LEC Summer 2020 Playoffs – Fnatic vs. G2 Esports Preview

LEC Summer 2020 Playoffs only has 4 teams left in the race. These teams are Fnatic, G2 Esports, Rogue, and MAD Lions. The last two of these teams will meet in the Lower Bracket, while the first two will meet in the Winners’ Finals. In this article, I will take just a brief look at the first match and focus more on the second one.

Rogue vs. MAD Lions

Rogue is the winner of the Group Stage of LEC Summer 2020. This team had an excellent performance during this stage, getting 13 wins and 5 losses. Its most important victories came against Fnatic (2 – 0 overall). The only team it lost against in both rounds is G2 Esports. With MAD Lions they drew, losing the first match but winning the second one. Overall, this team did well in the first stage of LEC Summer 2020. But then they got absolutely destroyed in the Semifinals, due to a lack of experience at this competitive level. Fnatic has been here many times before and is used to winning. But for Rogue, it’s a completely new experience.

MAD Lions finished 2^nd with 12 wins and 6 losses. The impressive part about their Group Stage performance was that they won against Fnatic (2 – 0 overall) and didn’t lose a single match when we consider both rounds. They drew (1 win, 1 loss) against G2 Esports, Rogue, Vitality and others. This clearly shows that MAD is not an easy team to defeat.

Based on everything we’ve seen so far, I would definitely regard MAD Lions as the favorite here. However, I do expect a tough match that will require 4 or 5 games to conclude.

Fnatic vs. G2 Esports

This is the biggest match of the season. And regardless of who wins, we’re likely going to see these two competitors again, in the Grand Final. In principle, G2 will easily win this match. And not just because of their Group Stage performance against Fnatic (2 – 0) or because of their superior record (11 W – 7 L, compared to Fnatic’s 9 W – 9 L). The reason is more complex than that. For instance, keep in mind that G2 won against MAD Lions in the Semifinals (3 – 1). And MAD Lions defeated Fnatic twice in the Group Stage.

Apart from these powerful indicators, we can also notice that G2 Esports won the Playoffs Stage of LEC Spring 2020 against none other than Fnatic. The match was a clean victory for G2 (3 – 0).

All this shows just one thing: G2 Esports is the big favorite in this match and there is very little that Fnatic can do to stop the inevitable outcome. My impression is that Rekkles is not well enough supported by his teammates. And against one of the best lineups in the world, that is guaranteed to lead to a disaster.

 

Photo credit: Riot Games