Clutch Gamers vs Fnatic

For our second match of the day we have a rather fascinating clash between the second seed from Europe - Fnatic, and the third seed from North America - Clutch Gaming. Now, even though this is a bona fide clash between two Western adversaries, neither team is entering it with any momentum or hype. In fact, it's the opposite.

Many people thought Fnatic was one of the better and more capable teams entering the World Championship, and yet the only thing we've seen from them was absolute, resounding mediocrity. Perhaps not even that much. They were passive, reactive, sloppy, slow to engage, they were abysmal as a five-man unit and even worse on an individual level. No one on their team is playing as well as they can, and certain members (most members, in fact) are playing at a downright unacceptable level. To say that they're mediocre would truly be an understatement.

Egregious errors left and right, bad engages, out of sync team fighting, bad target selection, telegraphed moves on the Rift -- you name it! They're doing everything wrong.

Clutch Gaming aren't much better but at least no one expected them to upset the status quo seeing how they were slotted into what can rightfully be deemed as the toughest group at Worlds. Fnatic, on the other hand, nearly took down G2 Esports twice in a row. They had momentum coming into the tournament and many people felt like they had a solid enough read on the meta as well.

Fnatic had all the right tools to overtake Royal Never Give Up and secure the second spot in the group. They had the talent, the players and above all: the experience which was necessary to thrive and persevere in such a complicated group. But they've shown nothing of the above in their first three games. And now sure, they might be able to bounce back and actually mount and offensive, but the odds are definitely stacked against them. They're known for their miracle turnarounds but it feels like they'd be going for one from too big of a deficit this time around. They need luck, and they need lots of it if they want to stand a chance of advancing further into the tournament.

Clutch Gaming, on the other hand, doesn't have anything to lose. They're probably hoping to make a run of their own but that's more of an optimistic stretch, rather than a possibility at this point in time. That said, a team with nothing to lose is always going to be a tough opponent as they're playing without any pressure. They can draft however they want and play in any fashion they so choose. Despite these inherent advantages, Clutch is one of the more one-dimensional teams at this year's World Championship and Fnatic already took them down once, so they're perfectly aware of Clutch's strengths and weaknesses.

We're siding with Fnatic on this one but if they don't step up considerably it might be an uncomfortably close call. Regardless of the way things ultimately unfold, expect a skirmish-heavy affair from the very get-go.