The playoffs in Europe kicked off with two fairly distinct series: while Splyce played a pretty one-sided series in order to handily dispatch ROCCAT, Team Vitality and H2K fought for 3 hours to find out who would be facing Fnatic in the semi-finals. At the end, happy end for Vitality, who overcame their weak end to the regular season to book themselves their ticket to Copenhagen.

Check out the good (and bad moments) of both series in my weekly EU LCS recap!


Splyce v ROCCAT

Yes, Splyce entered the series as favorites, fueled by their impressive performance during the second half of the regular season, but how they easily handled ROCCAT from the mid game on, who were a team most expected to put at least a decent fight, is what truly astonished everybody. The 3-0 was a classic stomp, a show of superiority from a team that outclassed their opposition in every way possible, especially during teamfights, with all players showing why the spot in Copenhagen was more than deserved. But especially a certain Belgian midlaner was Splyce’s shining star on Friday.

At times perhaps too dependent of Romenian star duo composed by Andrei "Odoamne" Pascu and Andrei "Xerxe" Dragomir, Yasin "Nisqy" Dinçer – the only member of the line-up not voted into any of the three All-Pro teams of the Spring Split – stepped up big time, and just at the moment his team needed the most.

With a KDA of 22-1-12 over all three games, Nisqy took control of the series, and showed the rest of the league – especially semi-finals opponents G2 Esports and star midlaner Luka "Perkz" Perković – he is indeed a player to be feared and respected. Following the comfortable win against ROCCAT, Splyce move to face off the reigning Champions on Friday, in a series that can – if last week’s match serves as any indicator – go either way.


Game 1:

Nisqy’s show started already in game 1, but truth to be told, ROCCAT pretty much “gifted” him some of his early kills, letting his Kassadin grow out of control: sitting with a 5/0/0 KDA before the 15^th minute mark, he was able to keep their opponents in check, despite the (small) early gold deficit for Splyce.

And he makes sure to use that advantage to the fullest in the game’s first major fight: with Odoamne’s Sion managing to lock in HeaQ’s Caitlyn, Nisqy flashed to win to burst down ROCCAT’s ADC, opening the path for a fairly easy 3 for 0 in favor of Splyce, which resulted in the first Baron of the game going down after 26 minutes.

Despite not being able to crack ROCCAT’s base open right away, they used the buff to open a 6k gold lead, with the difference in items and champion scaling clearly showing in the next fight, where, even after an over-aggressive engage by Xerxe, the rest of the team managed to turn it around in order to ace their opposition, and grab themselves yet another Baron.

With the middle inhibitor already down, the end was inevitable, with Splyce making quick business from their powerplay, destroying ROCCAT’s Nexus in a little less than 37 minute to go up 1-0.


Game 2:

Game 2 followed the same patterns of the previous game, with ROCCAT being able to hold their own decently well during the opening stages…only to fall apart to a much more organized and cohesive Splyce during team fights.

With this time Odoamne shining on Camille, diving deep to grab himself kills, Splyce quickly out rotated ROCCAT starting from the 17th minute mark, destroying 4 turrets in order to open the map, using the opportunity to set a deeper net of wards that proved pivotal some minutes later, with the team catching Norskeren and Memento unware for two easy kills. With the enemy jungler down, Baron was the logical outcome.

And while previously it took Splyce two Barons to close out the game, this down they were profit for ROCCAT’s over eagerness to do a sort of desperation engage, and punished them hard for their clunky attempt, taking down three and good part of the base before returning two minutes later and put a conclusive end to game 2 in less than 30 minutes.


Game 3:

Coming from two disappointing defeat and one loss away from elimination, many would think ROCCAT would crumble and fall apart in game 3, but that is not what happened: showing good early plays and with a Memento playing aggressively on Olaf, they exposed Splyce’s weaknesses for the first time in the series.

