LEC Winter Split 2023 Week 3 – Recap

The regular phase of the LEC Winter Split is over. And we had a spectacular week 3 with many surprising and some expected results.

In the first matches, we had the defeat of Team Heretics, but being already classified, they are thinking about the next phase of the tournament. On the other hand, KOI avoids the tiebreakers and qualifies directly for the Group Stage of the LEC.

Then, we had essential definitions, the first being the last ticket to the Group Stage. This ticket was won by Astralis, which left Fnatic out of the playoffs for the first time in the history of the LEC. Then, finally, Team Vitality crushed EXCEL Esports to win the regular phase title.

Team BDS vs. Team Heretics

Despite qualifying, Team Heretics lost to the surprise team of this LEC Winter Split, Team BDS. This defeat leaves Heretics in the sixth position of the table but still gives them a place in the tournament’s playoffs.

The Spanish team again showed a lot of nerves when closing the games and, when everything seemed to indicate that they would take the victory, it escaped from their hands. On the other hand, Team BDS continues its devastating rhythm of play and takes advantage of the mistakes of their rivals to add a spectacular victory in a Cinderella race in this LEC.

It was not enough for Heretics that Marcin “Jankos” Jankowsky had a spectacular level of play and put them ahead on the scoreboard. However, there is no doubt that if this team focuses on closing out games, they can do very well in the Group Stage of the LEC Winter Split.

KOI vs. Astralis

KOI put on their boots and delivered in this last week of the LEC Winter Split regular season. The Spanish team took the victory over Astralis to secure their place in the Group Stage in the best-of-three format. KOI crushed their similar Astralis team and made our dream of that Rogue team that delighted us with an exceptional level.

Markos “Comp” Stamkopoulos put on the #10 jersey to lead his teammates to safety on this last day of competition against Astralis. There is no doubt that the Danes tried everything, including Finn Wiestål’s Kled, but KOI was determined to hold on and attack to take the win.

KOI closes out their first regular season in LEC with a 4-5 record that leaves them in seventh place.

SK Gaming vs. Fnatic

A day of absolute sadness lived the fans of Fnatic but, above all, of the LEC. The orange team lost in their last regular season game against SK Gaming and cannot save their skin in this Winter Split. For the first time in history, Fnatic is out of the LEC playoffs, and they did it with a disappointing level of play and being outclassed in all aspects by their rivals.

Fnatic could not be saved even by Martin “Rekkles” Larsson’s mythical Xayah, who we are sure gave everything for the team to reach the playoffs at least. On the other hand, SK Gaming showed no mercy against Fnatic and gave Astralis a hand to qualify for the Group Stage. Astralis, on the other hand, managed to advance for the first time in its history in the LEC.

MAD Lions vs. G2 Esports

Although everything was already defined at the bottom of the table, there were still some things to be clarified at the top. MAD Lions gave a real beating to G2 Esports, who fell by their weight when trying to make plays out of the ordinary.

G2 Esports decided to pull Taliyah from Support, while Rasmus “Caps” Winther used Swain to attack MAD Lions’ ranks. This was not a bad idea; however, MAD Lions had a spectacular game and crushed them terribly.

Team Vitality vs. EXCEL Esports

On the verge of having a tough regular season close, Team Vitality saved the game against a rebellious EXCEL Esports and became the regular season champion. After that, however, the French team had to work extra hard against the bottom of the table.

With no pressure, EXCEL Esports did much damage to a Team Vitality that came out very confident going into this match.

Header: Michal Konkol | Riot Games