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We're halfway through the first week of European League of Legends action, with five more best-of-two series Friday after the first five Thursday.
G2 Esports, Fnatic and FC Schalke 04 were the three teams to record 2-0 victories in the first day, and looked like the three teams in the best form. H2K, Splyce, ROCCAT and Vitality secured draws, while Origen, Giants and Unicorns of Love all lost 0-2.
Friday will start with Splyce vs. Roccat and Unicorns of Love vs. Origen, but the two bigger matchups come later on: Fnatic vs. Vitality should give a better idea of where both teams stand, while FC Schalke 04 will look to continue its impressive start with a strong outing against H2K.
Below, we will keep this post updated with the VODs for each game, as well as results, box scores and observations. If you are hoping to avoid spoilers, do not click the "show/hide series results" button below each set of VODs. If you do want to know the results, click away!
Splyce vs. Roccat
Result: Draw (1-1)
Game 1 (Splyce blue side, ROCCAT red)
Win: Splyce (23-18)
Player of the game: Wunder (7/2/6 on Ekko)
Bans: Kindred, Rek'Sai, Lucian; Fizz, Ryze, Nidalee
| Splyce | K/D/A | ROCCAT | K/D/A |
| Wunder (Ekko) 1 | 7/2/6 | Parang (Jayce) 3 | 5/5/4 |
| Trashy (Gragas) 2 | 3/3/18 | Airwaks (Lee Sin) 1 | 1/8/12 |
| Sencux (Viktor) 3 | 7/4/8 | Betsy (Vladimir) 1 | 8/3/7 |
| Kobbe (Caitlyn) 2 | 6/2/13 | Steelback (Jhin) 2 | 3/3/10 |
| Mikyx (Braum) 3 | 0/7/18 | Raise (Thresh) 2 | 1/4/10 |
Both of these teams had surprisingly successful Day 1s, taking a game off of opponents who were expected to be at least a tier above them. Less surprisingly, this was a very close Game 1, and even though ROCCAT held the lead for most of the contest, Splyce was never far out of it.
After a terrific game on Gragas Thursday, Trashy brought the champion back and picked up First Blood with an early gank in the top lane. But excellent play from Betsy's Vladimir allowed ROCCAT to respond, initating well with teleport to start good fights.
A dragon fight at 32 minutes when 5-2 in Splyce's favor, with three kills for Wunder, and Splyce followed that up with an uncontested Baron.
Dat Ace tho #EULCS #SPYWIN https://t.co/PF8mnRNHXM pic.twitter.com/5grxzEna9t
— Splyce Pro Team (@SplycePro) June 3, 2016
At 35 minutes, it looked like ROCCAT might have the break it needed, with Splyce's entire team low on health in their base and a hungry Vladimir eager to do damage. But Sencux's Viktor killed Betsy before he could do too much damage, allowing Splyce to wreck the opposing base and set up the eventual win.
Game 2
Win: Roccat (19-14)
Player of the game: Betsy (9/3/9 on Swain)
Bans: Fizz, Nidalee, Ekko; Ryze, Kindred, Jayce
| ROCCAT | K/D/A | Splyce | K/D/A |
| Parang (Maokai) 3 | 3/2/11 | Wunder (Trundle) 3 | 1/3/9 |
| Airwaks (Lee Sin) 3 | 1/2/12 | Trashy (Rek'Sai) 1 | 4/4/6 |
| Betsy (Swain) 2 | 9/3/9 | Sencux (Vladimir) 1 | 1/4/3 |
| Steelback (Lucian) 1 | 5/3/8 | Kobbe (Ezreal) 2 | 7/4/3 |
| Raise (Braum) 2 | 1/4/16 | Mikyx (Thresh) 2 | 1/4/11 |
Game 2 was another close on between these two teams, with fights that seemed to last forever thanks to two ultra-sustain mid laners. ROCCAT secured First Blood 10 minutes in after a gank top, but Splyce responded with two kills of its own immediately.
