The LEC Winter Group Stage closed in a spectacular clutch win.
Given everything we’ve seen in the last few days of the Group Stage, the remaining teams had to give it their all if they wanted to make it to the best-of-5 matches in the next phase of Winter split. Here’s everything that went down in Day 3.
The 2023 Winter Group Stage Draw
Group A
Vitality
SK Gaming
Heretics
KOI
Group B
MAD Lions
G2 Esports
Team BDS
Astralis
How are the rest of the Groups decided? Following the new 2023 format for the EMEA League, the winners for Game 1 & 2 will face off in an upper bracket match. The same will be done by the victors of the 3rd and fourth match. Afterwards, all the losing teams compete in lower-bracket bo3’s.
Those that win in the loser’s bracket can climb their way back up for a spot in the Play-offs by defeating the losers from the upper bracket match-ups. With only 8 top teams remaining, expect top-tier plays as the strongest teams in the LEC duke it out on Summoner’s Rift.
Team Vitality vs KOI
Game 1
An aggressive start to the day let KOI take the first drake while their bot side crashed wave after wave. Vitality couldn’t gain a lot of ground on the bottom late so they had to find success elsewhere. Photon and Bo took the first turret at top lane as the game progressed to midgame, but after multiple teamfights, Comp’s scaling on Zeri could not be controlled. Even with 3 drakes and an uncontested Chemtech soul in KOI’s pocket, Vitality stood their ground in a high-risk jungle clash for the second Baron. Unfortunately, little could be done to stop KOI from barreling down mid to finish the game.
- Teams: VIT 0 – 1 KOI
- Time: 33:17
- Kills: 6 – 13
- Turrets: 5 – 7
- Gold: 55.6k – 41.6k
- Dragons: 0 – 5
- Barons: 2 – 0
Game 2
KOI taking Blue side did not prevent them from taking another dominant win and closing the seconds game. Less organized play from VIT’s side gave way to multiple blunders, resulting in a disastrous Game 2 for Team Vitality. With 6 kills on the leaderboard 10 minutes in, Malrang and Larssen put down the hurt until their entire team could handle clashes despite getting outnumbered. After claiming the game’s first Baron, the game slowly met its end at the hands of Team KOI.
- Teams: KOI 2 – 0 VIT
- Time: 26:31
- Kills: 25 – 11
- Turrets: 10 – 4
- Gold: 55.9k – 47.6k
- Dragons: 2 – 1
- Barons: 1 – 0
MAD Lions vs G2
Game 1
The first match found its rhythm in the midgame as MAD tried to break G2’s strong momentum. While Carzzy led the effort wihth his Zeri, G2’s double AD carry team comp had them comfortably kiting therir opposition while keeping a comfortable distance. What would’ve been a great opportuinity to turn things to the Lions’ favor, BrokenBlade and Yike were better positioned to protect their teammates. Led by an unkillable Olaf, G2’s rampage continued on as they won the final skirmish of the game. A massive snowball resulted in one of the strongest wins in the LEC’s Group Stage.
- Teams: MAD 0 – 1 G2
- Time: 28:26
- Kills: 5 – 21
- Turrets: 1 – 9
- Gold: 44.2K – 61.8K
- Dragons: 1 – 3
- Barons: 1 – 2
Game 2
Nisqy’s strong Sylas plays landed a 2-kill lead in the early game. On top of that, they had a sizeable advantage after taking the first drake uncontested. The lead was theirs for a while before a smart Maokai ult by Yike gave G2 their first teamfight win in botside. MAD played carefully to hold on their score lead, but their opposition turned the situation around when they forced a skirmish on topside to make space for the first Baron take. This forcible turn of events happened despite MAD owning 3 of the 4 drakes that spawned in the entire game. In an incredibly strong display of patience and sheer nerve, G2 flipped the script on a midgame 5-kill deficit to close the game and end the second day of Group stage 2023.
- Teams: MAD 0 – 2 G2
- Time: 38:09
- Kills: 15 – 20
- Turrets: 3 – 7
- Gold: 47.0k – 57.4K
- Dragons: 3 – 1
- Barons: 0 – 1
Check out Nisqy’s huge outplay on Sylas here!
For the latest news on the LEC, follow ESTNN.
