Game 1: Gambit Gaming vs DragonBorns

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The first game in Europe’s Super Week started off with standard lanes and the aggression between the 2v2 match up down in the bottom began as soon as the minions showed up. After a great Zenith Blade by Muvert, HosaN managed to pick up first blood on Genja. Unfortunately for him, he chased EdWard a bit too much and ended up donating him a kill a second before the armored bear played by Diamond appeared and grabbed himself a piece of Muvert. Two successful ganks by Malunoo in the bot lane brought the kill score back in DragonBorns’ favour and Shushei managed to kill Alex Ich 1v1. Gambit on the other hand picked up the first dragon and were ahead of their opponents in CS in every lane.

As soon as the 20 minute mark hit, the game just exploded with action. As EdWard and Genja were pushing towards the second bottom turret, Malunoo ganked them but only got baited into a Shen ult. DB got the kill on the support, but paid for it with 4 deaths, as the whole Russian team showed up in reinforcement. Gambit then turned towards the dragon but as their opponents respawned a new fight broke out and it ended with an ace for Gambit and 4 kills for DB, including a triple kill for Shushei. Soon afterward, the Russian team tried to pick up the baron buff. DragonBorns were compelled to do something about it and they managed to stop them but at the cost of 2 deaths, while they only took 1 kill for themselves. At that point Gambit were just too far ahead of their opponents and the next team fight was simply a slaughter – 4 for 1 for the Russians, followed by a baron pick up, and then another ace between two turrets in the mid lane. With the huge death timers on DragonBorns, Gambit just stormed through their base, killing the standing structures in their way, and started off their Super Week with a win.

Game 2: SK Gaming vs against All authority

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aAa sent fredy122 to the bot lane equipped with the blue buff, while ViRtU4l stole SK’s blue, denying HyrqBot. SK’s jungler didn’t want any of this and thus decided to gank the bot lane, picking up first blood and retrieving the coveted blue buff. By the 4th minute mark both 2vs1 lanes had taken the first turrets and SK sent their AD carry to farm top, while their other members were pressuring the mid turret. It fell pretty quickly and so did ShLaYa. aAa responded with a dragon pick up and after that the game went back to slow farming mode for a while.

The first team fight happened in front of the dragon pit and aAa won it 4 for 3 plus a dragon kill. That gave them a slight advantage over SK and they used it to pick up the two mid turrets. SK went for a push in the top lane, took the outer turret and caught ViRtU4l in the jungle. As the dragon was about to respawn both teams headed for his location. SK initiated on aAa; they got a delayed ace and the dragon without losing anyone. Upon respawning, aAa got caught in their jungle near the baron. Two of them died and that allowed SK to steal buffs and start sieging their opponent’s base. After yet another engage by SK that ended up 3-0 for them, they went straight for the nexus picking up their first win of the day.

Game 3: Giants vs fnatic

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Thanks to an early ward in Giants’s red buff bush, Fnatic picked up first blood on Morden, who was guarding it. After that they sent Yellowstar and nRated top lane but that move benefited Giants more, as they took the bot turret quickly. That allowed the Spanish team to send a 4-man squad to the top lane and destroy the outer turret, but soon enough Fnatic did the same and not only got a turret but a kill on Jimbownz as well. Upon retreating through the river they did lose xPeke but made up for it by picking up the first dragon nearly uncontested. After some more back and forth kills, the dragon respawned and with it came the first two team fights which both ended in Giants favour. The next few minutes afterward were pretty much a standoff in mid lane as Fnatic were defending their outer turret after picking up Giants’, while two of the members of the Spanish team were split pushing bot and top.

Upon the dragon respawn, Fnatic initiated on Giants in the river and managed to win the fight 2 for 1 as well as pick up the dragon. Giants then went back to split pushing and applying pressure on all lanes, but in the end Yellowstar and Cyanide cornered Exter and while he was fleeing through Fnatic’s jungle he not only died but caused Jimnbownz to fall as well. That allowed Fnatic to go for the baron buff and they took it easily and killed Morden who tried to stop them. The European powerhouse switched towards an uncontested dragon and after started pushing the mid lane, taking down the inhibitor turret and the inhibitor itself. Upon its respawn, Fnatic took baron once again, this time completely uncontested and went back to reclaim the mid inhibitor. After they succeeded, it was time for the final team fight. Despite initially looking good for Giants, it turned into an ace for Fnatic and they quickly finished the game in their favour.

Game 4: Evil Geniuses vs Copenhagen Wolves

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The killing began in the standard 2v2 bot lane when Svenskeren ganked and got a kill on Krepo, first blood for the Wolves. After some passive farming, they got the first dragon as well but gave away 2 deaths to EG, which effectively evened up the gold. A misplay by Wolves around the 15 minute mark left their mid outer turret open and EG the advantage, demolishing a total of three turrets and netting a kill on Bjergsen. The Danes responded with another dragon pick up but that couldn’t make up for the map control they lost after those turrets in the mid went down.

