For Fnatic, this game was a chance for safety. To win this, was to guarantee a spot in the play-offs and reduce a lot of pressure in their next several games. Despite this, both teams look very safe to stay in the Top 3. With the incredible record of 17 wins against 0 losses for the Fnatic/SK matchup on LAN, it’s perhaps no surprise at the result of the game, but Fnatic’s strategy was a little bit different. With xPeke on Twisted Fate, Fnatic’s plan consisted of ganking SK then taking a map objective, and it worked almost perfectly. After CandyPanda got the crowd roaring with a sixth sense stealth, pressure from Cyanide shut down his early game a little. There were some back and forths but the first kill wasn’t until 8:10 when xPeke made a simple gank on Nyph at botlane who was caught out by the ultimates of Fnatic. Two minutes later, the Fnatic strategy kicked in proper. XPeke ganked bot again which led to a Dragon for Fnatic. sOAZ was dived at top but managed to blowup Hyrqbot before getting caught after a fancy escape attempt. However, the xPeke gank into map objective plan had already gained momentum. Gank number three at botlane got CandyPanda then the turret before gank number four at 16:50 got Kev1n and two turrets in top lane while Fnatic also traded mid T1 for Dragon. xPeke’s fifth and final gank was a beautiful tower dive which confirmed for SK that they were not safe on the map. At 23:00, a big teamfight ends 1 for 5 for Fnatic and they push through to mid inhib. At this point, Fnatic are 10k ahead and start pushing. A cute red steal at 26:20 for Nrated before a small team-fight at bot ends 2 for 1 in Fnatic’s favour. A simple Baron for Fnatic looks like the end for SK but an astounding team-fight defence at 31:20 holds off the Baroned-up Fnatic for a little while. Regardless, it’s too little too late. Fnatic get the right engage and take a clean 5 for 0 ace before cleaning up. A real solo-queue strategy for Fnatic works out and their win-streak against SK continues, as does xPeke’s incredible form.


The heated rivalry between Gambit and EG took another step in Gambit's favour after EG stunned everyone in their first meeting in Week 1. Gambit was playing very solidly for the past few weeks while EG struggled to find a style that fits well with them in Season 3. Normally EG could try to experiment new strategies against some of the weaker teams of the EU LCS but they decided to bring out Jungle Malzahar against one of their toughest opponents. It was a bold move that could either shock the world and bring in a new era of non-conventional Jungle champions or fall face first in failure. The early phases of the game was very close with kills going to both teams with help from Jungle Malzahar and Nasus. However, Gambit adapted to EG's surprise after the laning phase and Malzahar was rendered pretty much useless for the remainder of the game. It was simply a matter of the lack of map pressure and objective control that Nasus had for Gambit and the game began spiralling out of control after Gambit took down Dragon for free several times. It was apparent that Gambit had a significant advantage in the game when they could easily take out four members of EG in a tower dive and followed it up with taking out two turrets. As usual, EG concentrated their gold onto Froggen so he could carry them to victory but it was not meant to be since Alex Ich on Kha'Zix was just as fed as Akali. Alex showed his prowess with Kha'Zix and topped of the game with a few Leaps and a penta kill.


Giants are a confusing team to watch. On paper they’re a great a team and when they win, they look brilliant, but when they lose it looks inevitable. In this game, it was Svenskeren & Bjergsen exploding in the early game while GodBro supported and Deficio and TheTess weren’t really needed. First off, Wolves stole a blue away for Svenskeren and both teams swapped the AD/Support lane to the top. At 5:55 another Svenskeren gank on GodBro’s lane picked up first blood while Morden’s attempt to do the same at mid was thwarted by Stand United. From there, it’s kills galore for Wolves. Svenskeren gets a double kill at mid with Bjergsen who then Destinys to bot for another kill. Deficio sets up a kill on Babeta and Sven gets another double kill at mid, all in the space of two minutes. At 12:10, Wolves kill Dragon but trade the bountied Svenskeren for Samux, with Exter taking the kill. Wolves then take the bot T1, Bjergsen 1v1s Exter and GodBro 1v1s Samux: 11-1, 9k ahead for Wolves. The next couple of minutes are the same, Jimbz gets ganked with double ports from Bjerg & GodBro, and Svenskeren starts a fight on Giants in there jungle that ends as an easy 4 for 1. Bjerg, Tess & Deficio co-ordinate a tricky gank at 17:30 which ends 3 for 1. There’s not much else too it from here, more Giants get caught, Wolves are 14k ahead and at 22:20, Giants’ last ditch attack fails to halt the Wolves. Giants have no choice but to surrender in one of the most one-sided games in the LCS so far.


