Credit — Riot Games

After months of anticipation we finally received our first taste of European League of Legends action over the weekend and it was as exciting as ever. Viewers were treated to a mixture of surprising results, dominating performances and a plethora of Karthus ultimates during the opening games of the LEC Spring Split. Here are the main talking points from Week 1.

Europe’s Broadcast Team are the Best in the Scene

New branding, same EU broadcast team. Sjokz, Quickshot and co. have been raising the bar when it comes to broadcast standards for the last few years and maintained this high quality with the 2019 season opener. On Friday afternoon LEC viewers enjoyed two goose bump-inducing hype videos, accompanied by an incredible light show to kick off the first week of games and welcome viewers back for what promises to be another thrilling year of European League of Legends.

That being said, this level of quality should come as no surprise to regular EU LCS viewers. From the presenters to the analysts to those behind-the-scenes, everyone has been working hard to create an entertaining and informative broadcast over the last few years. Even after Deficio, who many considered to be the best analyst in the business, left Riot for Origen, the team have found a more than capable replacement in Froskurinn who made a fantastic start to her LEC career over the weekend.

All in all, the most recent EU LCS splits have demonstrated that those involved with Riot EU’s broadcast have come on leaps and bounds and this weekend was no different. Despite a number of bumps in the road involving multiple extended pauses and technical issues, the team coped impeccably, showcasing their natural, off-the-cuff analytical skills. The latest additions to the LEC presentation, including those from last season like ‘Ready Check’ and the ‘Post Game Lobby’, have all added to an unmatched viewing experience that EU fans will excitedly tune into week in, week out.

The only grievance from the audience and their aching neck muscles would be the graphic department’s unusual obsession with vertical countdowns and player names.

EU Mids

Credit — Riot Games

Europe is already renowned for being a powerhouse of extremely skilled middle lane talents, but this weekend proved that the conveyor belt of ‘EU Mids’ is still in motion, producing three new rookies that made their debut on the LEC stage on Friday. Abbedagge, Humanoid and Nemesis signed for Schalke, Splyce and Fnatic respectively during the off-season after impressing in their national divisions and international competitions over the course of 2018.

Abbedagge’s first LEC bout came against Team Vitality and their ‘Italian Stallion’ Jiizuke. While he wasn’t the most important player in his team’s victory, the German mid laner played a key role throughout the game and provided consistent teamfight utility on Lissandra. On Saturday Schalke fell to the league leaders G2, in a game where Abbedagge had very little to do due to the tremendous quality of his opponents and the snowball-y nature of the contest. Nevertheless, he found himself on the @lolesports ‘Player of the Game’ vote, as he was judged to be the most valuable player on his roster and received 15% of the fan picks.

Splyce’s Humanoid was the most impressive of the three rookies, with a victory against Excel Esports and a strong showing while facing Team Vitality, even in defeat. Many judged Humanoid to be the MVP of Splyce’s Day 1 win and were shocked to see he was not included in the fan vote. His Aatrox was dominant in the mid lane and a large part of why his team picked up their first win of the season. Despite not being the determining factor in the Vitality game, Humanoid performed well and aided his team to a very strong position come the mid-game, but they were unable to close it out and ultimately missed out on a 2–0 weekend.

It was a baptism of fire for Fnatic’s new star in the middle lane as his team saw defeat against SK Gaming and Origen on their opening weekend. Nemesis suffered in not two, but three challenging lane assignments, with both drafts against SK, as well as the draft against Origen, providing him with difficult counter-picks to deal with. Nonetheless, the former MAD Lions man demonstrated his potential during the games, making his way onto the ‘Player of the Game’ vote against SK, as well as coming out unscathed in a painful Galio vs. Vayne match-up when facing Origen and Nukeduck.

Overall this weekend provided further confirmation that the middle lane is by far Europe’s most accomplished role. Caps, Nukeduck and Jiizuke are now joined by a number of talented rookies to create an exceptional list of mid talents that could compete with any region in the world.

Selfmade is a Monster

Credit — Riot Games

Undoubtedly the most impressive individual performance of the weekend came from SK Gaming’s Polish jungler Selfmade in their win against 2018 World Championship finalists Fnatic.

Initially it seemed that all of SK Gaming’s hard work was undone after LEC officials investigated lag problems during the first game of the season and determined a remake was in order. At this point in the game SK were 4.5k gold ahead of their opponents and looked set to pick up their first victory in the LEC. The large gold lead that separated the two sides was mostly created by Selfmade’s aggressive jungling paired with Pirean’s counter-pick in the middle lane.

There were fears throughout the community that SK had been robbed of their deserved victory, but the remade game didn’t alter Fnatic’s fate as Selfmade and his team found another gear to come out on top in convincing fashion. Three early kills were picked up as a result of SK’s rookie jungler and his creative pathing which allowed him to outplay and out-manoeuvre a Worlds runner-up in Broxah on his trademark Lee Sin.

Despite some mid-game issues, SK Gaming eventually closed out the contest thanks to a huge, game-winning play from Selfmade to lockdown Rekkles’ Lucian in the final teamfight, described by Vedius as ‘the best Sejuani play he’s ever seen’. Fans flocked to social media to praise the former MAD Lions player, including Froskurinn who dubbed him ‘Baby Jankos’ on the broadcast. Regardless of SK’s struggles in their second game of the week, there is definitely a tonne of hype surrounding their new jungler, with viewers anticipating more exciting performances throughout the season.

The Crown is G2’s to Lose

Credit — Riot Games

After one weekend of games we can definitively conclude that G2 are going to win Worlds and Fnatic are the worst team in Europe. Over two games G2 Esports displayed raw skill and talent that can only be compared to the glory days of SKT, while reigning European champions Fnatic may as well pack their bags and leave Berlin.

Obviously, this isn’t the case. While its unwise to make sweeping statements after the first week of the Spring Split, it wouldn’t be wrong to assert that G2 look by far the strongest team in Europe at present. Unsurprisingly, combining the two best players of last year’s EU LCS with a top-jungle duo that was far ahead of any other in the league has resulted in an extremely powerful LEC line-up.

Origen felt the wrath of G2’s new roster in their first game of the season on Friday as they were completely run over by a draft that was as disgusting to watch as it was to play against. This was followed by a dominating victory against Schalke that was snowballed out of control by 15 minutes. The convincing nature of G2’s first two victories of the season makes it difficult not to get carried away, as it seemed like their control of the games was never under threat.

Nevertheless, there are still 16 games remaining in the LEC Spring Split, leaving plenty of time for teams to equal G2’s level of play and keep up with their pace. Whilst you may see Twitter and Reddit analysts alike crown Perkz and his team as champions already, it’s important to stay grounded and give it a few more weeks before declaring G2 ‘the best team in Europe’.

Technical Issues

One minor gripe from the first week of the LEC came in the form of extended delays caused by a number of technical issues. It took over an hour and a half for the first game of the season to conclude and the total delay time throughout the weekend came to almost two hours. While it must be incredibly frustrating for those working at Riot and completely out of their control, these long delays and pauses definitely harm the viewer experience.

The main cause of the pauses and delays seemed to stem from client problems during champion select that resulted in players being forced to lock-in the wrong champions as a result of client glitches and issues. As mentioned previously, the broadcast team dealt with these problems brilliantly and made the lengthy breaks enjoyable for the audience.

Hopefully these problems will be ironed out by the time the second week of matches arrives and both the viewers and the team behind the broadcast will be able to enjoy the games without major issues in the future.