Splyce looked to take a significant lead 20 minutes in, taking the second Infernal Drake of the game and winning two straight fights -- 3-1 and 4-1. But at 26 minutes, Swain's ridiculous sustain and Lucian's consistent damage presence won a team fight 5-3 in ROCCAT's favor, slowing down the game significantly.
By the next team fight at 33 minutes, Betsy's Swain was too much to deal with, as ROCCAT picked up four kills and the Baron. At 34 minutes, Betsy picked up a triple kill, firmly turning the game around in ROCCAT's favor and setting up the final push for the win.
Unicorns of Love vs. Origen
Result: UOL win (2-0)
Game 1 (UOL red side, Origen blue)
Win: Unicorns of Love (13-3)
Player of the game: Exileh (8/0/2 on LeBlanc)
Bans: Caitlyn, Bard, Rek'Sai; Nidalee, Ryze, Twitch
| UOL | K/D/A | Origen | K/D/A |
| Vizicsacsi (Trundle) 2 | 0/3/4 | Soaz (Ekko) 2 | 0/3/3 |
| Move (Elise) 2 | 1/0/7 | Amazing (Kindred) 1 | 3/1/0 |
| Exileh (LeBlanc) 3 | 8/0/2 | PowerOfEvil (Orianna) 3 | 0/5/1 |
| Veritas (Kalista) 3 | 4/0/5 | FORG1VEN (Lucian) 1 | 0/2/0 |
| Hylissang (Braum) 1 | 0/0/8 | Hybrid (Janna) 2 | 0/2/2 |
After a horrid performance in Day 1, Unicorns of Love put forward a convincing win in this one, taking care of a sloppy Origen team for an easy victory. It helped that Origen drafted next to zero crowd control: UOL was able to dictate the terms of nearly every skirmish or fight in the game, securing a large number of kills for Exileh (who more than redeemed himself after a particularly bad debut Thursday) and Veritas to build up a strong gold lead.
By 25 minutes, UOL's led was so large that it was able to take Baron uncontested. When UOL marched into Origen's base two minutes later, there was nothing the defending EU runners-up could do, losing their base and the first game of the series.
Game 2
Win: Unicorns of Love (21-6)
Player of the game: Move (7/0/7 on Elise)
Bans: Nidalee, Ryze, Trundle; Vladimir, Braum, Fizz
| Origen | K/D/A | UOL | K/D/A |
| Soaz (Maokai) 2 | 0/4/4 | Vizicsacsi (Ekko) 2 | 7/1/10 |
| Amazing (Kindred) 1 | 1/7/3 | Move (Elise) 2 | 7/0/7 |
| xPeke (Azir) 3 | 1/5/3 | Exileh (LeBlanc) 3 | 6/1/8 |
| FORG1VEN (Lucian) 2 | 2/0/1 | Veritas (Caitlyn) 1 | 0/1/15 |
| Hybrid (Alistar) 3 | 2/5/3 | Hylissang (Bard) 1 | 1/3/17 |
Origen subbed owner and former starting mid laner xPeke in for this game after a very poor performance from PowerOfEvil in Game 1. It made little difference. Equipped with a strong pick composition, the Unicorns of Love jumped out to a swift lead, up to a 5k gold advantage at 20 minutes thanks to smart ganks from Move.
A Baron fight at 23 minutes firmly put the game in UOL's control, opening up a 14-5 kill advantage, taking out Amazing on a desperate steal attempt and building what ended up being an insurmountable lead.
Giants vs. G2 Esports
Result: G2 win (2-0)
Game 1 (Giants blue side, G2 red)
Win: G2 win (15-4)
Player of the game:
Bans: Zed, Lucian, Kindred; Ryze, Vladimir, Nidalee
| Giants | K/D/A | G2 | K/D/A |
| Smittyj (Ekko) 1 | 2/3/2 | Kikis (Fizz) 2 | 6/1/8 |
| Maxlore (Graves) 2 | 0/3/1 | Trick (Rek'Sai) 1 | 0/0/13 |
| NighT (Viktor) 3 | 1/2/1 | Perkz (Azir) 2 | 3/2/7 |
| Sonstar (Ezreal) 3 | 1/3/2 | Zven (Caitlyn) 1 | 6/1/4 |
| Hustlin (Braum) 2 | 0/4/3 | Mithy (Soraka) 3 | 0/0/13 |
After a strong performance in a 2-0 sweep of Origen Thursday, G2 took early advantages in every lane this game and did not look back. Small advantages built up to big ones at 28 minutes, when G2 won a fight 4-0 after securing Baron. From there, G2 was able to finish out the game and take the win.
