The League of Legends European Championship concluded its regular season play today, ending with a tiebreaker match between Vitality, the team that struggled to get to the eight-win mark, and SK Gaming, the squad best known as the region’s underdogs.
When the game began, the draft pointed to an aggressive play style on the side of SK. Vitality found better luck with the Corki, Renekton, and Gragas picks, however, and managed to pick up five additional kills over their opponents by the end of the match despite the draft falling in favor of SK.
SK Gaming had a slight early lead due to winning a few skirmishes, but the gold was still relatively even until team fights began later in the game. Vitality’s superior damage output and team fighting capabilities were able to overpower SK Gaming team time and time again, leading Vitality to a victory and a ticket to a postseason appearance.
Vitality will face FC Schalke 04 in the Summer Split quarterfinals, and given their opponents’ fourth-placed standings, the team’s playoff run could be cut short before it even begins. In order for Vitality to succeed, they will need to look to draft more compositions like this one. If they try to play their opponent’s game, their chances of putting up a fight are hindered.
With today’s victory, SK and Origen are now out of contention for the playoffs. Vitality will move forward with their match against FC Schalke 04 in the Summer Split quarterfinals, which kick off on Aug. 23. LEC this year looks explosive, so whoever comes out on top will be a strong contender going into Worlds.