However, they failed to transform kills into objectives taken, meaning that Splyce were the ones who reached the mid game ahead. And following a long deadlock with little to no action, a single fate sealed both teams’ destinies: ROCCAT overcommitted to Baron, and weren’t unable to fall back as Odoamne, once again on Camille, charged in bringing doom, helping his team getting three kills and leaving the big worm free to be taken.

And suddenly, it was over: taking advantage of the powerplay, Splyce found themselves another favorable fight inside ROCCAT’s base, handily acing their opposition to close out the game and the series.

MVP of the Series: Nisqy (22/1/12) on Kassadin, Orianna, and Swain. So criticized during the regular split and deemed as Splyce’s weakest link, Nisqy had a world-class performance against ROCCAT. Apart from the aforementioned game as Kassadin, he showed prowess on Orianna, being the big source of damage from the backline, and was likewise solid on Swain, a champion whose increasing importance in the meta can prove key in the weeks to come, making it important to have a player who can handle the Noxian Grand General.


Team Vitality v H2K

It was all but clean and solid League of Legends, but damn, was it entertaining! With red side curiously ahead in all 5 games, Vitality recovered from a very demoralizing win in game 4 to close out the series 3-2, and secure the organization’s spot for the first time in the EU LCS semi-finals.

Despite still being considerably far away from the team who dominated the first half of the regular season, Vitality demonstrated a strong early game – except in game 4 – and Jakob "YamatoCannon" Mebdi’s draft, putting for instance Daniele "Jiizuke" di Mauro on Taliyah in all three red side games gave them the edge against a H2K who weren’t creative enough in pick-and-bans, relying on comfort picks and strategies that were ultimately punished a more aggressive and determined Vitality.

But, the winners should many signs of weaknesses themselves, from questionable picks – Shen automatically comes to mind – to a very shaky objective control, especially in the Baron pit, with Erberk "Gilius" Demir making mistakes, allowing their opponents to come back to the game. Facing Fnatic, the best team of Europe at moment and favorites to win the Spring Split on Saturday, Vitality need to show a radical improvement if they want to even withstand a change against the powerhouse.


Game 1:

The series started with Vitality showing their main characteristic, with Gilius repetitiously ganking the mid lane to propel Jiizuke ahead. The “Italian Stallion” then put good use to Taliyah’s kit to assist his teammates, helping ADC Minitroupax getting ahead as well.

After 20 minutes, Vitality held a marginable gold lead, but perhaps more importantly, full control of the dragon, having taking down a Mountain and Inferno Drake after acquiring control of the bot side of the map.

But it was Jactroll who made the most important play of the game: with a precise hook on Sheriff, his team managed to burst down the ADC to open the way to an easy teamfight win after 24 minutes, which meant Baron for Vitality, who used the advantage to march towards H2K’s base.

And despite losing Gilius prematurely during the push, Jiizuke went berserk, destroying H2K and leaving the way completely open for Vitality to start the series with a win.


Game 2:

Vitality started game 2 showing the same early game aggressivity, and on a four against two in the botlane, managed to kill H2K’s bot duo, albeit the cost of Jiizuke’s Cassiopeia’s live. H2K however managed to stall the game for almost 20 minutes, a period in which the teams simply traded towers, meaning that none of them were able to open any significant lead.

The deadlock was broken with Vitality trying to rush down Baron, but once again, their shotcalling and coordination proved to be abysmal inside the pit, and Shook used to opening to flash in and steal the all-important neutral objective in favor of his team.

Now with the upper hand, H2K went for Vitality’s base, managing to open it after taking down the bottom inhibitor. And if SmittyJ’s Camille keeping everybody busy, his team used the window provided to claim the game’s second baron a few minutes after, extending further their gold lead.

And from there on, it was simple: after trying twice, H2K managed to grind their way towards the Nexus, and despite Vitality’s valiant resistance, took it down in order to equalize everything.   


Game 3:

Undoubtedly the most exciting of the best-of-five, game 3 was an extremely back and forward game, with both sides making several tactical and mechanical mistakes.

