The League of Legends World Championship has just got a new contender. In a decisive 3-0 sweep, Fnatic beat out the higher seeded Misfits in playoffs, to join G2, MAD Lions, and Rogue to represent Europe at Worlds.
As the 4th seed from Europe, they will have to fight through the play-in stage along with MAD Lions, beginning September 29th. Let's look at how these teams got here, and why this game was do-or-die.
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LEC Playoffs so far
The road to now has not been an easy one for Fnatic. Facing the prospect of missing playoffs entirely as the split neared its end, they went on an incredible 5-game win streak, finally defeating Vitality in an agonising 40-minute game, to make it in.
Fans have joked about Fnatic's plot armour, the organisation never having missed the LEC playoffs despite steep odds. Unfortunately for their opponents though, it was really the star power and experience of this 'superteam' roster that finally earned them the spot.
Then defeating EXCEL last week in a breath-taking reverse sweep, Fnatic's status as a top League of Legends team in Europe can be in no doubt.
Misfits have also not had the easiest road to this point. After bombing out of Spring playoffs, they began the summer split 0-4, to then regain traction and come back to contend for the top spots in the final week.
Fnatic Vs Misfits: Everything to Lose
Rarely before has a best of 5 had so much on the line. The final Worlds spot was simply the icing on the cake, as these teams had everything to lose.
Fnatic was facing the first time they had missed worlds since 2016, the only other time being Season 2, 10 years ago. With a Worlds title to their name, the team could not afford to miss the chance to prove themselves on the international stage.
On the other hand, for Misfits, today was a more sombre affair. Having recently sold their spot to Team Heretics, for a staggering 40 million euros, today was unfortunately the last time that this remarkable squad will take to the LEC stage.
Fnatic will now face MAD Lions on Sunday for a Shot at Malmö and the Finals. Catch the game, as well as G2 vs Rogue tomorrow, on the LEC twitch stream.