From that moment on, EG were in complete control – they took down turrets and occasional kills until they had all inhibitors down. When the third one fell instead of backing off, as they usually do, they went straight for the nexus turrets which allowed Wolves to almost make a comeback, as they capitalized on the slight misstep and picked up 4 kills. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough and after EG respawned, they took baron (Svenskeren tried desperately to steal it, but couldn’t) and finished this action-lacking game, denying the Wolves their first victory yet again.

Game 5: Giants vs SK Gaming

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While SK's picks looked very different compared to their first game, their strategy seemed to be the same: Hyqrbot showed up very early on the 2v1 lane and went for a quick first blood.

The second drake got taken down at 16 minutes and caused the first real fight. At first it looked like the teams would settle with a 1 for 1, however, Ocelote saw his chance to shine and caught Caitlynn in his Orianna ultimate which was followed by a brilliant Zyra root. This led to a steamroll and SK finally had a clear 4k gold advantage.

Similar to the first fight, the 2nd one erupted nearby the dragon pit. Both teams were very careful and no one died, except for the dragon which went to Giants. With the dragon slain, Giants backed down and SK used their chance to push down the second mid turret to make the loss of the dragon less painful.

Giants managed to catch Ocelote off guard at his own blue buff and went for a quick baron. However, SK went in on a gutsy play; even though they were one man down, Giants had neither Hecarim's ult, nor Thresh's Box. The weakened team had no answer to Kev1ns power-dunks, which led to an easy ace and a free baron for SK Gaming. Baroned up, SK was able to destroy the mid and bot inhibitors in no time.

SK Gaming pushed for the open bot inhibitor and caught Ryze, who immediately dropped down. Eventually, this led to the decision to engage on Giants and destroy their nexus easily.

The MVP vote was a close one, but eventually Candy Panda earned it due to perfect positioning in team fights and a splendid game. Kev1n was a close second.

Game 6: fnatic vs DragonBorns

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"Don't give HosaN Draven". This is something Fnatic should really have kept in mind during champion select, as HosaN destroyed xPeke's Nidalee all by himself only 3 minutes in the game for first blood. Fancy lane switching from DB worked very well for the mid lane, although their Darius struggled badly against 2 players.

As the game went on, Draven proved that he should be feared, as he took on several 1v2 fights and came out on top every single time. Every lane was action packed, 20 kills at the 15 minute mark should speak for itself. The game seemed to slow down a bit, as Fnatic took over the lead after pushing down DB's 4th turret.

Both teams lined up nearby dragon and Shushei managed to drop Elise to no health with a brilliant snare and combo. HosaN finished it off with a quick flash and auto attack. This led to an easily won fight by DB, but they were still 3k gold behind.

MF was pushing the bottom lane for quite some time while Nidalee poked away DB; as a result, Fnatic managed to get a free baron with only 4 members present. While DB engaged a fight, MF was still assaulting turrets and eventually got the bot inhibitor turret destroyed.

Fnatic engaged, in what looked like the last fight and earned themselves 2 kills without losing members. However, they decided not to finish but rather to destroy all 3 inhibitors. After one last teleport home, Fnatic went in for the killing blow and finished off DB's base. What an exciting game!

Game 7: Evil Geniuses vs Gambit Gaming

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A lot of people think that Gambit has changed too much and is not the team they used to be. The first 10 minutes of the game proved them wrong, as they were incredibly aggressive and got themselves a 4-1 lead due to perfect patience and gameplay.

The first fight started as Gambit engaged on EG in the dragon pit. Gambit simply crushed EG and went for dragon. This is where Snoopeh saw his chance for a big play: He jumped in, went for a drive-by smite on the dragon and flashed out without getting a scratch. 190g per player surely was a little solace after a lost fight.

Once again EG got engaged on and it shows why Gambit had the upper hand throughout the game; in an extremely one-sided fight, EG got destroyed and Gambit nabbed a free baron 23 minutes into the game. A couple of minutes later, exactly the same thing happened and EG simply did not stand a chance, as Gambit stomped through their enemies and finished off the nexus. Well played!

Game 8: Copenhagen Wolves vs against All authority

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The last game of the day was another try for the Wolves to stop their losing streak... and they showed that they wanted it. Lots of aggression happened early on and the Wolves secured a slowly increasing advantage. Until the first fight, the Wolves played very solidly. However, as soon as the first major fight started, it showed why the Wolves should not be 0-8. An easy ace after a triple kill on Varus built up a rather large gold lead, the Wolves could smell their first win just on the horizon.

After the 20 minute mark passed, the Wolves led by 7k gold and dominated aAa. TheTess on Varus and Bjergsen on Syndra were doing what they are supposed to do, outplaying enemies and carrying their team. After a fight that ended with nearly equal results, the Wolves managed to take down aAa's second inhibitor and build up an outstanding 11k gold lead.

The last fight was a perfect engage on Varus by aAa, however, Bjergsen showed off his Syndra prowess with brilliant positioning in the fight that eventually got him his well-deserved pentakill followed by the first win for the Wolves in the LCS.

ESL decided to give the MVP for this game to Bjergsen, due to his amazing pentakill in the last fight.

Sadly, this was the last game for today. But tomorrow we will have lots of action, so don't forget to tune in!