The first match of Fnatic and Roccat was truly spectacular. Fnatic emerged as victorious in a grit-and-grind 51-minute match. Last week, February 7th, it was Roccat that swiped the victory. The battle lasted for only 32 minutes but it displayed high-level shotcalling and plays from both team. In the eyes of an average spectator, it was rather one-sided but when analyzed more thoroughly, Fnatic just did what a high-level team can do. In this article we will break down each and every detail about the second bout of a new-born rivalry. We will also take a look at what went right and what went wrong for both teams. This way, we can come up with the conclusion as to how Roccat won the fight.

First Blood, First Trade, First Pressure

The start of the game was the usual. No Lane Swaps. Guard every entrance for both teams. Cyanide went to Fnatic’s Blue buff and Jankos went to Roccat’s Red buff. 4 minutes into the game is where the first major event occured. Jankos is going in for the gank on xPeke while Cyanide is just around the outer turret in mid. Overpow secured the first blood but went down due to the response of Cyanide. Cyanide successfully retreated with very low health while Jankos baited the Teleport from sOAZ and the roam from Yellowstar. He also successfully retreated by using the minion’s position for a great Rappel.

What went right for Fnatic: Cyanide’s response made it even and the minions was pushing the lane in favor of xPeke.
What went wrong for Fnatic: Burnt teleport from sOAZ and the roam from Yellowstar. The constant pushing of Xaxus in the top lane made sOAZ miss a lot of cs and experience. While Yellowstar also missed a lot of cs resulting into a passive laning.

What went right for Roccat: Overpow got the first blood. Xaxus was ahead in experience and creep score against sOAZ.
What went wrong for Roccat: Overpow was behind in CS and experience due to lost wave from turret.

Things That Should Not Happen In Top Lane

After the skirmish at mid ended, Xaxus constantly pressured top lane and went home to buy a Pick Axe while sOAZ returned top because minions are slowly eating his tower. And when Xaxus gathered enough Fury, 90 to be exact, he went to kill sOAZ 1v1. As Deficio and Joe Miller stated, that should not happen.

What went right for Fnatic: Nothing
What went wrong for Fnatic: They do not have the answer to the constant pressure applied by Xaxus.

What went right for Roccat: The early Pickaxe by Xaxus while sOAZ is still on his Doran’s Shield.
What went wrong for Roccat: Nothing.

To Dragon or Not?

Roccat wisely disengaged at taking the dragon because they saw Cyanide at the mid lane. They thought that since Xaxus died and the constant pressure continues, he will cover the top lane. Fnatic knew that they will take the dragon so Cyanide went to Dragon instead of covering top lane. Roccat chose not to continue dragon because they knew that three things will happen. First scenario is that Fnatic will get the dragon and they will not gain anything from it. Second, they will get the dragon but they will get decimated by Fnatic and the worst case scenario is that they will both lose the dragon and Fnatic will kill them.

Right after Roccat regrouped after going home. Roccat immediately took the opportunity to take dragon since they know Fnatic is not in the position to challenge it.

What went right for Fnatic: They forced the disengage of Roccat on getting an objective and Xaxus did not get the top turret
What went wrong for Fnatic: They do not have much vision on Roccat so they did not grab the opportunity on taking the dragon themselves

What went right for Roccat: The disengage was so intelligent. They did not want to take any risk or give Fnatic a slight edge.
What went wrong for Roccat: Nothing

Map Vision, Play Safe, Constant Pressure

Xaxus finished pushing top. He did not encounter any hindrance and obstructions. Roccat is applying constant pressure on all lanes except bot lane. Why you ask? They spotted Cyanide going to the bot lane from Overpow’s ward near the red buff of Fnatic. They also saw xPeke went home and they know that sOAZ has his teleport up. They know that Fnatic is gearing up on letting Rekkles do his part as a carry. Wisely, Vander and Celaver already predicted this move and they have all the visions in the world.

What went right for Fnatic: The positions of Cyanide, sOAZ and the duo laners are on spot for a massacre at the bot lane. They also know Jankos is nowhere in sight (because of a ward in the river and tribrush at bot turret of Roccat) so a countergank is not possible.
What went wrong for Fnatic: Nothing.

What went right for Roccat: The vision control and not commiting to the bait of Yellowstar and Rekkles.
What went wrong for Roccat: Nothing.

