The most interesting match of the LEC on Friday was supposed to be the tilt between Misfits and G2. The LEC production team even gave us an amazing rap battle about the budding rivalry between the two teams. But that tilt turned into a snooze fest as G2 absolutely ran over Misfits.
Perhaps the most exciting thing to happen in the LEC today then was the match before between Rogue and FC Schalke 04. Rogue were 0-8 heading into the day and were desperate for a win. For jungler Mateusz “Kikis” Szkudlarek, that meant diving deep into his champion pool—a little too deep, as it turns out, because his Electrocute Poppy was an abject failure.
The theory behind Electrocute jungle Poppy is that the hammer-wielding Yordle actually does a lot of damage in the early game. So when she walks up and lands a combo with her charge, the Electrocute damage is no joke. Later in the game, she becomes tanky and can help peel for the team. It’s something that Kikis has worked on mastering.
But that didn’t show against Schalke. Kikis took a big risk to invade Schalke jungler Jonas “Memento” Elmarghichi’s first blue buff. The problem is Memento had already recalled and bought while Kikis was on his first items. Schalke mid laner Felix “Abbedagge” Braun showed up on Ryze and took both the kill and the blue buff that started it all.
That one play pretty much ended Rogue’s shot at victory given how much priority Ryze had. That gave Memento freedom to track Kikis, and before long, Schalke were taking objectives everywhere.
The poor start ruined the return of support Oskar “Vander” Bogdan to the top European level. Vander actually played well, but the rest of the team fell too far behind. With Vander on the main roster, there’s always the possibility that he could convince old lane partner Konstantinos “FORG1VEN” Tzortziou to join the team after he ends his mandatory military service in Greece.
It’s not clear whether FORG1VEN can save them—he’s talented, sure, but he can be an abrasive personality. But with the team sitting now at 0-9, something has to change.
