Recounting the biggest plays in the Fnatic vs Team Heretics LEC Spring 2024 playoffs best-of-three, and each decision that led to the action-packed series win.
The LEC 2024 Spring Playoffs are back this week, and things are starting to heat up. After last week saw EMEA juggernauts clash on the Berlin stage, former legends rise to the challenge in the lower bracket for the third week of playoffs.
Fnatic’s been biding its time in the standings so far in Spring, picking their fights while sticking close to their strengths despite the superior opposition. The boys at Team Heretics on the other hand have concentrated so much on teamfights as of late that they’ve been bested everywhere else.
Tracking your favorite rosters can be difficult with the LEC’s breakneck pace. That said, we’ve recapped the entire series so you won’t have to. Read about all that went down in our Fnatic vs Team Heretics playoffs week 3 recap below!
QUADRA for @Noah_lol1004! #LEC pic.twitter.com/pVuoEYgYhi
— LEC (@LEC) April 6, 2024
Fnatic vs Team Heretics Spring 2024 Playoffs Week 3 Recap
Game 1
Quick bans on Azir and Neeko locked Heretics midlaner Zwyroo out of his comfort zone early in the draft. And it’s not surprising, considering that the unseasoned Pro earned his team a ton of leads in the past with those picks. Overall a better comp from Fnatic’s side due to their Sejuani/Nautilus crowd control (CC) countering Team Heretics’ midlane focus.
Noah’s refusal to take Cleanse against Rennata showed his confidence in game 1. But this quickly turned into arrogance as we saw both Razork, Osca and Jun going for bad plays. By the midgame, the black-and-orange roster were in a precarious spot. Regardless, the gold remained equal, and Fnatic luckily made up for the dodgy deficit before things went dangerously south.
Smart plays from Zwyroo led Team Heretics in every fight, especially when Fnatic were making some very textbook mistakes. Eventually, TH secured enough of a lead to weather Fnatic’s DPS and made an unstoppable push towards blue Nexus.
Quick Stats:
- Teams: Fnatic 0 – 1 Team Heretics
- Game Time: 29:44
- Gold: 42.9k – 55.1k
- Kills: 6 – 14 (First Blood)
- Turrets: (First Turret) 1 – 11
- Dragons: 2 – 1
- Barons: 0 – 0
Game 2
Both teams went for powerful, team-fighting comps and banked on early game executions in game 2. And the results were surprisingly one-sided.
Team Heretics immediately put on the pressure on Humanoid’s Azir as the midlaner was poised to be Fnatic’s linchpin. But the team quickly learned from their mistakes in game one, gaining the upper hand 15 minutes in on the killscore.
From there, the boys at Fnatic were relentless as they went in deep for a Baron take despite being low. This got TH to chase the stragglers back to their side of the Rift, but Noah fought back tooth and nail to defend their space, earning the ADC a crucial triple kill that set up FNC for their first win of the day.
Quick Stats:
- Teams: Team Heretics 1 – 1 Fnatic
- Game Time: 32:24
- Gold: 55.8k – 65.2k
- Kills: 13 – 22 (First Blood)
- Turrets: 4 – 8 (First Turret)
- Dragons: 1 – 4
- Barons: 0 – 1
Game 3
The backline threat from Fnatic gave them a slight advantage in the earlygame while Team Heretics opted for champs that’d give them space to outplay and outperform.
Superior vision as well as a high-threat toplaner put Fnatic in a good spot early on. And while Wunder made some questionable plays in the fights, Team Heretics were only able to secure their first kill after the 15-minute mark.
From there, it was a complete slugfest that didn’t see a clear winner until the game reached 30 minutes. Fnatic’s big push onto Zwyroo and co. became the final fight that was sealed the series. When Trymbi accidentally pushed Osca’s Zac even further into their backline, it was all TH could do to stop Fnatic’s inevitable approach into their base.
Quick Stats:
- Teams: Fnatic 2 – 1 Team Heretics
- Game Time: 30:04
- Gold: 57.7k – 47.6k
- Kills: (First Blood) 16 – 8
- Turrets: 8 – 3 (First Turret)
- Dragons: 4 – 1
- Barons: 0 – 0
The biggest comeback of them all, Fnatic will be moving on to the best-of-fives (bo5) at the winner’s bracket with G2 Esports, Team BDS and many more. This gives them a chance at redemption in a possible series rematch against the Kings of Europe, and the org’s finest chance for a split win in LEC 2024.
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