LEC week one recap: Origen, Rogue, & G2 off to a strong start

LEC action kicked off on Jan. 24 after much anticipation and even a song by casters and hosts of the league in partnership with KIA. Europe’s top League of Legends division came back with new and old faces and some rebranded teams. It also saw bizarre role swaps between G2’s Rasmus “Caps” Winther and Luka “Perkz” Perković. The LEC Spring Split season features the best-of-one series with two days of gameplay where all teams play twice. Let’s see how the likes of Origen, Fnatic, Rogue, G2 Esports, and more fared.

LEC day one: Origen excels, Misfits struggle

Fnatic and Origen opened up LEC week one. Fnatic players were outclassed by Origen, who took home the first LEC win of the decade. Origen had a gold lead difference of 10,000 in that series. Also, their bot laner, Elias “Upset” Lip, picked up seven kills, which is more kills than the entire Fnatic team racked up. Fnatic’s Martin “Rekkles” Larson alongside Gabriel “Bwipo” Rau shared top spot with 1 kill each for their team. The 42-minute match was one-sided especially in the last 20 minutes of gameplay. Origen’s win certainly shocked a lot of fans, but it was the right type of action needed to kick open the LEC Spring Split.

Rogue picked up a win against Misfits with that series suggesting that Misfits may yet have another season of struggle. G2 found their way past rebranded Mad Lions, yet the lions still showed some promise for the future. However, the Caps and Perkz role swap proved fruitful as they had a combination of 14 kills and 19 assists between them. Likewise, Excel’s impressive display helped them take the victory over Schalke Esports to spoil Konstantinos “Forg1ven” Tzortziou’s return to LEC action. Finally, day one ended with a Vitality loss to SK Gaming.

Day two: G2 thrives, Fnatic bounces back

LEC 2019 champions G2 kicked off day two with a routine win over SK Gaming that saw Caps and Perkz take their kill and assist tally to 23 and 42 respectively. Origen continued their impressive start to the 2020 season with another win against Schalke. Origen’s Upset was deathless through the entire series and racked up seven kills in the process. New boys MAD Lions made problems worse for Team Vitality, who went 0-2 for this game week. The mid-to-late game for MAD Lions showed the mechanical brilliance of the team. They took the Barons and the Drakes and fell more towers, and after that, it was just a case of when exactly Vitality would give up.

Fnatic bounced back from their loss to Origen in a 20-minute win against Misfits Gaming. Rekkles using Aphelios saw him end the series with 10 kills and no deaths. Fnatic simply ran away with everything in the game. The crazy part was they did not even need a Baron buff as the match ended before a fight for Baron could continue. Meanwhile, Rogue wrapped up week one with a win over Excel Esports, making Rogue the third team with a 2-0 record. LEC’s color caster Christy “Ender” Frierson was the only person who predicted all games accurately.

Galaxy brain @endercasts predicted every game in Week 1 correctly 🧠 pic.twitter.com/M2OYRVCTOx

— LEC (@LEC) January 25, 2020

Lessons from week one

LEC week one left the League of Legends community with a whole lot that still needs processing, especially for the teams. G2 started the 2020 Spring Split like they never left. Their results in the opening week were a statement of intent that Europe’s best League team is here to stay. Origen and Rogue also finished the week with a 2-0 win and are level with G2. Origen showed their bot lane prowess in games, and they look the best bet if matched up against G2 at this stage of the season.

Rogue’s start to the 2020 LEC season is a much-improved start from last year where they went 0-2 in week one. However, Rogue’s consistency is not one that fans have seen over the years. So, it is hard to put early season comments on this team for now. Misfits Gaming, on the other hand, have started the season in the worst way ever. Their lane phase in the Fnatic game made viewers wonder what exactly they practiced during the offseason. MAD Lions and Excel were two teams who look like they could play better in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, Schalke, Vitality, and Misfits have big question marks that need answering.

Week two of the 2020 Spring Split season starts on Jan. 31. G2’s series against Origen is certainly the match to look out for in the upcoming game week. As things stand in the LEC, G2 look on course for another LEC title.