As DragonBorns’ losing streak continued, they went up against aAa in a battle to get out of relegation. It was aAa’s first game with new support Dioud while Malunoo returned for the DragonBorns. While we could see that NoNo looked more comfortable with his new partner, DragonBorns seemed shakier than ever. After Hosan & Muvert went top, first Blood went to Shlaya at mid while the side lanes pushed down towers. DragonBorns tried an early Dragon at 7:20 but were caught out by aAa’s well-timed and well-positioned poke which netted them two kills. Despite taking their second turret at 10:00, DragonBorns can’t hold off aAa’s push. Reduced to a 4v4 at mid, while the top laners duked it out, aAa caught Muvert out with their skill shorts, picked up an easy kill and mid tower. Fredy 1v1’d Yamato before the rest of aAa continued the poke-pushes and took mid t2. A smart call to counter push down from DragonBorns evened up the turret count but aAa were still 5k ahead. DragonBorns finally got their first kill at 22:00 on Fredy but shortly after HoSan threw his life away with a hugely wasteful Rocket Jump on Dioud. From here, it remained a classic case of the advantaged poke comp finishing as planned. Shlaya’s Lux was too much for DB to cope with as DragonBorns were caught again and again while aAa took turrets and Baron. Despite DragonBorns holding off an over-keen aAa once, the sixth place team were just too far ahead and took the easy win. Nothing about DragonBorns impressed while aAa looked comfortable in their game plan and took the easy victory.


There was a lot on the line in the game between SK and EG with both teams tied 1-1 in the head-to-head matchup and vying for third place in the standings. SK took the game to EG and decided to control the pace of the game knowing that EG has been experimenting with more aggressive play styles. It all started with Volibear and Rumble tower diving Akali before the fourth minute and getting the first blood. Not only did they get a kill on Wickd, they also denied two full waves of minions to the turret before Akali could make it back to the lane. But as with all EG games, Wickd and Froggen used their excellent ability to outfarm the enemy to keep the game close. The game was going back and forth until EG tried to defend their Mid Outer turret which only had about a quarter of its health remaining. CandyPanda landed the perfect Chains of Corruption onto Miss Fortune to set up Rumble's Equalizer and that's all SK needed to secure four kills while only losing Rumble. Unfortunately for EG, their team fights could never get off the ground because of SK's arsenal of crowd control and the inability for Akali to exert any pressure due to Twisted Fate countering her Twilight Shroud. The main story for this match has to be CandyPanda playing a phenomenal Varus, landing the hardest skill shot in League of Legends multiple times to help SK get the victory.