Not Today xPeke

The third blue buff of Fnatic was secured by Roccat. They know that in order for Fnatic to win, it’s either Rekkles or xPeke that will get the ball rolling for them. A simple yet effective way of shutting down for Roccat is not giving the blue buff to xPeke. Due to the constant pressure of Xaxus at the top lane, the rotation of sOAZ was a bit late. Jankos secured the blue buff.

What went right for Fnatic: Nothing
What went wrong for Fnatic: Again, constant pressure from all lanes

What went right for Roccat: Blue buff? Not today, xPeke.
What went wrong for Roccat: Nothing.

Another Dragon With A Pinch of Cyanide

Notice the pink wards around the dragon. The way Roccat handled the map vision in this second dragon is top-notch. They do not want anyone near the dragon. And they have the tools on stopping Cyanide. Cyanide tried to steal the dragon then safeguard back to his teammates but sadly he was stopped by the stunlock of Roccat.

What went right for Fnatic: They clearly did not have the position on engaging Roccat.
What went wrong for Fnatic: The dive of Cyanide.

What went right for Roccat: Again, vision control.
What went wrong for Roccat: If Fnatic was a second early on their positioning around dragon, it would be a disaster since it would be a 3v5 with sOAZ teleporting.

“They Are Taking Everything Right Now” – Joe Miller

Yellowstar did not want to lose that pink ward. xPeke tried to tell bot lane that “I saw Elise” by pinging. Overpow is also on his way to the botlane. If you look at it in all angle, this is also another thing that should not happen. Yellowstar and Rekkles both died and again, sOAZ used the teleport but gained nothing from it except defending the tower. xPeke is also late in joining the fray. Roccat won the skirmish 2 to 0.

What went right for Fnatic: They successfully defended bot lane while the minions at the top lane is pushing.
What went wrong for Fnatic: The facecheck of Yellowstar

What went right for Roccat: Perfect rotation from Overpow and Jankos. They also secured a quick kill on Yellowstar.
What went wrong for Roccat: The pressure at the top lane did not gave them a tower at the botlane since Xaxus went top to defend it.

Itsy Bitsy Spider Went Up The Water Spout

This time, Jankos wanted the mid turret badly. Roccat knows that taking the mid turret grants them immense map control. Jankos on the other hand, rushed things. Without his teammate around him, Fnatic secured a kill on him. And since it is 3v2 in the mid lane, the pressure took its toll on Roccat. Being greedy, Overpow tried to kill sOAZ while recalling back to base. xPeke was just around the outer turret so both sOAZ and xPeke secured a kill on Overpow. Xaxus successfully killed sOAZ and swiftly retreated. He also successfully defended the mid turret.

What went right for Fnatic: They capitalized on the mistake of Jankos
What went wrong for Fnatic: The death of sOAZ.

What went right for Roccat: Successfully defended mid and got a kill on sOAZ.
What went wrong for Roccat: Jankos rushed destroying the turret instead of destroying it according to plan.

xPeke the Explorer

This time, Overpow is using xPeke’s style, assassinating champions. xPeke wanted to pressure the mid turret but with the immense map control of Roccat secured a kill on xPeke. This in turn secured them the inner turret at bot lane and also the dragon. Again, with the map control of Roccat, Fnatic is in no place to challenge the dragon.

What went right for Fnatic: After Roccat pushed the bot lane, Rekkles continued farming top lane. It is a way of compensating their turret loss and dragon loss.
What went wrong for Fnatic: They did not use their map vision.

What went right for Roccat: The constant pressure on all lanes got them the tower, kill and dragon.
What went wrong for Roccat: Nothing

Black Sheep Wall At Baron

With the map control that Roccat prepared, Fnatic’s position is completely visible. Roccat knows that they can take Baron without losing anything. Also, Fnatic has no ward at the Baron area so why not take Baron? Cyanide, the king of smite steal tried to do his forte but Vander and Overpow killed him instantly. Fnatic lost that skirmish 1-0 with Roccat gained another global objective, the Baron.

What went right for Fnatic: If you’re losing the game, you have nothing to lose on trying to steal baron.
What went wrong for Fnatic: Failed smite steal and failed to capitalize on the positioning of Overpow

What went right for Roccat: They immediately took out Cyanide
What went wrong for Roccat: The positioning of Overpow is a bit dangerous but since Fnatic is also scattered, Overpow did not die in that skirmish.

Pressured yet Fighting

The constant pressure from all lanes of Fnatic is keeping them together. The only thing that they can do is to defend a single lane. The baron buff on Roccat grants them immense pressuring power that even though there’s four members of Fnatic defending the mid turret, they were able to secure the last two outer turret for Fnatic.

