LEC June 17 recap: Vitality struggles, contenders win

The League of Legends European Championshop returned for its Summer split on June 17, with fans treated to the first five games in a 15-game opening week. And the night didn’t disappoint, with clean outplays and a clear division of the have and have-nots.

With a live audience present at the Berlin-based LEC studio for the first time since 2020, all 10 LEC teams were in action on Friday night. There were thrills, kills, and brand-new playing their version of League on 12.11, for better or worse.

June 17 LEC results

Team Vitality 0 1 MAD Lions | SK Gaming 1 0 Team BDS | Excel Esports 1 0 Misfits | G2 1 0 Astralis | Rogue 0 1 Fnatic

Team Vitality driven MAD

After a 9-9 Spring split and a fifth-place finish overall, the Team Vitality ‘superteam’ added former LCK jungler Kang “Haru” Min-seung in hopes that he was the missing piece that would push them over the top in Summer. They took to the stage in the first match of the split to face MAD Lions, the back-to-back LEC split champions in 2021 who had utterly collapsed in Spring 2022. MAD, for their part, was debuting new mid laner Yasin “Nisqy” Dinçer.

And Team Vitality, who began the Spring split 0-3, opened the Summer split 0-1 after being completely and thoroughly outplayed by MAD. All of Vitality’s three kills came before the 12-minute mark. At the same time, Haru, the supposed savior of the team, was unable to make any significant impact on the game after the opening ten minutes.

While only one loss, Team Vitality’s struggles, especially an apparent lack of team cohesion and communication, echoes comments by Excel Esports’ head coach Joey “Youngbuck” Steltenpool, who told Richard Wells in a recent interview that Vitality had looked “awful” in pre-split scrims.

Vitality look to bounce back on Saturday against Misfits while MAD Lions takes on SK Gaming.

Near perfection for Excel

‘A perfect game’ originates from baseball and describes a game where a pitch allows no hits or walks. In League of Legends, a perfect game is when a team allows no kills, towers, or neutral objections.

Excel…didn’t have a perfect game on Friday night but they came close as they absolutely dominated Misfits. Excel, who are looking to build on their first every playoff appearance in Spring, finished the game with 15 kills, a cloud soul, and a baron. The only thing preventing the game from being a perfect game two towers taken by Misfits.

It was by far the shortest game of the night, and the only game not to exceed 30 minutes. The game showcased the talent on Excel’s roster, and their ability to hold their own against other teams that are considered “contenders”.

Excel face another title in Fnatic on Saturday while Misfits face Vitality.

G2 and Fnatic 1-0

Many pundits believe that Summer 2022 will see the restoration of the status quo, with a Grand Final contested by G2 and Fnatic. To that end, both storied franchises won their opening day matches. G2 beat a spirited Astralis side in the penultimate match of the night while Fnatic closed out the evening with a prolonged win over Rogue.

Neither team changed their lineup from Spring and both teams entered as two of, if not the two strongest, teams in the LEC. However, opening weekend, nor week two, will see the G2-Fnatic derby that often defines the LEC.

For G2, they face Rogue on Saturday in a rematch of the Spring Grand Final and the marquee match of the weekend. Fnatic will face Excel on Saturday.

The LEC Summer split continues on June 18. Day 2 opens at 1600 BST/1700 CEST with Team BDS taking on Astralis.

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