After a nail-biting tiebreaker, Fnatic proved that they are the very best team from Europe taking down the LPL’s Invictus Gaming in order to claim first place in their group. This means that they will face a second-place team during the quarterfinals which probably grants them a more favorable matchup as they will avoid teams like KT Rolster, RNG, and Afreeca Freecs.
Both Fnatic and IG were already set to make it out of group right after the first game both teams played as they completely stomped the other teams in their group. However, last time the two teams played IG won against Fnatic which meant that Fnatic had to force a tiebreaker to even get a chance to secure first place.
The game between IG and Fnatic was the last game of the day and while it was a long wait it was definitely worth it. Fnatic’s draft was extremely smart as they took two top lane power picks, both Aatrox and Urgot, putting Aatrox mid and Urgot top. Although Fnatic’s solo lanes lost against those of IG it didn’t stop the team from making plays and Broxah quickly got an advantage through his dominating jungle play. After that, it was a complete stomp where IG was given no option to get back into the game.
The second game was a lot more exciting to watch though as both teams went in hard. They engaged at every opportunity that they could get and the early and mid-game between the two teams was really close. Rookie showed why he is considered the best mid laner at Worlds this years as he completely beat Caps in lane and even managed to turn some ganks around. However, Fnatic managed to find the better fight every single time. Even when it looked like things were going in IG’s favor Fnatic somehow managed to get on top. This gained them a small lead which they used wisely and they quickly turned it into a huge advantage which ultimately won them the game.
Fnatic’s performance against IG was really spectacular. Not a single member on the team was slacking off. Broxah is probably playing the best that he ever has right now and other Fnatic members such as Bwipo and Rekkles also stepped up during these two games. IG is the team that managed to almost beat the tournament favorites RNG during the LPL playoffs so if Fnatic can go head to head with them it really says a lot about the team’s power.
On Saturday we will see our first two quarterfinals matchups with Afreeca Freecs vs Cloud 9 and Fnatic vs EDG. On Sunday the other two quarterfinals matchups will play out with RNG vs G2 and KT Rolster vs IG.
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