Fnatic vs Team Liquid

Western League of Legends fans are used to disappointment when it comes to international competition. Sure there are moments when certain teams shine - Fnatic and Origen at 2015 Worlds, H2K in 2016, G2 eSports at 2017 MSI and even Fnatic's miracle rebound run at the 2017 World Championship.

With all that experience behind us, it was still hard to imagine both Team Liquid and Fnatic ending day one of the group stage winless. They were so dominant throughout the 2018 Spring Split that it was a given for them to perform and perhaps even challenge LPL's Royal Never Give Up for that second finals spot.

That's all wishful thinking right now unfortunately. Both teams need to regroup and rebound as quickly as possible because every single win matters.

Fnatic's first day of competition was rather mild and unimpressive - to say the least. They were riding quite a fair bit of momentum off of their 3-0 dominant win over the likes of G2 eSports in the Spring Finals but they were unable to find their footing against both Royal Never Give Up and Flash Wolves.

Against the Flash Wolves they did a lot of things right, their macro was on point and they had winning lanes but they were often too slow to respond. They were playing to Flash Wolves' strengths and when they reached the late game the LMS champions simply out-teamfought them whenever they clashed. Perhaps the biggest problem Fnatic has right now is on an individual level. While Bwipo did win lane he failed to leave a mark post-laning phase and he positioning abysmally in almost every single teamfight, Caps had a lot of good plays overall but he was too volatile at moments and last but not least we have Rekkles. One of the most respected and successful Western AD carries had an uncharacteristically unremarkable showing. He was too afraid to make a move, he was playing not to lose and it showed from the very get go.

While he isn't making any concrete mistakes per se he's just not doing anything for his team. He isn't outputting damage (215 DMG/min vs. Royal Never Give Up - compare that to his 697 DMG/min average in the EU LCS), he was too scared to engage regardless of the opponent and team comp and he was just a complete non-factor. Fnatic cannot compete with the absolute best teams in the world with just a single threat - Caps. While he has a ton of potential he isn't able to solo carry - not yet at least and the burden is too big for just one player. The only way Fnatic turns things around is through Rekkles improving. Fortunately he's a seasoned veteran and has been in this situation before so fans can be cautiously optimistic.

Team Liquid suffered from a lot of the same issues as Fnatic. Too many individual mistakes - both in laning phase and teamfights, questionable calls and map rotations. (the fact that they essentially played 4v5 against EVOS as Impact split-pushed like a madman doesn't help either)

We're going with Fnatic on this one but it's far from a confident bet. Both teams are ranked at the very bottom right now and with good reason - they're just not playing that well. Sure they have a lot of potential but there are ton of issues that cannot be fixed in just a single day's time. That said Fnatic are entering Day 2 with their full starting line-up whereas Liquid will be starting without Olleh - thus making life for Rekkles and Hylissang a lot easier.