Plot Armor — Week 8
16 August— by League Analyst
Roughly 30% of remaining scenarios resulting in a playoffs spot. That was the odds that Fnatic had to overcome heading into the final week of the summer split. To give some additional context, out of the 19 previous seasons, Fnatic had NEVER missed playoffs before. Saying that times were desperate is no understatement. But the plot armor had never been broken before, and Fnatic set out to disprove the doubters once again.
Game one ended with a victory against Astralis, a necessary but expected result. Game two however, was a game that won’t be forgotten for a long long time. We are talking Fnatic versus Team Vitality.
The tl;dr goes as follows: Upset decided that his team was going to playoffs no matter what. 1805 DPM in one of the highest pressure games of the year, a monster performance in every sense of the word. What does a man have to do to gain some respect? If there were any questions about the quality of the Fnatic botlaner leading up to this week, they were answered in the clearest way possible. A game of raw talent and confidence of the highest level.
Now what happens in the last, do-or-die game versus Misfits? Naturally, Upset stands tall and takes his team's fate into his own hands once again. Call it plot armor, talent, or a streak of good luck. 3 games, 3 victories and playoffs locked for the 20th consecutive time.
Was it clean? Not really, but Fnatic is riding out the struggle bus and is keeping the dream of another title alive. Because of the fumbles in the tiebreaker, the do-or-die journey will continue in the losers’ bracket. Excel is the opponent awaiting them, and a more in depth breakdown of that matchup will come soon.
But before we head to the knockout stage, we’ll say our goodbyes to the four teams who are going on a long vacation. Notably, one of the most stacked rosters in the region find themselves under the line playoffs line. Team Vitality had a shocking loss streak to end out the split and will not go any further this year. It’s possibly the biggest failure compared to set expectations that we’ve seen since the creation of the league. Joining them on the beach is SK Gaming, Astralis and Team BDS, who now has to start building for next year.
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