Game 2 (G2 blue side, Giants red)
Win: G2 Esports (11-6)
Player of the game: Trick (5/0/4 on Elise)
Bans: Vladimir, Braum, Trundle; Ryze, Nidalee, Kindred
| G2 | K/D/A | Giants | K/D/A |
| Kikis (Fizz) 3 | 2/0/7 | Smittyj (Ekko) 1 | 1/2/2 |
| Trick (Elise) 2 | 5/0/4 | Maxlore (Rek'Sai) 1 | 0/2/5 |
| Perkz (Azir) 2 | 1/1/6 | NighT (Viktor) 2 | 1/2/2 |
| Zven (Lucian) 1 | 3/2/2 | Sonstar (Caitlyn) 2 | 3/2/3 |
| Mithy (Bard) 3 | 0/3/7 | Hustlin (Nautilus) 3 | 1/3/5 |
Giants picked up First Blood in this game thanks to an early gank by Maxlore, and secured a second kill from another Maxlore gank (both targeted towards G2's bottom lane). Kikis put G2 on the board with a solo kill against Smittyj, but Giants continued to focus G2's duo lane, picking up two more kills by sending numbers there.
Once G2 grouped up, it was able to assert itself against Giants, taking the lead and securing a 24-minute Baron. From there, it was just a matter of closing out, which G2 did with ease to move to 4-0 on the split.
Vitality vs. Fnatic
Result:
Game 1 (VIT blue side, Fnatic red)
Win: Vitality (13-8)
Player of the game: Nukeduck (2/3/10 on Lissandra)
Bans: Vladimir, Kindred, Ekko; Ryze, Nidalee, Trundle
| Vitality | K/D/A | Fnatic | K/D/A |
| Cabochard (Maokai) 1 | 1/3/10 | Gamsu (Zac) 3 | 1/1/5 |
| Mightybear (Graves) 2 | 2/1/8 | Spirit (Lee Sin) 2 | 2/3/4 |
| Nukeduck (Lissandra) 2 | 2/3/10 | Febiven (Azir) 2 | 4/1/4 |
| Police (Ezreal) 3 | 6/0/5 | Rekkles (Lucian) 1 | 1/3/6 |
| KaSing (Karma) 3 | 2/1/7 | YellowStar (Braum) 1 | 0/5/8 |
This game had a much slower start than many others in the first week of European action, but picked up significantly towards the end.
Vitality picked up two early Mountain Drakes and three early kills to build an early lead, controlling the tempo from that point by grouping up and sieging and using teleports from Nukeduck and Cabochard. At 35 minutes, Fnatic took advantage of poor vision control by Vitality to sneak an uncontested Baron despite being down 3-0 in kills and 2k in gold.
Vitality responded with a pair of kills after an excellent ultimate from Nukeduck, and extended the kill lead to 6-0 by picking of YellowStar for the third time of the game minutes later. At 40 minutes, Nukeduck charged in for what looked like another excellent ultimate, but Spirit was able to kill him before he pulled it off.
At 49 minutes, Nukeduck landed another crucial ultimate, taking out both members of Fnatic's bottom lane and allowing Vitality to push forward and take the Nexus.