It’s astounding to think that a mere couple of weeks ago, DragonBorns would’ve been the favourites here while only the Wolves fans would say otherwise. Come Week 8 however, it’s the opposite story. The Wolves started with a their common lane swap to top lane and took the top T1 early again. Meanwhile, Sven & GodBro show off their improving teamwork and get Muvert for first blood at 7:50. By 13:00 Wolves were pressuring top lane and catch YamatoCannon for another kill, then Deficio & TheTess snag Muvert before nabbing the bot T1. A dive with Bjergsen nets another kill for TheTess as they trade Bjergsen for HoSan, who was caught out again a couple minutes later. GodBro & Svenkeren’s great co-op play was showcased again at 17:40 as GodBro ports in to save Sven and take out Malunoo, before TheTess & Bjergsen show their skills as a duo when they collapse onto Shushei to finish him off. Wolves cement their lead at 19:50 when Bjergsen single-handedly funnels DB into the perfect spot for Deficio and TheTess to catch them and start a 5-0 team-fight and give Wolves a 10k gold lead. For the next few minutes, Wolves made some positional errors and gave away a few kills but DragonBorns weren’t able to make anything of it. Wolves push through the botlane and grab another kill on Malunoo but are ultimately held back until HoSan donates a free kill to the Wolves as he gets too close to the retreating team. GodBro goes on to split-push botlane and Bjergsen comes in to poke while the rest of Wolves head to Baron. DragonBorns sniff it out but GodBro and Bjergsen come back to join and Wolves take an easy 4-1 followed by Baron. Despite Bjergsen getting caught at 30:30 the Wolves are just too far ahead. At 33:00, the Wolves start their push into mid but after they get the Inhib, they appear to back off. DB go in to what they think is a safe zone but it’s a classic solo-queue fake: The Wolves brutally ambush the remaining DragonBorns and finish off the nexus for a safe looking win. Wolves are looking better and better, while DragonBorns still have work to do.


aAa's newest addition Dioud put forth a strong performance on Thresh as the French team put together a convincing win over GIANTS Gaming. Dioud's hooks led to an early Double Kill for Nono, setting Tristana ahead early. This advantage coupled with a strong start by fredy122 led to the first two Dragons and a safe midgame for Tristana. Exterminare had a number of entertaining skirmishes against Nono in the midgame, but ultimately could not stop him from farming up 250 CS before the 28 minute mark, 40 up on GIANTS' Jimbownz.

Ultimately, the teamwide lead of aAa just stifled the Spaniards attempts to catch up. Samux's Shen did not have the best opportunities to use Stand United, and fredy122's early kill on GIANTS jungler Morden both hurt Morden's map presence and let fredy leverage a lead in lane. As the free-farming Tristana had smooth sailing into her strong late game, aAa leveraged their objective control into a large and constantly growing lead, finishing the game out in the 37th minute with a 17k gold advantage.


The most intriguing match of the week would have to go to the one between DragonBorns and Evil Geniuses. The DragonBorns decided to run a composition with Shushei on Kog'Maw and Hosan on Nidalee while the other three took full Support duties. It was an interesting strategy where DB built up an early gold lead purely from the passive GP10 from their Runes and Masteries. However, everything blew up on DB since they could not properly pressure EG and were severely outfarmed by EG's more aggressive composition. EG used their gold lead and aggression to take down DB's mid inhibitor turret while DB was off securing Dragon. All in all this was a messy game where EG could do almost anything and take the victory but it didn't feel very satisfactory for them.


aAa got off to a great start in their match against Fnatic in Week 8. ViRtU4l used Jarvan IV effectively in his ganks and gave his team a 4-1 kill lead. However, Fnatic kept their composure and kept the game close by taking down Dragons and farming better than aAa. The game kept going slowly until aAa got too impatient and decided to go for a dive behind Fnatic's Mid Outer turret. aAa thought they had the advantage with a 5vs4 with Ahri off pushing in bot lane but they were held off by Leona's Solar Flare and Rumble's Equalizer. The dive ended with two kills for each team but this gave Ahri enough time to transition to the fight and pick off two more from aAa. From that point Fnatic systematically expanded their lead with more map objectives until another big fight broke out and Fnatic took an ace without losing anyone. aAa tried for a desperation Baron right after they respawned but it was stolen from their grasp with a perfectly timed Equalizer. Fnatic proceeded to clean up the aAa stragglers and finished off the game.


