Can the Spanish Squad knock Fnatic down to the loser’s bracket in the LEC Match of the Week?
The LEC 2024 Winter Playoffs officially begin tomorrow, with only 8 the best teams competing for the title of Winter Champion! Even though Karmine Corp had a bit of a resurgence in their last 2 matches, them and Rogue had to leave the competition early due to not scoring enough wins.
However, G2 Esports, Fnatic, Team Heretics, Team Vitality, Team BDS, SK Gaming and MAD Lions KOI are still in the run for the trophy (shield?) of the first split of the 2024 LEC circuit – with MAD Lions KOI facing Fnatic in what seems to be the most exciting Bo3 of the first round!
LEC Match of the Week Preview: MAD Lions KOI vs Fnatic
Can Noah and Jun Rise to the Occasion?
Even though Fnatic achieved a respectable 5-4 scoreline by the end of the Regular Season, they still had some weaker performances – especially against Team BDS. While it wasn’t a particular player’s fault as every member of the team had quieter games, the biggest outlier of FNC was their botlane: Noah and Jun.
While Jun has been doing well – even spectacular on picks like Blitzcrank and Renata Glasc – he only has a good synergy with Noah so far, not really skirmishing the map with Razork or pulling some cheeky ganks on mid and toplane. Noah on the other hand elevated himself to a Kalista main instead of an Aphelios one like he was last season, but fell into the same trap as before. If he’s not on his preferred champions, he doesn’t seem to have that much impact, even if he had one of the better looking Lucians of the LEC.
While Supa and Alvaro are not perfect either, Supa DID carry MAD Lions KOI against Karmine Corp, Rogue and Team Vitality as well. Alvaro has also been keen to work outside of botlane, which gives more flexibility to MDK in this regard.
The Spanish Showdown in the Jungle
While Elyoya is THE name of the MAD Lions KOI team, he hasn’t been doing as well as one would expect. Ironically, the rookies do the heavy lifting more than Yoya – but if he gets Xin Zhao, he becomes an unstoppable force.
Meanwhile, Razork is not as reliant on one champion as Elyoya is, and while he also prefers the Xin, he can be put on Sejuani duty, and can impact the game even if he falls behind in the early game – or gives up First Blood. This is something that Elyoya failed to showcase so far, and his Nocture match is the perfect example for that: even though his toplaner was ahead, he choose to initiate when Myrwn was nowhere near his team, which cost MDK a few teamfights and ultimately the game.
Razork is also capable of carrying as he showed on multiple occasions last week, and while we haven’t seen him unleashed this year so far, he’s always ready to take up the carry position, which could be something MAD Lions KOI struggles against.
Who will win: MAD Lions KOI or Fnatic?
Even though Fnatic is among the LEC teams that DO have a good early game, they sometimes fail to play for objectives, usually giving up Dragons in favour of Void Grubs – but not following up with Herald, missing out on half the snowball effect the Baron-side objectives offer. However, they do get their lanes ahead by securing First Bloods thanks to Razork and with great laning phases by Humanoid and Oscarinin, and if they get rolling they tend to win, as they only lost 1 match when they were ahead by the 15-minute mark.
However, MAD Lions KOI debuted as steamrollers versus Team Heretics, taking the lead early and never letting it go. While their hyper-aggression didn’t work against every team in the LEC, it tends to surprise even more experienced players. They also showed that they can play calm and collected in their last regular season match: drafting conservatively, playing slow then taking over the game with good macro decisions. While they have room to grow in this regard, flexibility is always a good team.
And flexible they are thanks to their secret weapon, Myrwn. A player that picks Varus and Fiddlesticks top in the LEC – and succeeds with them – is unhinged to say the least, and while Oscarinin has a solid laning phase, he might not be able to deal with Myrwn’s surprises.
One thing that tips the scales in Fnatic’s favour is their midlaner, Humanoid. While Fresskowy has proved to be a great player in the past weeks, Humanoid is in great form, and if he activates in the early game, he could make life hell for Fresskowy.
MAD Lions KOI vs Fnatic will come down to two things: the form of Noah and Humanoid on the side of Fnatic, while the mental fortitude of Elyoya in MDK. If the Fnatic players are on their best performance (which should be a given in a Playoff match), they could take this 2-1, but MAD Lions KOI has a real chance to take them down as well.
The LEC Match of the Week will take place this Sunday at 20:00 CET – don’t miss out on it, as well as ESTNN’s other content about the LEC!
