G2 Dominate, Hold Only 3-0 Weekend in LEC: LEC Week 1 Overview

With the opening weekend of the LEC summer split (debuting with a superweek) now over, we have a better indicator of the strengths of each team moving forward.

Although each team has only played three matches, and their current records are no indicator of the final standings, the LEC power rankings have shifted quite drastically.

On the Rise: Astralis and G2

In perhaps the most shocking turn of events, Astralis came out of this weekend 2-1. Although they, unsurprisingly, dropped their first match to the reigning LEC Champions in G2 Esports, Astralis picked up their subsequent matches against Team BDS (Spring 9th place) and Misfits (Spring 3rd Place).

While both of their opponents adjusted their rosters coming into summer, Astralis did as well. In fact, they were the most active team this midseason, signing Vizicsacsi; Xerxe; and JeongHoon to replace their underwhelming top; jungle; and support players from spring. With two wins under their belt, Astralis only needs two more to beat their abysmal 3-15 record from last split.

Contrary to Astralis, G2 had a much less surprising successful weekend. As the current champions who swept the top three teams 3-0 to win the split and came in fourth place at the MSI (Mid-Season Invitational), a 3-0 weekend is nothing short of expected.

What makes this record impressive, however, is the fact that they accrued wins against the likes of Rogue and Excel, two teams expected to perform very well this split. At this pace, G2 only needs to beat Fnatic and MAD Lions to prove they are still the best in the LEC.

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In Hot Water: Misfits and Rogue

While we had some incredible performances this weekend, the LEC standings are a spectrum. Unfortunately, someone has to lose so these top teams can win. This week, it is none other than Misfits and Rogue.

While Rogue making this list may be shocking, Misfits performance is much worse. In this midseason, Misfits benched their top laner HiRit in favor of their LFL (Academy) top laner Irrelevant. Unhappy with this decision, HiRit left the LEC and returned to Korea, leaving Misfits without an experienced top laner to substitute if Irrelevant could not perform. As it turns out, Irrelevant is not very good; however, neither are the rest of Misfits.

While their mid laner, Vetheo, won LEC MVP last split, it seems he cannot carry Misfits like he had in spring. The third place team in spring went 0-3 this weekend and are eyeing a 9th or 10th place finish this split. To make matters worse, Misfits is yet to play the prospective best teams this split: G2, Fnatic, Rogue, and MAD Lions. Their losses came against Vitality, Excel, and Astralis.

Rogue is in the exact opposite situation. While they managed to scrape out a single win against MAD Lions, it was the product of an Elder Dragon flip and high respawn timers from a losing position. The game was MAD Lions’ to lose and they did just that with a bad team fight. Contrary to Misfits; however, Rogue has already played the other three best teams in the LEC.

They lost to G2 and Fnatic, meaning the only teams left that might give them a hard time are Excel and Vitality: two teams they beat both times last split. While Rogue are sitting low in the standings now, they will most likely reclaim a top four spot in the coming weeks.

Despite these shocking outcomes, the summer split is only just beginning. Each team has 15 games left to play, and anything can happen. The LEC returns next week on June 24th at 11:00 AM EST with SK Gaming vs. Astralis, and you won’t want to miss it.