SK Gaming crushed GIANTS in a 21 minute game, capping a weekend that GIANTS will not want to remember. A full 5 on 5 melee broke out at level 1, as a grouped up SK Gaming snuck through the opposing jungle and facechecked into the full 5 man team of GIANTS on their way back and SK picked up a 2-1 exchange as well as the opposing Red buff. CandyPanda and Nyph dominated the bottom lane early, zoning the GIANTS bot laners from level one and building a massive gold and experience lead, with Jimbownz' Vayne down 11-28 in CS. ocelote and Exter duel to the death in the midlane shortly thereafter, with ocelote coming out on top with a bit of health.

Despite the rough start, a glimmer of hope appeared for GIANTS as the pressure mounted in the bottom lane and SK's Shen came down for a tower dive. Jimbownz played beautifully, staying alive and picking up a kill and assist as Kassadin and Volibear collapsed down for the countergank. Despite this, CandyPanda still had triple the CS of Jimbownz' Vanye and SK continued to zone.

SK Gaming finally blew the game wide open around 11 minutes in as Ocelote came down for a gank in bottom lane. Despite Vayne's Condemn being used to negate Thresh's ultimate, SK dove onto GIANTS behind their bottom tower. Shen and Varus helped to lock up a two kills for ocelote, and with the massive creep wave SK were able to take both bottom towers. Kev1n picked up a kill 1v2 up top, and combined with a free Dragon as SK retreated from the bot lane, a 1000 gold lead turned into a whopping 5000 gold lead within two minutes. GIANTS could not recover from the tailspin and SK had their run of the map. After a 5-1 SK Ace, GIANTS surrendered for a second time this weekend against hopeless odds, this time a mere 21 minutes into the match.


Gambit’s match against Wolves reminded LCS fans of two things: Wolves can look good from behind but still look short of comebacks and that if Gambit go into the mid-game ahead, it’s hell to stop. Alex barely survives a 1v1 with Bjergsen at mid after Diamond intervenes which puts Bjergsen a tad behind from the start. Gambit make a standard lane swap to top lane which allows Wolves to get the bot T1 at 6:25, but not before some gank avoidance. It looks like Tess & Deficio are safely reaclling back to base but come 7:10 they’re still in botlane. This proves to be a dangerous decision as Diamond & Darien catch the two Wolves for a double kill. Shortly afterwards Bjergsen assassinates a level 5 Edward in the top lane but the rest of Wolves are behind in kills and farm. At 10:00 Gambit get the first Dragon but Bjergsen finds Edward back at top and tries to repeat his play. It doesn’t work out: Alex Ich closes in on the Wolves and chases them down. Brilliant play from Tess & Deficio almost holds off Gambit, but a max range Bullet Time snags a kill on a fleeing Deficio. Deficio is caught again shortly afterwards at top when Gambit push down the turret. At 16:30 Gambit get another Dragon which leads to a team fight at botlane. GodBro gets dived but the rest of Wolves counter with their trademark team-fighting to turn it into a 2v2 – although all the while Genja was split pushing top and took down the T2. Despite a 6k gold lead, Wolves are still holding Gambit off in team-fights until now. Wolves stop Gambit taking Baron with a kill on Diamond but shortly afterwards Deficio gets snagged by Edward & Alex. Although suddenly, Gambit’s team-fight kicked in: At 22:50 the first instance of GodBro getting blown up occurs. Before the fight even starts GodBro is suddenly down at 20% health before dying. Without half their frontline Wolves get chased off to their Mid T2 where a bit of over-aggression turns it into an even trade for Wolves. Some more pushing for Gambit, with a 1v1 win for Bjergsen over Alex in between, leaves Gambit in complete control of the map and the match. After Wolves show up too late to stop Baron, a 10k gold lead for Gambit is too much to overcome. GodBro is doing the Singed split push game but it’s too little, too late. Gambit pushes into the Wolves base, again chunking GodBro and cleaning up the fight despite a valiant defence. With 3 kills on Wolves, it’s an easy Nexus kill for Gambit. A couple of mistakes from Wolves early was all it took for Gambit to score another victory in Week 8.