As usual, Vitality were dominant during the early game, finding fights across to map to open a respectable 4k gold by the 20-minute mark, as well as taking 3 drakes. Leading 8 to 1 in kills, they took the controversial decision to go for Baron even with all H2K members being alive, paying hard for it: getting caught from multiple sides, they lost 3 in the subsequent teamfight, and despite Cacochard and Minitroupax’s best attempts, H2K walked away with Baron, bringing themselves back to the game.

Putting good use to the 210 seconds of powerplay with the Baron buff, H2K went for the attack, and after a positional mistake from Jiizuke, managed to take the Italian down, opening the path to Vitality’s mid inhibitor.

But this time Vitality were the ones able to stall the game for long enough, staying relatively close in gold until the decisive moment: with Shook reengaging on Baron after Vitality seemingly stepping away, Gilius saw the chance for redemption, and this time with a well-timed smite, claimed the third Baron of the game for his team.

Heading after to Elder Dragon, Vitality had no problems whatsoever in taking down the second neutral objective in the span of 40 seconds, and went for H2K’s base, who were unable to withstanding the onslaught provided by a four-stack Elder buff, being motionless while their enemies took down the Nexus.


Game 4:

Following such a back-and-forth game 3, it was expected that Vitality would keep the momentum going, but what we saw was a H2K finally making proactive plays during the early game: with Shook’s Zac abusing Minitroupax and Jactroll’s aggressive positioning in lane, the veteran was able to put his botlane ahead, rendering their opposition virtually useless for the remainder of the game.

Clueless against an H2K who finally countered their early game strategy, Vitality completely fell apart in the 17^th minute, with the entire team being caught apart by a decisive H2K, who managed to ace them – including a quadra kill for Selfie’s Kassadin – with relative ease.

From there on, with H2K holding a huge 10k gold lead, the game was practically over: after taking down Baron shortly after it spawned, they had no trouble at all to win yet another teamfight and close the game in less than 23 minutes.


Game 5:
Now finding themselves in an advantageous situation after a strong showing in game 4, you would expect H2K to dominate once again and close out the series, right? Well, wrong again!

With H2K somehow letting Jiizuke pick Taliyah (and her dangerous roaming potential) once more, Vitality recomposed, and managed to hold themselves during the early game, with a kill following an awful engage by Shook being the catalyst they needed to take an early Baron.

From there on, the game was centered on the vicinities of H2K’s base, who managed to repel Vitality’s attempts, and despite the big gold deficit, managed to take down Minitroupax and Cabochard after a (this time) well executed ultimate by Shook’s Zac.

But unfortunately for them, they weren’t able to capitalize the sudden five versus three situation in their favor, and as soon as they respawned, Vitality went to take – a fairly risky, to be honest – Baron to maintain their control.

And this time they were decisive: during the siege at H2K’s bottom inhibitor, Selfie went in to assassinate, Minitroupax, but failed and died himself, giving Vitality the numbers advantage necessary to take down the Nexus for a final time, booking their tickets to Denmark.

MVP of the Series: Jiizuke (17/10/27) on Taliyah, Cassiopeia, and Vladimir. Kept in control by H2K during Vitality’s losses, the Italian Stallion was able to only unleash his potential as Taliyah: after getting early leads, he used the Stoneweaver’s full potential to bring the fight to other lanes, putting his teammates into advantageous situations.

Despite not being as remarkable during teamfights as he normally can be, Jiizuke did his job well, placing smart walls to divide H2K, giving his team an easier time to chase down and finish off their opponents. In a series marked by a rather deficient macro play from both sides, individual talent tends to shine brighter, with that proving true once more this time.


And that would be all in Europe! Check out below the schedule of the semi-finals, taking place this week:

2018 EU LCS Spring Split Semi-Finals Matches:

G2 Esports v Splyce – 30th March – 9am PDT / 6pm CEST
Fnatic v Team Vitality – 31st March - 8am PDT / 5pm CEST


(Photos courtesy of Riot Games)