Normal teams will already succumb to the pressure being done by Roccat. Fnatic is not your average team. They know they have to make sacrifice in order for them to get back into the game. They know they just have to wait for Roccat to commit a mistake so that they can board the plane to victory. And they found a single plane ticket on Overpow. A perfect rotation from four players of Fnatic except sOAZ granted them a kill on Overpow. Consequentially, Roccat destroyed their inhibitor turret. Fnatic, numerically, has the upper hand because of it being four-versus-five but the gold and item lead says the opposite thing.

Roccat, being not-much-of-a-risk-taker decided to wait for Overpow. They also grab the opportunity to eat all of the neutral camp of Fnatic. They also took the dragon. As for Fnatic, they quickly warded the jungle camps so that they can predict Roccat’s next move. They also took whatever’s left in their jungle camp.

Two minutes after the last push of Roccat, they are back into the inhibitor again. The two teams are just waiting for a mistake or an opportunity to commit. Cyanide saw an opening on Celaver but was completely annihilated by Roccat. That mistake led Roccat take two inhibitors and top inhibitor turret.

What went right for Fnatic: They can handle pressure. They do not succumb to pressure.
What went wrong for Fnatic: They do not have the hard engage to capitalize on an opening.

What went right for Roccat: The constant pressure granted them Fnatic committing mistakes
What went wrong for Roccat: They did not expect the perfect rotation of Fnatic but they quickly responded to it by gaining objectives.

Fnatic Slowly Crawling Back On Track

On what seems to be the end of the game, Fnatic saw an opening by killing Xaxus. Xaxus went a little greedy and that costs him his life. Roccat quickly disengages since they do not have their Great Wall. That enabled Fnatic to apply pressure on all lanes while warding every jungle path.

A ward spotted Overpow and Fnatic capitalized on that mistake by Overpow. They quickly decimated Overpow. Fnatic, clinging on that last ray of hope started Baron.

What went right for Fnatic: The map vision even when they are down granted them a slight chance of winning.
What went wrong for Fnatic: Nothing.

What went right for Roccat: Nothing.
What went wrong for Roccat: The death of Overpow and Xaxus.

The Last Ray Of Hope

After they killed Overpow, Fnatic quickly started Baron knowing that if they want to crawl back into the game, Baron is a good starting point. Roccat knows that Fnatic is doing Baron. Roccat knows that this will be a starting point of comeback for Fnatic and Fnatic knows that Roccat will do everything it takes to steal it. Surprisingly, Jankos with the Flash, Q, Smite combo killed Baron. Vander and Celaver quickly killed Rekkles and Xaxus, even though he’s late, he arrived just in time for the additional support. Celaver finishes with a triple kill. When the last ray of hope of Fnatic is gone, they surrendered.

What went right for Fnatic: The baron call is great. It’s just that they did not positioned themselves well and did not stop Jankos.
What went wrong for Fnatic: Rekkles died very early he did not dished out enough damage.

What went right for Roccat: The baron steal
What went wrong for Roccat: Nothing.

And The Series is tied 1-1

Overall, this game displays a high level of shotcalling and map control for both team. The immense map control and pressure from Roccat gave them the game. That was the recurring element on all of the events I have tackled. Yes, both teams committed mistakes along the way yet they know how to cope up with the mistakes they committed. The way those two teams played truly is magnificent. And in the summoner’s rift, at EU LCS, these two teams, Fnatic and Roccat is a new-born rivalry.

Taka’s Take:

–          If Fnatic committed to a lane swap, Xaxus would not be able to dish out immense pressure at the top lane. The snowballing started when sOAZ burnt his teleport at the mid lane. That resulted to the kill fo Xaxus onto sOAZ.

–          I have this theory about Fnatic that if Cyanide has a bad game, Fnatic will lose. Yes, people always sings praises on sOAZ, Rekkles and xPeke, but for me, Cyanide is truly the gear that enables Fnatic to function perfectly. It is displayed in this game that the decision-making of Cyanide is poor. That enabled Roccat to shut down sOAZ, xPeke and Rekkles.

–          Roccat’s playstyle reminds me of Season 2 TPA. The shotcalling is so great that they know that they will or will not gain anything from a certain event. If you want to shutdown Roccat, you must think ahead of their plan. And you can do that by map control.

–          Map Control and pressure is the theme of this match. The immense map control and pressure of Roccat gained them the advantage. On Fnatic’s side, they have the map vision but they do not have the pressure.