LEC 2023 Winter: Regular Season Day 2 Recap

LEC 2023 Winter: Regular Season Day 2 Recap

Time Stamp: January 22, 2023 3:10 PM

The strongest LEC teams pulled off massive plays on Day 2 of the Regular Season Winter Split.

The strongest in the EMEA league readied up for another round of bo1’s. A decent number of teams went for patient teamfights rather than explosive skirmishes today which resulted in long battles of attrition.

LEC’s Winter season hype continued for Week 2 amidst recent controversy surrounding  yesterday’s best match-up. It turned out that the “Waterwalking” rune was used by Team Vitality’s Perkz during the last match of Game 1. After proper examination, the LEC’s Committee Operations team determined that his Ryze did not gain a significant leg up over the rest of Team Heretics’ roster. Following to precedent, the French team was penalized and fined.

Here’s everything that happened on Day 2 of the LEC’s Winter Split Regular Season.

SK Gaming vs BDS Esports

As usual, we saw Yuumi and Lucian bans at the start of the game. Interesting picks from SK made way for a really interesting Game 1. Doss’ Karma has more range and mobility for his chosen lane. A rough and scrappy early game saw quick trades and objectives were prioritized in the opening minutes.

First blood was taken by Markoon at top lane while SK played it safe and worked together to avoid giving the enemy any leads. The score stayed tied as they entered the midgame, while Irrelevant had strong control over top and mid with Gnar’s mobility. BDS Sheo pulled super aggressive ganks down bot lane to compensate for lost gold. Patient plays all around gave the crowd a slow, but steady crawl until BDS took a small lead 19 minutes in.

On minute 25, SK Gaming was desperate for any advantage. After a very uneventful midgame clash, the whole of late-game was a safe back and forth with neither team willing to commit too much. BDS finally found a one-sided fight 37 minutes in and ended the game shortly after.

  • Teams: SK 0 – 1 BDS
  • Time: 38:02
  • Kills: 6 – 14
  • Turrets: 4 – 10
  • Gold: 63.3k – 72.9k
  • Dragons: 2 – 4
  • Barons: 0 – 1

Astralis vs MAD Lions

Finn’s K’Sante rocked the top lane by getting first blood, while MAD was eager to find ways to level the score. Nisqy’s Akali was a menace that kept his team in the lead, while Hylissang’s Thresh managed to limit Finn’s mobility. Deep into the midgame, MAD Lions was finally able to make progress pushing down mid with the Herald. As the game went on, both teams collided on bot side jungle to contest MAD’s 3rd dragon. JeongHoon tried extending the dragon’s uptime when it was low, but MAD still got away with the kill.

Nisqy”s fed Akali was a force to be reckoned with, forcing Astralis into a fast retreat in every skirmish. When they tried contesting for Baron Nashor, MAD quickly forced them back and wiped the team before heading down mid for their first Nexus of the day.

  • Teams: AST 0 – 1 MAD
  • Time: 25:34
  • Kills: 4 – 15
  • Turrets: 2 – 8
  • Gold: 44.9k – 54.1k
  • Dragons: 0 – 4
  • Barons: 0 – 0

Team Vitality vs Team Heretics

A massive 2-kill trade by Bo and Perkz put VIT on an early game lead right after taking First Blood. Entering the midgame, Bo’s Sejuani was singling targets out for Vitality’s Neon to pop off. After the a clash was decided at bottom jungle, the LEC saw its first Chemtech Rift. It was all on Jackspektra’s Kalista to close the gold gap for TH, and a combined effort to focus on tower objectives and successful teamfights landed them just 1k under VIT.

Team Heretics couldn’t enjoy their win for long however. Shortly after, Team Vitality confidently dissected the red team. On top of their notable advantage, Vitality followed through by chasing them down bot jungle for another batch of kills while keeping an eye on Jankos. Team Vitality’s patience looked effortless as VIT slowly erased any hopes of Heretics winning the match with surgical precision.

  • Teams: VIT 1 – 0 TH
  • Time: 28:17
  • Kills: 22 – 12
  • Turrets: 8 – 3
  • Gold: 58.8k – 48.5k
  • Dragons: 2 – 2
  • Barons: 1 – 0

KOI vs Excel Esports

All eyes were on Odoamne’s self-sufficient plays this game, especially after his strong performance as K’Sante yesterday. Larssen’s Kassadin also promised an entertaining match and/or the first LEC game with good Kassadin gameplay.

The match was off to a bad start in the bottom lane for Excel as Trymbi’s Soraka followed through in early game clashes for the first 2 kills. Amazingly, Comp’s Kalista lane control even allowed him to escape near-death experiences from the enemy Ahri.

Leaning into their team comp’s strengths, XL focused on finding gold objectives and avoided Larssen. They finally found some success when Odo scored a double kill with Xerxe’s Vi at bottom lane. The late-game went badly for them unfortunately. Since Malrang and Szygenda’s Aatrox kept focusing on Odo’s Renekton, XL kept losing their main damage dealer.

Things felt too little too late after they lost their window to capitalize on early-game wins, but a miracle Baron steal and Vetheo’s charms earned his team a hard-won ace that revived their hopes of winning. However, XL’s newfound fervor was controlled by Trymbi’s consistent healing on Soraka, and an intense and valiant slugfest ended with KOI on top.

  • Teams: KOI 1 – 0 XL
  • Time: 40:22
  • Kills: 12 – 21
  • Turrets: 5 – 8
  • Gold: 70.6k – 74.5k
  • Dragons: 2 – 3
  • Barons: 1 – 1

Team Fanatic vs G2 Esports

The final game of the day had much in store for long-time G2 fans.

Seeing as Yuumi was actually allowed to play this game, things were sure to get interesting quickly. Right off the bat, G2 played with information thru fast trades to trick FNC into making defensive decisions in botlane. Their scattered response saw the first 3 kills go to G2 when the game was only 5 minutes in.

From there, smart plays by Yike and Hans dominated the game through to midgame, driving FNC to chase down and isolate BrokenBlade and Caps to try and close the 5-kill gap. But after all was said and done, Team Fanatic’s courageous defense wasn’t enough to repel the bloodlust of a fed G2. A comfortable victory for G2 Esports.

  • Teams: FNC 0 – 1 G2
  • Time: 23:51
  • Kills: 4 – 16
  • Turrets: 0 – 9
  • Gold: 34.6k – 50.8k
  • Dragons: 0 – 2
  • Barons: 0 – 1

For the latest on the LEC Winter split, follow ESTNN.

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