League Analysis — Fnatic vs Rouge — LEC Week 1
24 JANUARY 2021 — by League Analyst
Fnatic heads into their 2nd match of the split
We got to see a very trigger happy FNC squad on the rift in their first game of the split. Now they’ve had a day to readjust and hopefully we’ll see a more patient and controlled team today. The level of activity was way to high yesterday and resulted in some very sloppy plays which spiraled the game out of control.
It’s interesting that we got to see the “always fight” mindset that Hylissang and Bwipo is known for now that Rekkles and Nemesis isn’t there to call of unnecessary plays. This is just speculation obviously, but it might become a problem if there aren’t any person on the roster to keep the aggressiveness in check.
Draft breakdown
Finished draft shown at the bottom of the breakdown.
Blue Bans:
Ban 1 — Kalista
One of Hans Sama’s most picked champions that also got him a W on Friday. I would say that there are more prioritized ADC bans but this is certainly a player specific ban and makes sense here.
Ban 2 — Lucian
Another ban that seems to specific for Larssen as he won on it on Friday. Fnatic seems to be heavily focused on getting Rouge of comfort champions.
Ban 3 — Camille
One of the stronger toplaners at the moment. Just a solid ban all around.
Red Bans:
Ban 1 — Olaf
Strongest jungler in the game at the moment and one of the must bans at the moment for red side in my opinion, just like stated yesterday.
Ban 2 — Taliyah
Another jungler that saw a lot of success on Friday, interesting that she is banned instead of Lillia/Nidalee, a trend we’ll have to keep an eye on for sure.
Ban 3 — Thresh
Just like yesterday I’m assuming that this is a ban to get rid of Aphelios since he relies on the lantern because of his lack of mobility.
B1 Pick — Graves
A good jungler in the meta that doesn’t show much information to the enemy team. I like it and would assume that it will be paired with and AP midlaner like Twisted Fate or Gallio, champions that Nisqy are well known for playing.
Picks:
R1 Pick — Twisted Fate
A good takeaway from Fnatic, denying Nisqy his TF. Although the champion can be abused by champions like Malzahar/Anivia and long range mages, I doubt that Fnatic is prepared to pick something like that.
R2 Pick — Kai’Sa
Very good pick since Thresh is banned and Aphelios most likely won’t be picked. Makes sense with the TF and most likely won’t be countered because a lack of preparation.
B2 Pick — Aphelios
So I was most certainly wrong on this one. I’ve already mentioned many times why Aphelios shouldn’t be picked here so we’ll have to see how Fnatic work around his very obvious weakness.
B3 Pick — Gallio
A very expected pick here, a bit weird that they banned Camille themselves if they were planning to pick Gallio. I’m assuming TF was the pick they were looking for but Gallio is pretty much the same champion so I guess it works out.
R3 Pick — Pantheon
A strong AD jungler that can set up ganks/roams with TF. Can also be flexed into other roles if needed but I’m assuming going jungle. Very good pick here in my mind.
Blue bans:
Ban 4 — Alistar
Good engage support that works well with the red teamcomp, fine ban.
Ban 5 — Sett
Another fin ban, just don’t understand why it isn’t Leona.
Red bans:
Ban 4 — Syndra
Useless ban since Gallio almost 100% will go mid.
Ban 5 — Gragas
They are picking Renekton baby, prepare your body. Dive dive dive!
Picks:
R4 Pick — Braum
I honestly don’t mind the Braum here, it is simply a solid support that does his job somewhat good. Taric could be better against Rouge’s teamcomp, expecting that Renekton will come in the last two picks.
B4 Pick — Renekton
Such an obvious pick here, I don’t mind it thought. It fits well with the style of comp that Rouge is building and hasn’t really been countered well besides the banned Gragas pick.
B5 Pick — Volibear
I mean it’s a tank that deals with Renekton… that’s about all the analysis I can give you here. I actually think that Illaoi would have been such a godly pick here. You are facing full engage and want another meat shield to protect your carry, also a good counter to Renekton.
R5 Pick — Rakan
Just pick Leona here come on guys. Rakan hates his life against three meat shields and Graves. Here you could even go an enchanter like Seraphine or Karma but it’s a bit far fetched.
Pre-game prediction
I absolutely hate the Fnatic comp that we’ve ended up with here. It’s basically wait for Aphelios to carry or you loose 100%. Rouge will have so much freedom around the map and the game should end on soul if it isn’t over before that point. If Fnatic can stall (steal a dragon)and get tanky enough to survive the Rouge engage they have a chance but I highly doubt it will happened. Aphelios 3 items is the key item spike to watch out for and if Fnatic can reach it without falling to far behind they should win.
Post game key takeaways
So the game went about as expected from how the draft turned out. Fnatic tried to fight back and got some favorable skirmishes, but it wasn’t enough to get the W. Rouge slowly snowballed the game out of control and finished the game with baron into mountain soul.
Fnatic played much better than yesterday and came close to turning the game around the 3rd dragon. But with how outdrafted they got I would say that this outcome was inevitable (assuming perfect play).
Like mentioned yesterday, the team with the tools to execute their own gameplan is almost always at an advantage. This also showed 13 minutes into the game when Fnatic tried to force their own play without the tools to do so, resulting in the falling further behind. They were basically at the mercy of Rouge all game and had to depend on major mistakes to claw their way back into the game.
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