Cover image source: Mars Media
The Group C opening games went fairly as expected with LGD and Fnatic taking clean 2-0’s off their opponents, Tigers and Gambit respectively. The PSG vs Fnatic series was rather one-sided, however, and SEA fans will be left disappointed with not just the result but the nature of it, as Fnatic seemed to crumble against good opposition.
Dreamleague Season 10 Minor champions, Tigers faced a tough loss to PSG.LGD in their opening game Fy’s support Axe made the laning stage very hard for the Tigers, who were never really able to recover. The Zeus and Silencer picks from PSG made initiating very difficult for Moonmeander’s Magnus and Tigers were never really able to approach the team fights without heavy casualties. With much too much to do for Ahjit’s Spectre, Tigers crumbled and called the gg.
In game 2, LGD pulled out a Magnus+Troll combo that was able to come online pretty quickly in the game. Combined with Maybe’s good start on the Storm Spirit, the Tigers fell apart from the constant pressure. Much of the Tigers teamfight was in their Phoenix pick, but the Troll counter pick along with the Centaur ultimate was too much for the Tigers to deal with and they lacked the burst on the other cores to make it work.
In the other Group C, opening match, CIS’s Gambit found themselves heavily outmatched against a Fnatic side, who very simply much better as they took the series 2-0. While both games went near the hour mark, at no point did it seem that Fnatic were not in control. In game 1, DJ and Abed made the map a very scary place for Gambit, who found themselves getting quickly bursted before they could respond. With a massive lead, iceiceice’s Enigma didn’t have too much pressure to execute big Black Holes and was able to keep them just for important heroes.
In game 2, Gambit lacked the lockdown required to bring down heroes like the Necrophos, Pangolier and Arc Warden, who simply outfarmed them at every stage of the way. Fnatic simply took the better teamfights and outplayed Gambit and while it was laboured, it never looked uncomfortable for the SEA team.
PSG.LGD faced Fnatic for the chance to emerge as top seeds in Group C. The TI8 finalists, had little trouble in taking down Fnatic, as they had the drafts and the approach in what ended up being a short-lived series. Maybe’s DK was instrumental in both games, acting a front-liner, initiator as well as damage dealer. He dominated Abed’s Invoker in game 1, and a 19-minute Blink+Radiance, made life difficult for MP’s PL. He also created space for Ame’s Morphling as PSG were able to close it out with a 30k gold lead at 30-minutes.
In game 2, Chalice’s Axe won his lane convincingly, and with a 10 minute Blink+Vanguard, Abed’s Ember and MP’s Morphling had very less space to farm. By 25 minutes, the PSG cores had pulled out ahead by a big margin and they waited out Ame’s BKB and put up an Aegis on him before wiping all of Fnatic in the huge teamfight. The gg was called shortly after.
Tigers now face Gambit and the loser will start from the lower bracket while the winner takes on Fnatic for an upper bracket spot.