Photo credit: Michal Konkol/Riot Games

This past weekend saw the beginning of the group stage in LEC Spring. Two Bo3 victories in groups, and we will advance to the playoffs. On Saturday, April 6, we went head-to-head with our chosen opponent: Fnatic.

In the first game, Kobbe drew the first blood, and we started building up a gold lead while slaying the first two dragons. In the 18th minute, we were defeated in a team fight, and with a six-kill lead (4-10), Fnatic took the third drake. We started building up gold, and a baron-infused push saw us doing good damage to Fnatic's turrets. With almost 10k gold lead and a successful teamfight, we gained a quad kill, pushed uncontested onto the nexus, and won the first game.

The second game was action-packed from the beginning, with 11 kills in the first 10 minutes (3-8). We fell behind on gold, and as Fnatic slayed four dragons, we had to play defensively. We managed to hold the fort through several pushes, but despite our best efforts, we saw ourselves defeated by a strong opponent.

The third and final game contrasted the second with a calm start. At the 16th minute, the scoreboard was balanced with one drake for each team and less than a 0.5k gold diff between the two teams. On the back of a double kill from Lider's Irelia, we started building more gold. The game was paused for about 10 minutes due to client issues, and as we returned to the server, we managed to steal the third drake. Full of confidence, a very low HP 113 didn't shy away from trying to steal the Baron from Fnatic as well - AND SO HE DID. Walking away alive and with a Baron buff. We slayed the fourth dragon, and after a successful teamfight, we gained our second Baron. Pushing straight toward the base, we closed the third game with an incredible 8/4/4 record for Lider.

Our 2-1 victory against Fnatic put us head-to-head against Vitality, fighting for an upper-bracket spot in playoffs.

The first game was steady in the first 20 minutes and saw an even scoreboard in terms of kills and gold. We had slayed two more turrets, while Vitaly had a dragon more than us. A chaotic fight for the baron secured Vitaly the buff while we got a triple kill. An ace from a Baron infused Vitality saw them taking their third drake uncontested. Despite heroic efforts from our players, Vitality got yet another baron and drake and ultimately won the first game.

Despite this 0-2 loss against Vitality, we can still advance to the playoffs.

We will fight for a lower-bracket playoff spot on Sunday, April 16, at 18:00 CEST. In this match, we will meet the Fnatic vs. MAD Lions.