This article is part of our LoL Previews series.
Nothing is what it seems in Europe, as the giants of old have suddenly fell back to the pack. Let's take a look at the EU LoL quarterfinal matches on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
Giants Gaming vs. Unicorns of Love
This has the potential to be a pretty entertaining series, at least from the viewers' standpoint. No one had high hopes for GIANTS Gaming coming into the split. They were horrendous in Spring and went through a total rebuild, including losing their best player Isaac "PePiiNeRO" Flores. After surviving the relegation tournament, most pegged GIANTS for another survival battle at the end of this season. After a slow start to the split, no one expected much from GIANTS, until the middle of the split when the team started to click. Off the back of big performances from Korean duo Na "NighT" Gun-woo and Seung-ik "S0NSTAR" Son, GIANTS ended the Summer Split in fourth place. Night and S0NSTAR have proved to be capable carries, especially against other mid-table teams and lower. Lennart "Smittyj" Warkus has become a capable top laner, able to play tanks and carries with equal effect to provide a third threat, while Morgan "Hustlin" Granberg and Nubar "Maxlore" Sarafian play the utility roles supporting their team.
Often one of the fan favorites, Unicorns of Love had to battle to finish in sixth place and the final playoff spot, finishing the Summer Split with 23 points (6W/5T/7L). UoL came into the split with a new jungler, mid laner, and marksman to go along with stalwarts Zdravets "Hylissang" Galabov and Kiss "Vizicsacsi" Tamas. The result was an inconsistent split as UoL finished with more losses than wins, just squeaking into playoffs. Fabian "Exileh" Schubert often either carries or is anonymous, with no in-between result, and the same can be said about Kim "Veritas" Kyoung-min. In UoL's wins, the carries look excellent, but in their losses they're nowhere to be found. Kang "Move" Min-Su has struggled for the majority of the season, and while Vizicsacsi and Hylissang are solid and able contributors, neither provides a real spark. Vizicsacsi is certainly capable of carrying games, however, depending on the type of champion he's provided.
Key Matchup: Night vs. Exileh
The battle in the mid lane is the one I'll highlight, but truly I could've gone with any lane matchup. The reason I'm focusing on the mid lane is the ability of these players to influence other lanes. Whichever player gets ahead will need to utilize roams and help snowball other lanes in an effort to aid their team in victory. Exileh checks in with the highest kill total in this series, but Night has provided both kills and assists for his team throughout the regular season.
The Verdict: GIANTS Gaming 3-1
GIANTS are the better team with better talent and, shockingly, are the more consistent team. Since their run in the middle of the season, they have beaten up on teams lower than them in the standings, and although Unicorns will put up a fight, I think GIANTS come out of this with a pretty easy 3-1 win.
Fnatic vs. H2K
Ah how the mighty have fallen…sort of. Fnatic, the true crowd favorite (sorry UoL), dropped all the way into fifth place during the regular season after some inconsistent play. Martin "Rekkles" Larsson recently highlighted some concerns of the team, highlighting their strong individual skills, but inability to play as a team. It's weird that Fnatic haven't been as cohesive as past versions, as they have three players with a lot of history together in Rekkles, Fabian "Febiven" Diepstraten and Bora "Yellowstar" Kim. Fnatic did replace their top laner halfway through the split, bringing in Mateusz "Kikis" Szkudlarek from G2, but there may still be some communication issues with Korean import Lee "Spirit" Da-yoon. The biggest question for me is what will the recent departure of Luis "Deilor" Sevilla mean for the team heading into the playoffs? I think this is a huge loss as Deilor is a highly respected coach who led Fnatc to an excellent year last season. Fnatic remain a force to be reckoned with despite the rough split.
H2K have a similar story; their style of play results in objective-based gameplay and they struggled in games against top teams when it came time to teamfight. Yoo "Ryu" Sang-ook has had a terrible split in the mid lane, only shining in the final week of the split. He's often too anonymous and struggles to really carry games. Konstantinos "FORG1VEN" Tzortziou's re-insertion into the starting lineup provided a spark the final week of the split, but there's a reason he left H2K in the first place: no one can truly stand him. Oskar "Vander" Bogdan had been outspoken about FORG1VEN returning in the past, but of course after a dominant final week everything seemed just fine. Andrei "Odoamne" Pascu provides a consistent tank presence in the top lane and often times teleports perfectly to set up ganks across the map, and Marcin "Jankos" Jankowski on his day can be the best jungler in the EU LCS. H2K have enough talent to make a run, but do they have the cohesion as a team to pull it off?
Key Matchup: Jankos vs. Spirit
Two of the most aggressive and influential junglers in the EU LCS will be determining factors to their teams' winning or losing. I'd expect both to attempt to get their laners ahead throughout the series; whoever does so more effectively stands to win the series. Both are influential in getting their teams leads, and I'd expect them to go after each other aggressively in the jungle at times as well.
The Verdict: Fnatic 3-2
I'd take either one of these teams to beat the other two quarterfinal teams, but unfortunately they're playing each other instead of UoL or GIANTS. Both teams will be prepared, as they possess veteran players and two of the most respected coaches in the EU LCS. I just think Fnatic have a slight individual edge on H2K. I'd take Rekkles and Yellowstar over FORG1VEN and Vander, and Spirit over Jankos, but by close margins. Kikis and Odoamne are very similar tank-focused players. The largest discrepancy comes in the mid lane, where if Febiven is on his game, he should be able to dominate Ryu in the laning phase to create advantages. I made this pick before Deilor left, but I still think Fnatic can take the series. This could easily be 3-2 to H2K, but give me Fnatic
