute defeat for them. While XL were able to get out to a small gold and kill advantage, it was Astralis who was leading in the objective game, they were up two crucial dragons as well as keeping the gold deficit relatively small. 

Excel was able to pick up their first win of the season in their third and final game to round out week one in the LEC. This was a closely contested best-of-one with both teams trading multiple kills. While Schalke was able to gain a significant kill advantage, Excel did a great job stabilizing and picked their moments perfectly.

7th: (1-2) +-

Fnatic made one of the most surprising moves in the offseason when they replaced Selfmade and promoted Bwipo to the jungle in his place. Things, as expected, did not go according to plan on the side of Fnatic. The LEC giants currently reside in seventh place after a 1-2 start to the summer split.

Fnatic’s opening game of the split came against Misfits. This was a tough game to watch for FNC after the LEC threw away what was a strong early game to see their side falter to an 0-1 start. The following game went even worse for Fnatic as they went up against the LEC spring split champions in the MAD Lions. While Fnatic were able to scrap with the reigning champions, FNC were simply outfought by a well coordinated MAD side.

In a strange turn of events, Fnatic was able to upset LEC favorites in Rogue to at least get a victory on the board heading into week two. Fnatic was able to match the aggression of their LEC counterparts with a bloody early game. Even though Fnatic was slightly down in gold come the mid-to-late game, fans would consider this a small victory with their side being able to hang with arguably the best team in the league. Fnatic was able to find crucial picks which allowed them to secure the victory, putting them in a much healthier spot as they march into week two.

8th: (1-2) +-

Vitality made an abundance of changes heading into the 2021 LEC summer split. The star acquisition was none other than LEC superstar Selfmade. Vitality started off the week with an impressive victory over Schalke, it was a dominating game from the newly acquired squad with S04 only getting one kill and two towers to their name.

While Vitality currently resides in eighth with a 1-2 record, fans have to remember this is a new squad and it will take some time to get used to playing with each other during stage games. Vitality’s first of two defeats came at the hands of Rogue, this was a good challenge for Vitality and they certainly lived up to the hype. This was a back-and-forth contest with both sides getting multiple kills, multiple objectives and a Baron each. In the end Rogue was too much for the new Vitality lineup to handle.

Vitality rounded out the week with a crushing defeat to the undefeated Misfits, this game was not close with the LEC side only getting four kills to their name and only one tower. While this may not have been the most ideal of starts for Vitality, they have shown they can tango with the best while also crushing the sides that are expected to not be fighting for the top honors.

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9th: (1-2) +-

It was not the best of starts for Schalke with the LEC side struggling to find their identity after having to replace two of their players ahead of the 2021 Summer Split. The opening game for Schalke could not have been more embarrassing for the LEC side. Vitality crushed Schalke, making quick work of them and only giving up one kill.

In game two, however, Schalke picked up right where they left off in the 2021 spring split playoffs, taking down G2 Esports. This was a completely different contrast to what fans saw of their side in game one against Team Vitality. This was an odd game to say the least, G2 was able to secure a very early Infernal soul. That being said, Schalke was able to find multiple team fight victories and walked away with the victory. 

Schalke’s final game of the season ultimately was a game that they should have won. S04 got off to a great start in this game, picking up multiple kills and started to snowball into a solid gold lead. Excel plain and simply outfought them when push came to shove and Schalke ended up conceding the game to end what was a very inconsistent week for the European side.

10th: (0-3) +-

SK Gaming are the only side in the LEC this split to not pick up a victory in the opening week of the season. Given the severity of their problems heading into the summer split, it was more than expected for SK to not pick up a victory. This was further strengthened by the fact Misfits are the only side to be undefeated going into the second week. 

SK’s first game against Astralis was the closest of the three this week. The game started off very well for SK Gaming with the LEC side racing off to a 2k gold lead as well as a one drake lead as the game reached the ten minute mark. Despite having an Infernal soul, SK were not able to pick up the victory with Astralis being able to find a game changing team fight as they jockeyed for the Baron.

Game two for SK Gaming was a pretty standard game with Misfits pulling out the victory. The one saving grace for SK across the entire weekend is that they have been able to consistently gain leads in the early game. Once again in this game SK were able to pick up some early kills with solid roams from the solo laners. Similarly to their opening game, SK could not hold onto their lead as Misfits snatched the game from under them.

SK Gaming’s final game of the week was a crushing defeat to G2 Esports, while Treatz was able to have a positive 4/2/0 KDA, the rest of SK collapsed as G2 ran over them for a clean victory. 

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