Wolves needed to win and Fnatic weren’t looking like the world-class team from before. While most still sided with Fnatic, the general expectation was that Wolves would put up a fight. What ended up happening was that Fnatic tore Wolves apart so badly that it is currently the shortest game in the LCS. Fnatic slaughtered Wolves.

We’ve been used to seeing Wolves do well in the laning phase then throw it all away. Fnatic went with a three TP setup and instigated a standard Bot to Top lane-swap. At 3:30, a three man gank was predicted by Svenskeren who came to counter gank, but he got taken down anyway along with GodBro. At 4:35, Wolves got an incredibly quick Bot turret then swapped to Top before getting killed by a 4-man gank from Fnatic. As Fnatic pushed outer Top, Wolves took Dragon as a last resort. Fnatic pushed down the inner Top turret, catching TheTess in the process. Knowing that Cyanide’s Volibear was nigh unkillable, he was left to be a general nuisance in Top lane. Meanwhile Fnatic pushed the other two lanes – caught Bjergsen at Mid – while Cyanide killed TheTess 1v1. With the whole of Wolves’ jungle warded, Fnatic whittled down all the outer turrets and dove occasionally to pick up kills. Wolves sometimes caught a Fnatic member out of position, but it always resulted with more Wolves dead than Fnatic members. Fnatic pushed with impunity and took just about every map objective after the 12 minute mark. At 19:30, Fnatic baited a Baron fight which Wolves checked safely, but it simply didn’t matter - despite many of Fnatic’s players almost dying, the fight ended 4-0 and Fnatic took an inhib to end the engagement. At 21:40, an uncontested Baron followed by a siege that Wolves had no answer to allowed Fnatic to roll in for an easy win. With a 4-19 kill score, a Legendary xPeke, and a team that dictated the pace of the whole game Wolves did not even have a chance.


The Gambit Gaming and GIANTS! Gaming rematch was a hard-fought affair similar to their game in Week 1. Gambit showed everyone the power of Jungle Volibear and GIANTS used this perfectly against them in this game. When used in combination with Twisted Fate’s Gold Card, Volibear's Rolling Thunder and Frenzy skills almost always guaranteed GIANTS a kill. Exter also displayed an amazing series of plays with Twisted Fate in an extended team fight where Gambit came out ahead with four kills. This gave GIANTS a lot of confidence going into the later engagements, which ultimately led to their downfall. The deciding fight ended in Gambit's favour because GIANTS dove too deep into a fight even though they weren't grouped together. Akali was taken out right at the beginning of the dive by Reckoning and Trueshot Barrage and Volibear, Twisted Fate, and Caitlyn took on all five of Gambit's members while Sona was still in their base. Even though Nasus and Renekton were taken down to almost no health, they were saved by the timely use of their Ultimates and Kayle's Intervention. Gambit was able to close out the game soon after the fight with the help of the Baron buff.

This was the first match in the EU LCS where Thresh made an appearance. There was a lot of hype coming into this week for Thresh and Edward made good use of the new champion’s kit. He started off the game with first blood after landing his Death Sentence on Sona in the lane. He then continued to show his mastery of the champion by repeatedly catching out stragglers with Death Sentence. His best catch was the one he used on Caitlyn from inside the Baron pit where he flung himself to Caitlyn and trapped her inside The Box. She had no chance to escape and so GIANTS were left without their AD Carry to defend against Gambit’s push for the nexus.


The Copenhagen Wolves got off to a flying start when they caught Renekton facechecking into the Blue buff brush and took first blood with three assists. They got even further ahead in a 2-0 skirmish where Bjergsen dodged Orianna's Command: Shockwave and finished off Xin Zhao. However, the Wolves could never build upon this advantage because several of their players had very poor positioning. TheTess and Deficio were able to play well in the laning phase but they were lost once that ended. They were often caught out in the middle of nowhere while transitioning between lanes, giving aAa free kills and easy map control. Meanwhile, Bjergsen would overestimate his ability to burst down an enemy and get caught out himself. Not only that, the team rarely came together to defend map objectives outside of their base. However, there is still some hope left for the Wolves. They showed that they had some very good team fight coordination when they repeatedly caught Nono with some amazing Death Sentences and made him a non factor in many fights. On the other hand, aAa was able to communicate effectively and commit to map objectives with cohesion. aAa's main issue was not knowing how to take advantage of their massive gold lead to finish the game in a timely manner. Even after taking a 17K gold lead, aAa still took their time and finally ended the game at 49 minutes.