Game 2 (Fnatic blue side, Vitality red)
Win: Fnatic (13-3)
Player of the game:
Bans: Lissandra, Maokai, Karma; Ryze, Ekko, Vladimir
| Fnatic | K/D/A | Vitality | K/D/A |
| Gamsu (Gragas) 3 | 2/1/1 | Cabochard (Trundle) 3 | 1/1/2 |
| Spirit (Nidalee) 2 | 3/0/7 | Mightybear (Kindred) 1 | 0/4/2 |
| Febiven (Zed) 3 | 6/1/4 | Nukeduck (LeBlanc) 2 | 1/4/1 |
| Rekkles (Kalista) 2 | 2/0/7 | Police (Lucian) 1 | 1/1/0 |
| YellowStar (Braum) 1 | 0/1/9 | KaSing (Thresh) 2 | 0/3/2 |
At 11 minutes, Spirit picked up the first kill of the game with a nifty outplay of Nukeduck's LeBlanc. Vitality responded soon after by taking out Febiven -- Cabochard, in his first game not on Maokai, got the kill -- but Fnatic held onto control of the game thanks to excellent play from Spirit's Nidalee and Febiven's Zed.
Febiven with the kill on Nukeduck! #LCSBIGPLAYS https://t.co/ou6lVLVYSB
— lolesports (@lolesports) June 3, 2016
Fnatic easily took the win from there, closing out the weekend with a draw.
H2K vs. FC Schalke 04
Result: Draw (1-1)
Game 1 (H2K blue side, Schalke red)
Win: H2K (16-6)
Player of the game: Ryu (4/2/9 on Azir)
Bans: Trundle, Vladimir, Fizz; Nidalee, Ryze, Lucian
| H2K | K/D/A | FC Schalke 04 | K/D/A |
| Odoamne (Ekko) 2 | 5/1/9 | Steve (Maokai) 2 | 0/7/4 |
| Jankos (Kindred) 1 | 4/1/11 | Gilius (Elise) 3 | 0/3/4 |
| Ryu (Azir) 3 | 4/2/9 | Fox (Viktor) 1 | 3/3/1 |
| Freeze (Caitlyn) 2 | 2/1/4 | MrRallez (Sivir) 2 | 2/2/2 |
| Vander (Alistar) 3 | 1/1/13 | Sprattel (Braum) 1 | 1/1/3 |
This game started off with a bang, with 10 total kills (five for each team) in the first 11 minutes. H2K took the game's first major advantage by sneaking in Baron at 21 minutes, using that to efficiently push out lanes and gain a 6.5k gold lead by 27 minutes.
Ultimately, H2K's survival comp, with ways to keep people from dying (ultimates from Ekko and Kindred), plenty of disengage and engage (Azir and Alistar) and consistent long-range damage (Azir and Caitlyn), was too much for Schalke to handle. A fight 29 minutes in went 4-0 in favor of H2K, allowing them to waltz into the base and take the game.
Game 2 (Schalke blue side, H2K red)
Win: FC Schalke 04 (8-2)
Player of the game:
Bans: Kindred, Lucian, Braum; Vladimir, Nidalee, Ryze
| FC Schalke 04 | K/D/A | H2K | K/D/A |
| Steve (Ekko) 1 | 1/1/4 | Odoamne (Maokai) 2 | 0/1/2 |
| Gilius (Gragas) 3 | 1/1/6 | Jankos (Rek'Sai) 1 | 0/2/2 |
| Fox (Azir) 3 | 6/0/2 | Ryu (Viktor) 3 | 2/2/0 |
| MrRallez (Sivir) 2 | 0/0/6 | Freeze (Caitlyn) 1 | 0/2/2 |
| Sprattel (Alistar) 2 | 0/0/7 | Vander (Trundle) 2 | 0/1/2 |
This game started aggressively, with Jankos flashing in for an early gank but gifting First Blood to Schalke.
First Blood for @GiliusLoL! #EULCS https://t.co/tE4QrelOIb
— lolesports (@lolesports) June 3, 2016
Four minutes later, a four-man gank gave Schalke another kill, and the game slowed to a halt at that point.
At 29 minutes, Schalke finally went for its engage with an incredible series of chained crowd control. Gragas flashed and Bodyslammed into H2K's team, ulting two of them directly into Ekko's Parrallel Convergence, where Alistar was waiting to keep them in place. That resulted in a 2-1 skirmish in Schalke's favor, a turret and a Baron, and the resulting Baron buff landed Schalke two more turrets and the game's first inhibitor.
As H2K attempted to defend its base, Schalke picked up three more kills, allowing it close out the game..