Fnatic
Fnatic – one of the best-known organizations that have earned their place among e-sports fans. The team, which was a dominant force in the European League of Legends championships for a long time, has currently ceded its position to the G2 team, but still remains among the two strongest teams in the region. Last season, they put up a great fight against G2, but narrowly missed the championship title. During the off-season, Fnatic players talked about eliminating the shortcomings that prevented them from winning the tournament and focusing heavily on better teamwork.
There were no changes in the Fnatic team compared to the spring season, and the young players who shone in the last season (Nemesis, Selfmade) are entering this stage even more improved and ready to win the LEC trophy after a long time. In the first few matches, we could see much greater confidence demonstrated by Selfmade, as some of the decisions made were risky, which we probably wouldn't have seen in the spring stage. Nevertheless, it's nice to see high-level young players who are progressing not only in individual mastery but also in making good decisions and evaluating situations.
Fnatic played 3 matches in the first week, which they won. The defeated teams were Misfits, Vitality, and exceL. The toughest of these matches was the first one, played against Misfits. In 9 out of 10 cases, that match should have been lost, but the Misfits team played poorly in the decisive minutes, and taking advantage of this, the veteran-led Fnatic team managed to come back into the game and win it. However, Fnatic unexpectedly suffered their first defeat this week in a match against MAD Lions, where a rather poor champion selection led to the loss.
Origen
Origen – an organization founded by former Fnatic player xPeke in 2014, which is achieving better and better results not only in League of Legends but also in other e-sports games. Origen quickly became one of the dominant LEC teams, but they have not been able to take the decisive step to the top of the LEC. No matter how well Origen looks during the season, for several years in a row they have been hitting a wall against G2 or Fnatic teams, which they have not been able to defeat.
Compared to the spring stage, there were no changes in the team. It's hard to say if changes were needed, as individually this team looks really impressive and in terms of talent, they could compete with both Fnatic and G2. However, it can be said that this relatively new organization lacks a winner's mentality, and that is understandable. None of the players in the team, although individually very good, have won the LEC, even though they have been among the title contenders. Once they manage to win a title, it is very likely that the team will start playing more confidently and take a step into the elite.
Origen has won 2 out of 4 matches played in this summer stage. Since Origen is one of the “slowest” teams in the league, they clearly have problems playing against teams that dominate the “early game.” For this reason, they suffered defeats against SK Gaming and Misfits teams, which are by no means among the tournament favorites but are an unfavorable opponent for the Origen team.
Prediction
The week's match between Fnatic and Origen teams should be competitive and very interesting for every e-sports fan. Both teams started the season not as confidently as expected considering the strength of the opponents they played against, but this is just the beginning of the summer stage. The Fnatic team plays unpredictably. This team can play impressively in both early and late game stages, which is completely unfavorable for the Origen team, which is strongest in the “mid-late” game phase. For these reasons, Fnatic should continue their winning streak against Origen and avoid a 0-2 week.