The first match between two of Europe's best was a treat for anyone who loves the strategic planning that comes with pre-scheduled matches. Fnatic knew what they wanted going into the game and things were set in motion right from the ban/pick phase. They started off by luring EG into a false sense of security by allowing them to pick up Renekton and Anivia, two Champions EG has been known to play extensively. However, Fnatic countered this with a solo Blitzcrank to face against EG's duo lane. This served two purposes. First of all, Blitzcrank can Rocket Grab an EG player after Anivia's Crystallize has been placed to use the wall against EG. Picking a Blitzcrank is only a bluff if none of the Grabs land, but sOAZ instilled fear in EG with his assorted set of amazing Grabs on Anivia and Ezreal. Secondly, Fnatic got to shut down Renekton's farm to a level comparable to that of Blitzcrank, and a poor Blitzcrank is a lot more useful than a poor Renekton. Compared to the other games where Wickd got to play Renekton, this was definitely his worst performance. Fnatic got the psychological advantage with the Blitzcrank Grabs but they did not stop there. Fnatic repeatedly used the best bait they had at their disposal, YellOwStaR, to lure out EG from a turtling position and destroyed them in the subsequent fights. With no possible way to defend their base against sOAZ's Rocket Grab, EG had no chance to mount a comeback. It was a picture perfect game for illustrating how to deal with a turtling opponent.



DragonBorns vs. GIANTS was an entertaining fist-fight thanks to DragonBorns setting up a skirmish heavy game and GIANTS responding magnificently to everything thrown at them — a close game from start to finish.
The game didn’t take long to get going at all. By 3:00, Shushei had already ganked bot lane, but amazing low-level disengages from Jimbownz & Babeta and a Teleport from Exter paved the way for a double kill for Jimbownz. However, a mere four minutes later, Shushei was back in bot lane, diving and picking up a double kill of his own. It wasn’t just skillful kills; at 8:35 Samux escaped expertly from a Malunoo gank and managed to suicide safely to the applause of the crowd. From here it was a constant brawl between the teams – teams emerged from 3v3 fights with no kills, some hard engages from Shushei resulted in simple 1v1 trades, and even Samux won a 1v1 on Akali over Spontexx’s Kha’zix. Some highlights: Morden defended mid 1v3 like a man, Shushei and Spontexx assassinated Morden shortly after, Samux grabbed Malunoo in a 1v2, and Spontexx ganked Jmbz despite Shushei backing off. In amongst all this action, the gold difference was less than a thousand up until GIANTS pushed a bit too far and got trapped after a clutch Intervention from Malunoo. DB chased them out, took a few towers, a Dragon and stole the Blue buff. That massive momentum shift put DragonBorns 6k gold ahead and threw them in the driving seat. After a fascinating stream of fights and ganks, there was some Baron posturing, after which GIANTS backed off without engaging and DragonBorns killed it easily. Interestingly, GIANTS held off the Baron push at the cost of only a couple of turrets and then immediately pushed out as the buff faded. Getting all the way to Bot T2, GIANTS caught Spontexx out and with exemplary play from Exter and Jimbownz, turned it into a 2-for-4 exchange then pushed through bot lane, grabbing the first inhibitor of the game. DB attempted a sneaky Baron in response but got cold feet. What they didn’t expect was GIANTS to sneak in and grab the Baron before they could get there. At 47:00 GIANTS took mid turret down and Jimbownz showed incredible mechanics to avoid being picked off by Shushei while the rest of GIANTS cleaned up. With a living AD and only Spontexx left, GIANTS finished their comeback in one of the most exciting matches of the LCS so far.


against All authority started the match with a distinct game plan, sending their Support and AD carry Mid to hamper xPeke's early farm. This presence in the middle lane let them control early buffs, but the rest of the early game passed without much incident as the teams felt each other out. aAa continued with an early lead, taking the first tower, Dragon, and kill of the match although Fnatic kept the match very close. The major turning point came at the 16 minute mark, where aAa overextended to take Fnatic's inner Mid tower. Fnatic collapsed on them as their tower falls, killing 4 members of aAa with no losses and taking aAa's inner Mid turret to boot. Fnatic extended their lead slowly thereafter, until a crucial fight in aAa's jungle cost them 4 deaths and a mid inhibitor. sOAZ appears to be throwing as he chases aAa too far after disrupting a Baron attempt, and YellOwStaR and nRated also die in the ensuing fight. xPeke comes in to clean up and salvages a couple kills for Fnatic while minions apply pressure to aAa's base and turrets. The ultimate battle occurs at a couple minutes later when aAa is out of position, feigning a Baron attempt, and Fnatic shows up at their base to claim the bottom inhibitor turret. aAa get smashed in defense as YellOwStaR runs rampant, picking up a Quadra Kill while virtually unscathed, and Fnatic quickly close the game out.


