After a winless first week in the LEC, Fnatic will still be hoping for a high regular season finish and a shot at being crowned the Spring split champions. However, in the history of the EU LCS no team ever earned more than a 3rd place finish after failing to gain a victory in the opening week.

Alliance did so after suffering from 4 straight defeats at the start of the 2014 season. A fan favourite roster led by Froggen in the mid lane lost to the likes of Copenhagen Wolves and SUPA HOT CREW in their first week and found themselves in last place. Their fortunes turned as the split went on and a 16-12 record earned them 3rd, and they would go on to finish 4th in the Playoffs after a loss to Team ROCCAT.

Perhaps something more comforting for Fnatic fans is Alliance’s performances in the Summer split soon after, where an unchanged roster finished 1st in both the regular season and Playoffs (ironically beating Fnatic in the final).

Moving on to Spring 2015 and H2k-Gaming became the only other team to turn such an unsuccessful first week into a 3rd place regular season spot. Having suffered defeats to Copenhagen Wolves and Fnatic in the opening week, H2k started joint last along with Gambit Gaming and MeetYourMakers. While MYM would sit at the bottom of the table for the rest of the split, both H2k and Gambit managed to change their fortunes as they would go on to finish 3rd and 4th respectively.

After losing 3-2 in a Bo5 series to Fnatic and beating SK Gaming by the same scoreline, H2k would only end the Playoffs in 3rd place.

Possibly even more worrying for Fnatic is the slim likelihood of a 1st place Playoff finish after such a poor start. For 6 straight splits between Spring 2015 and Summer 2017, the winner of the EU LCS started with 100% records in the first week. This was only broken by Fnatic in both Spring and Summer of 2018 where they were rewarded as champions having started both splits 1-1.

How do you rate Fnatic’s chances of winning the inaugural LEC split after their 0-2 start? Let us know by tweeting @NineTeeSix.

Photo credit Riot Games