The El Clásico returns this week in the LEC Match of the Week, as Fnatic vs G2 Esports finally happens for the first time in 2024.
The last round of the LEC 2024 Winter Season is upon us! There are only 7 spots left in the Playoffs as Team BDS has locked themselves in first, so the 9 teams still in the running need to be on their best performance if they don’t want their season cut short.
On Sunday, two of the biggest EMEA teams will clash in the legendary pairing that has been dubbed the El Clásico of the LEC after the rivalry of FC Barcelona and Real Madrid: G2 Esports and Fnatic will meet again on Summoner’s Rift – but who’s going to come out on top?
LEC Match of the Week Preview: Fnatic vs G2 Esports
2 Giants on the Same Path
G2 Esports and Fnatic both have a 4-2 record so far, with fairly similar performances. They both lost to teams that they were supposed to beat, as FNC suffered defeats at the hands of SK Gaming and Team BDS, while G2 couldn’t overcome Rogue and Team Vitality.
The only difference in their overall W/L’s is that G2 Esports lost to themselves more than their opponents, as well as Fnatic getting beat by teams that weren’t held in high regard before the start of the 2024 season, but are slowly working themselves towards the top of the standings.
G2 (and especially Caps) managed to make enough mistakes against Rogue that the team that’s currently 1-5 could beat them, while Team Vitality put together a more failproof draft, while the Kings of Europe failed to get their solo lanes ahead, which rendered the double support botlane Hans and Miky played useless.
While not as glaring, Fnatic also made mistakes. Versus SK Gaming, they had a horrible draft last picking Renekton against Jax on Red side, then topping it off with a subpar game on the Rift, while Team BDS just outpaced them in every phase of the game.
Still, G2 Esports and Fnatic had great performances, with Fnatic holding the 5th place in the Top Team Gold/Minute stat and 3 out of 5 spots as the overall best farm/game.
Oscarinin vs BrokenBlade – The Future vs the Past
Probably the most interesting matchup of this bout is the toplane. While Oscarinin has been known as a weakside toplaner, playing tanks suchs as K’Sante and Udyr, he showed that he can carry on them, as well as having a monumental Gwen performance against Rogue.
BrokenBlade has played 5 different champions over the course of 6 games, and he’s known for his 1v1 and laning prowess, so he could give Oscarinin a hard time. While I don’t believe that Oscar can beat BB in the toplane matchup, he might not even need to – it might just be enough to hold the Topfather down while the rest of Fnatic outscales G2 Esports – but this could be a great opportunity for Oscarinin to show how much he grew since last year.
Who Will Win: G2 Esports or Fnatic?
Even though the Season 14 meta has slowed down with the average game duration in the LEC being 31:43, the early game seems to be more important than before. Since there are more objectives thanks to the Void Grubs and the new Herald, early fights are (or at least, should be) more common, as you need some leverage for the start of the midgame since Baron Nashor is not as easily defeatable right when it spawns at 20 minutes.
Sadly for G2 fans, they have one of the worst early games in the league. They haven’t got a single First Blood in the last 2 weeks, and while they got First Tower 3 games out of 6, they haven’t always used their momentary advantage to grow their lead. They also didn’t prioritize Void Grubs in matchups where speed would’ve been of the essence.
On the other hand, Fnatic had good early performances, with Razork, Humanoid and Oscarinin working well together. While in their losing matches, they couldn’t get the ball rolling, when the enemy doesn’t shut them out early, they can usually rack up some gold and experience enough to take their opponents down in the midgame – and G2 Esports hasn’t been the squad to dominate early. While G2 is better in teamfights, Fnatic is not too shabby either, and with a lead, they can bridge the gap between coordination that might come up.
Overall, Fnatic is supposed to take this victory if all goes to plan, but as always, G2 Esports is unpredictable – Caps might go 0/6 like he did against Rogue, or he might carry the game singlehandedly. It remains to be seen on Sunday at 19:00 CET, when the two giants clash! Don’t forget to follow ESTNN for further details on the El Clásico and the LEC!