DragonBorns have been an exciting team to watch in the LCS so far. Their engage heavy comps have created more fights than we’re used to seeing, and have put a lot of pressure on their opponents. Some hold their own while others crumble. Wolves, however, crumbled. It started off with four of the Wolves catching Spontexx at his blue and stealing it before they made a lane-swap. Despite the most lame blue steal ever (2:50) making the game even, Wolves continued with their plan. Both teams got early T1 turrets in top and bot lane and at 7:00 Wolves take a lightly contested dragon. The trademark Shushei engage catches Bjergsen but a clear head and lack of panic turns it into a trade of Bjergsen for Shushei. At 12:00, Malunoo made one of the most clutch saves in competitive LoL history but it couldn’t stop Wolves from taking mid turret off the back of it. By this point, Bjergsen was behind in farm and by 15:00 the turrets were even again. Here is where things changed. DragonBorns started initiating everywhere. Curse of the Sad Mummy, flash Cataclysms, it didn’t matter where Wolves were, DragonBorns would initiate on them. Shushei would often die but it just didn’t matter. DragonBorns were taking Dragons and Turrets following each of these fights. In a textbook example at 21:30, Shushei hard engages and Wolves don’t know what to do. They try to respond but the fight is too chaotic, Spontexx picked up TheTess and from there it’s a 1 for 3 fight in favour of DragonBorns. Every time Wolves got slightly close to DragonBorns, they were engaged on. At 29:40 DragonBorns just casually take Baron then head mid and take the Mid inhib. Wolves could not deal with the engage and there is no better example of that than the final fight of the game: DB dive over the base wall and win a fight 1 for 4 ,then take the game. Wolves have had poor positioning in their games and DragonBorns took advantage of it every time. An easy win for DragonBorns.


The last game of Week 3 gave a nice wind down to the weekend. It was a straightforward match where aAa played in the lead from the beginning to the end. They were able to take first blood with a tower dive in the top lane and the advantage in the top jungle helped them deny Twisted Fate from taking his first Blue buff. This slowed down his ability to control Nidalee's ability to roam and keep her in check. Conversely, Nidalee was free to use her abilities to push Twisted Fate out of lane, which gave aAa the map control they needed to take multiple dragons without any confrontations from GIANTS. The farmed Nidalee was able to give aAa whatever they needed in almost all situations - stopping a push, poking during a siege, or ending the game. The main issue for aAa would be the carelessness exhibited by Nono, who tended to get too close to the enemy during team fights and die right from the get go. However, this usually happened when his team was ahead and his teammates were always there to clean up his mess.

YellOwStaR and nRated take joint Player of the Week honors for their consistent and fantastic partnership as Fnatic's bottom lane this week. Playing exclusively as Miss Fortune and Leona throughout all 3 matches, the duo found themselves in a 2v1 lane in each match. nRated was a big playmaker for the team, initiating fights in some cases and also peeling attackers off of YellOwStaR when the situation demanded it. YellOwStaR posted a mindboggling KDA ratio of 46, staying extremely safe with only one death between 3 matches while providing maximum damage for his team and well-placed Bullet Time ultimates. The duo started out strong from the beginning, getting kills on both the top lane and jungler in a 3v2 engagement at the 3:30 against Copenhagen Wolves. While many kills were passed onto xPeke or taken by Cyanide on Volibear, YellOwStaR had a 1/0/5 score on 7 total team kills 10 minutes into the game, by which time Fnatic had established a commanding lead. nRated was unafraid to make plays for the team that might hurt his stats, as he sacrifices himself to get an engage that takes a tower and a kill.

nRated continued to shine in Fnatic's biggest win of the year to date over Evil Geniuses. Consistently making plays, nRated first helped them secure two kills and top tower in an early towerdive, then he made potentially the play of the game when YellOwStaR was trapped by Anivia's wall. nRated flashed forward without hesitation and engaged on Evil Geniuses, setting up sOAZ's Blitz hook on Anivia. YellOwStaR was perfect bait for the trap, and the play netted them 3 kills and a tower. While there had been some talk that YellOwStaR had been a downgrade from Fnatic's previous AD carry Rekkles, surely none could complain with his 9/0/5 performance against the team formerly leading the European LCS. While the match against aAa included YellOwStaR's only death of the week, the duo nonetheless acquitted themselves admirably. Fnatic used their AoE-centric composition to great effect, winning several crucial teamfights to take control of the match. aAa found themselves behind the 8 ball after getting baited into a bad engagement in their jungle: nRated held aAa off for a second while Malph and Diana came in, then hung back and defended YellOwStaR. At the end, YellOwStaR ran absolutely rampant in the final battle picking up four kills during the Ace that let them close the game out while never dropping below half health. sOAZ, Cyanide and xPeke played well throughout the weekend and Fnatic's victories were undoubtedly team efforts, but nRated and YellOwStaR's performance on MF and Leona were the solid foundation they could rely on for a 3-0 showing.

Next week is going to be ridiculous. Is there any other way to describe it? There are twenty games week with each team playing five games over three days. There are no repeats, no rest days and no choice but to make this week count.

