MAD Lions take down Rogue, set up a LEC Playoffs showdown against G2
MAD Lions defeat LEC second seed Rogue 3-1 on Sunday, advancing to the winner semi-finals.
MAD Lions won by prioritizing early bottom lane dominance to fully activate their game plan, and it worked out well for them in the series despite stumbling early against Rogue. Now they will face off against G2 on April 3. Rogue, on the other hand, was forced into the lower bracket to play the winner of Fnatic vs Schalke on April 4.
Rogue start the Series strong
Rogue kicked off game one of the series with a dominant performance. At eight minutes, they had a 1,000 gold lead and more map control. Although MAD Lions drafted well with their Orianna and Jinx picks, things didn’t go as planned.
Instead, Adrian “Tyrmbi” Trybus ran the show with an almost unstoppable Chogath. That, alongside Emir “Larssen” Larsson’s Azir, turned around a team fight in the jungle at 17 minutes that put Rogue in total control. Rogue closed out game one under 29 minutes after a perfect team fight in mid lane.
MAD Lions take charge of the Series
Game two played out differently, as MAD Lions looked nothing like the team Rogue destroyed previously. Both teams ran back almost the same draft, with only the top laners and Inspired changing champions. This time, MAD was able to execute their original plan and tie up the series.
The third game of the series brought a lot of changes in team compositions. Both teams were evenly matched in the early game. However, MAD Lions took absolute control of the mid-game with an unlocked Volibear on Elyola. After destroying Rogue during the Baron take, it only took MAD Lions a few more minutes to close out the game. Elyoya and Marek “Humanoid” Brázda went deathless with a total of 33 kill involvements in the game.
With a must-win game four, Rogue went for a totally different draft. Steven “Hans sama” Liv’s Aphelios started off this game with three kills, and Rogue had a 5,000 gold lead by 18 minutes in. They looked poised to take the series to game five. However, MAD Lions staged a huge comeback through the mid-game team fights, starting with a teleport from Irfan “Armut” Tukek and Humanoid’s global play. After that, MAD took both the Baron and Elder Dragon and later closed out the game under 38 minutes. Even though Rogue had the Dragon Soul buff, they were simply outmatched by MAD Lions in the team fights.
MAD Lions to face G2 in the LEC Playoffs Semifinal
Before the match had even started, G2’s Martin “Rekkles” Larsson claimed MAD would win in an interview with Laure “Bulii” Valée on Saturday.. He said his pick was based on scrims done with both teams in the past two weeks. Now Rekkles and the rest of G2 will have to prepare for their called shot after Schalke 04 pushed them to their limits with a five game series.
The LEC Playoffs continue on April 2, 12 p.m. ET as Fnatic take on Schalke in an elimination series.
About the Author
Jimoh Rashidat is a freelance esports writer with over two years of experience. She covers FIFA, League of Legends and general gaming content.