Bans:       

10        Fnatic        37.9K
vs.
20        Gambit        52.0K

Bans:       

Fnatic and Gambit Gaming clashed in a top of the table meeting that provided one of the wilder games in recent LCS memory. Both sides made risky plays and the kill count was unusually high for such evenly matched and well-regarded teams. Unlike most of the weekend's matches, it wasn't completely one-sided, but early experience advantages for Gambit helped them eventually open a gap and snowball to victory.

The game opened with Fnatic quickly gathering in Gambit's top lane tri-brush, showing up fast enough to ambush Genja and pick up first blood. Both teams ward their own Blue buff, and a 3 man invade from Fnatic triggers Gambit to go for a countersteal which is contested by xPeke and sOAZ. sOAZ trades himself for a kill on Edward, but Diamond escapes with the Fnatic Blue, leaving Darien to free-farm bottom for a leg up in the 1v1 lane bottom. xPeke rotates top while Fnatic try and shut down Fizz with a 2v1 midlane. However, xPeke is level 1 and has used his summoner spells in the earlier fights, and Genja is able to all-in and kill him. Alex Ich goes top to force the 1v1 matchup, leading to both teams swapping their middle and top lanes yet again, leaving xPeke stuck middle against Alex's Fizz with a 1 level disadvantage. Alex dives xPeke for an early kill but is unable to escape alive as Cyanide comes in to clean up. The cross-kill is hardly full compensation, though, and xPeke is behind the duo lanes on experience, foreshadowing an extremely rough game for the All-Star candidate. Alex Ich dives him again, this time escaping successfully as a gank top from Diamond yields a kill for Genja. The game continued at a breakneck pace, with Fnatic staying in the match by picking up kills against overconfident or overly aggressive plays from Alex Ich and Darien.

Trying to pick off Diamond turned out to be more than Fnatic could handle, however. Twisted Fate uses his ultimate to come in for the gank, but Gambit turn it around for a 3-1 exchange and leave YellOwStaR fleeing as the sole survivor. sOAZ attempts to turn it around as he arrives, but yet again dies in a trade across for Sona as Darien free farms and takes Fnatic's bottom tower. With a small gold edge widened to 3000 and a 1 level experience advantage across the board, Gambit were now in much firmer control of the match. Fnatic finds a lifeline, however, as a countergank from Cyanide saves an 0-5 xPeke and leads Fnatic to a mid tower pickup after the Double Kill.

Skirmishes continue but the beginning of the end occurs with Fnatic getting caught in the river after Gambit take their 3rd dragon. With Genja holding top tower 2v1, Gambit push unimpeded through Fnatic's outer and inner middle turrets. Without solid vision, Fnatic are helpless as Gambit pick up Baron and nRated is caught trying to harass it alone. This pick leads to Gambit getting the mid inhibitor and an inevitable slide to victory in the 29th minute.

Gambit achieved their solid victory off the back of early expe advantages in the period of frantic lane-swapping and Diamondprox's very strong presence from the jungle. He was able to collect 9 minute Dragon solo, and Gambit controlled Dragon for the rest of the game. He baited and survived early critical fights, and the glut of early kills and assists let him be a much stronger force than the almost supportish Nasus jungle that has been the norm. Despite an awful looking 0/8/8 stat line, xPeke managed to have some presence and impact, but Alex Ich bullied him mercilessly with the surprise Fizz pick. Gambit closes out the fixture with a 3-1 record against Fnatic, handing them 3 of their 4 losses thus far in the season and pulling within 1 win of a tie for first place. Gambit look to close out with a slightly softer schedule as Fnatic have an extra game against EG and Wolves left in the matches against contenders, but Gambit do have one remaining game against the relegation threatened GIANTS! who have a surprising 2-1 record against the Russians.