The lineups are intense this weekend - SK, EG & Fnatic all play against DB, aAa, Wolves, GIANTS & Gambit, giving them all an opportunity to go 5-0 as they never have to play each other.

While going 5-0 this week looks nigh on impossible but if one team have a shot, it’s Fnatic. They turned it up to eleven in week 3, crushing all they came across to go top of the table. While this week will be easy for nobody, if they play to win, it could be scary for all others this weekend.

Let’s not forget that EG have looked strong aside from their game against Fnatic. Their ability to sweep aside weaker teams with ease could really pay off this week. SK are the last team to get a crack at the “lower four + Gambit” and will really need to use this chance to solidify their place at the top of the rankings. They’ve had an extra week and it could be disastrous to even drop a couple of games.

aAa, Gambit Gaming & DragonBorns have an absolute monster of a week to prepare for. Not only are they playing SK/Fnatic/EG but they have to face off against each other (in various forms). Gambit have a solid 4-2 record to improve while DragonBorns & aAa will strive to go positive for the first time in the LCS. It will be an especially exhausting weekend for these three teams but with the promise of a comfortable placing in the table awaiting the successful team, this will be a true test of their mettle.

Finally, Wolves and GIANTS sit at the bottom of the table and still have a brutal week to go against. Facing off against SK, Fnatic & EG, these two get to dodge Gambit but have tough games against aAa & DragonBorns respectively before closing off the weekend with a head-to-head encounter. It’s hard to believe that GIANTS have a losing record but when you see their games and opponents, it comes across as unfortunate. This week they’ll need to cause some more upsets and find their rightful place in the rankings.

Wolves have to start winning. Going 0-8 will have to light a fire under them and this looks lke their last shot to avoid a bottom two finish. Another week without any wins could be the final nail in the coffin. Wolves need to patch the holes in their game and fast.

Week 4 will be a weekend the likes of which LoL fans have never seen before. No rest, no mercy and no escape. Bring on the Super Weekend!


Going into the Super Week, against All authority still has a lot to prove within the LCS. They carry a 2-2 record with losses to powerhouses Fnatic and Gambit, and wins against sub .500 GIANTS and the punching bag of the league, Copenhagen Wolves. The five upcoming matches will be more of aAa than we've seen all season to date, and with several shots at top teams, they have a chance to take a signature win forward to the rest of the season. However, should they be shut out or only take a single victory, they may find themselves preparing to fight relegation in the ensuing weeks.
In their first three games, aAa showed a lot of AoE ultimate based team compositions, prominently featuring champions like Sona, Kennen and Orianna. Perhaps this was compensation for a perceived weakness in teamfighting against teams like Gambit or Fnatic, or a backup plan for the frequent target bans of poke champions like Nidalee and Lux they faced. Their most definitive win came against GIANTS where ShLaYa's Nidalee dominated when Nidalee finally fell into their lap. The last quirk we've seen from aAa is very low sustained damage but high AoE burst from the AD carry position, with two Ezreal picks, AD Kennen and Graves.
Looking forward to the matchups, aAa faces a tough 'road' schedule starting with 4 consecutive games as last pick, and their only Blue side game being against current leaders Fnatic. With Thresh drawing nearly universal bans in week 3, aAa may be at a ban disadvantage unless they have a gameplan for dealing with him. Saturday's games begin with the softer end of aAa's schedule, facing SK and Copenhagen Wolves. Wolves vs. aAa was the longest and closest fought game of Week 3, and expect Wolves to be gunning for their first win in a matchup they must see as one of their most likely places to get it. SK Gaming will probably be the key match for aAa's weekend it is the only one without a steep favorite, and gives aAa the chance to pick up a critical win against a mid-table team. The key to stopping SK so far seems to start at mid, so look for the pressure from ViRtU4l's aggressive jungle picks to be a factor there to back up ShLaYa.
The last three games should be pretty rough on aAa, though they shouldn't be counted out without a chance to prove themselves. Gambit lost their outer towers early to aAa in their first match, but mitigated the disadvantage by solidly outfarming aAa and gaining the lead in the midgame. Gambit has looked most vunerable when they get off to a slow start, so expect aAa to bring another early-game focused plan to try to gain the lead and hold onto it this time. Evil Geniuses may be the toughest nut for aAa to crack, but with Krepo openly admitting that EG doesn't consider the regular season anything more than practice for the playoffs aAa may luck into facing a less than full strength EG composition. On the other hand, EG claims that Froggen's Anivia is rusty and weak in interviews too. Fnatic is the hottest team in the LCS heading into the Super Week, but against All authority will have first pick for the only time in their Super Week schedule. Overall, seeing how aAa gels as one of the newer teams in the LCS should be one of the key storylines heading into tomorrow's Super Week kickoff.



+ Show Spoiler [Flicky’s picks] +
+ Show Spoiler [JBright’s picks] +