A miracle lower-bracket run provided Fnatic with the momentum they needed to qualify for the League of Legends World Championship; that same momentum has propelled them to a strong play-ins run from the start.
The fourth LEC seed triumphed over the LCS’ third seed, Evil Geniuses, in the most lopsided match of Worlds thus far. Even without their star support, Fnatic once more placed their fate in the hands of their ADC, Upset, who turned a considerable laning phase lead into a snowball victory for the team.
An uncharacteristic instability plagued EG from the early game onwards, preventing them from even once starting a team fight that they drafted for. While they haven’t been eliminated from Worlds just yet, they start their run from behind—a place where they’ve found great success this year.
Rhuckz leads the charge
Fnatic announced earlier this week that both players in their bot lane duo, Upset and Hyllisang, had tested positive for COVID, resulting in Riot granting the team an emergency sub in the form of Rhuckz, from Fnatic’s ERL team “Fnatic TQ.” Luckily, the two have recently tested negative, allowing Upset to start in today’s match and Hyllisang to return tomorrow against DetonatioN FocusMe.
Meanwhile, Evil Geniuses have also been forced to field Academy ADC Kaori following Danny’s break in regards to his mental health. Kaori played for EG during their run towards the end of the LCS Championship and shocked players and fans alike with his ability to step in and step up so quickly.
With the calls of veteran ADC Upset, Rhuckz kept the opposition locked down with a barrage of abilities from Leona. He was more than willing to dive straight under enemy turrets and darkened areas of the map, becoming a central part of Fnatic’s full-game aggression.
Inspired and Jojopyun had very few opportunities this game to showcase the synergy that they have been commended for, one that was particularly useful for the team at this year’s MSI. Mismatched engages resulted in multiple staggered deaths for them both that opened the door for Fnatic to strike.
Despite leading the Caitlyn/Lux combination, Kaori was unable to do much as his lane opponent continued to accrue kills. The quick deficit of this pairing also prevented Vulcan, a player that normally thrives on engage supports, from making an impact outside of the bot lane, and left EG without a solid form of initiation for important fights.
Kaori and Vulcan have shown that they are capable of turning oppressive lanes into considerable leads, but their susceptibility to crowd control quickly became their undoing; this is likely to result in drafting changes in the coming games.
A meta slowly becoming defined
Worlds marks the first professional League play since Patch 12.15. Now, on Patch 12.18, nearly 20 champions and items have been adjusted in some capacity, leading to massive fluctuations in the meta now being seen for the first time.
Aatrox, Graves, Sylas, Miss Fortune, Leona, and Caitlyn reemerged in this game after being either picked or banned in the previous match between MAD Lions and Isurus. Keeping with where the meta left off a few patches ago, both EG and Fnatic placed great emphasis on their bot lanes, which would eventually become central to Fnatic’s commanding victory.
Such emphasis on the bot lane picks took away from the importance of other lanes. While Wunder and Humanoid were able to somewhat showcase the potential of frontliners in this patch, the engage of Rhuckz’s Leona prevented any prolonged fights that would allow other players to shine.
Fnatic appeared immensely comfortable with this draft and are likely to continue with picks like these as they continue their play-ins run. But if there’s anything fans can take away from this game for the future, it’s that their fears were justified: Miss Fortune is here to take complete control of Worlds.