As Week 9 looms its head, teams and fans each see a different face. For some it looks like safety and celebration, for others like desperation and struggle. For Wolves it looks like the perfect time for a break before the super week finale of Week 10, but they’ll still be watching their position rivals aAa with eager eyes.

Fnatic & Gambit are no doubt smiling as Week 9 approaches. Both teams are safely in the top of the table and with their current form, it doesn’t look like they’ll be in danger in Week 9. Both play bottom of the table DragonBorns while Fnatic play EG and Gambit get SK & aAa. One gets the feeling that at this point, every team is the same for Fnatic and Gambit and with the lighter practice schedules they’ll be adopting to recuperate, expect some fun and entertaining games from the two shining stars of the European LCS.

While at the start of the season, many expected SK and EG to be in place three and four, few would’ve expected them to be this way around. SK have been the definition of safe and consistent in the LCS, almost never dropping a game to the bottom 4, while EG have looked accident-prone and susceptible to all sorts of upsets. SK only have one game against Gambit this week, which is their best chance to beat the Russians yet while EG go against Fnatic and Giants. With prior form in mind, it doesn’t look great for the two teams, but EG are teetering on the edge while SK look good in rank 3.

aAa have a great shot at taking the fifth place spot this week. While a win against Gambit looks unlikely, their chances against Giants are good and it wouldn’t be surprising if all their focus was on that match. A win in either game would tie them up with the Wolves while two victories slots them into fifth place. On top of that, a win against Giants knocks a possible threat down a peg leaving them in a better spot for the monstrous Week 10.

Finally, in the last two spots we have two very different positions for Giants and DB. DragonBorns are on a deadly losing streak and their lineup this week does not look promising. However, with Fnatic and Gambit both safely through to playoffs, this could be the perfect time for DragonBorns to pull out an upset. They have three chances this week and a clean-sweep would put them right back in the running. Giants are in a slightly better spot but have not looked consistent in their games. A lack of direction has cost them but they also have three chances this week and good ones too. Victories over DB and aAa would count double for them, handing a loss to their position rivals while a victory over the flagging EG is definitely on the cards. If the Spaniards take all three games, they’ll fly into fifth and with this week’s opponents, it’s the perfect time for some last minute wins.

The table this week is tumultuous indeed with only the top two sitting pretty. SK are sitting snugly at rank 3 but for positions 4-8, it comes down to the teams. Who can put in the practice and pull out the crucial wins when the time comes? A bad week for the bottom places could turn Week 10 into a mountain that’s too much to climb while a good week keeps the whole thing open. Week 9 is the point of no-return before Week 10’s boss rush and boy will it be a killer.


GIANTS face against All authority in Sunday's penultimate match in a rematch between two teams looking to scrape into the last playoff berth. aAa took this week's game handily, and another loss may be a fatal blow to GIANTS' playoff hopes. GIANTS have the considerably easier road in week 9 with matches against Dragonborns and Evil Geniuses, both of whom are slumping. aAa by contrast have a single match against Gambit Gaming on Saturday before facing off against GIANTS. Headed into Week 9, GIANTS find themselves a game and a half back from aAa for the last playoff spot. While a series win against SK Gaming or Evil Geniuses may be considered a long shot, both teams have proven they can take games off of the top teams in the LCS if given the chance.

The matchup to watch will be the bottom lane. The arrival of Dioud as the new support for aAa came with the admission that the team wasn't confident in letting Nono and former member Karalius play together in any 2v2 matchups, and the pairing looked great against GIANTS. Their Thresh/Tristana lane got an early Double Kill and were a key part of aAa's victory. Babeta has been getting recognition for his solid play and signature Zyra recently, and Jimbownz has also had moments of brilliance despite their loss to aAa. The stakes especially high for GIANTS, because a loss would all but eliminate them from playoff contention heading into the last week of competition. Catch the match Sunday at 20:00 CEST/9:00 PDT to see who will prevail.