? Today has been nothing short of an exciting day for the European LCS; let's see how things have gone thus far!  

NiP vs. ATN
(click for drafts)

Ninjas in Pyjamas' new roster would bolster a strong performance early on against the EU powerhouses of ALTERNATE, starting with a wide array of unique starting items.  We saw the second installation of a Doran's Shield starting Vayne as well as Bjergsen abusing Annie's early auto attacks with a Doran's Blade. The beginning of the game would look unfortunate for ATN as with poor starting item choices; they were forced to shove to buy early and got punished for it.

As things progressed, ALTERNATE would prove their focus and coordination with their set-in-stone team vs. the very new-player heavy team of Ninjas in Pyjamas, taking many miniscule advantages over them.  Despite that, NiP still did quite well in teamfights, propelling their aggression with their heavy engage composition to combat the intrusive champions used by ALTERNATE.

At the end of the game, ATN would pull together and have a stronger primary focus and would actually avoid skirmishes in favor of shoving with their epic wave clear, relying on ambushes to take advantages over NiP in the game.  Also noteworthy was the superior ward coverage, acquiring full map control; even though the gold values were very similar, ALTERNATE experienced more freedom to do as they pleased.  With this, ALTERNATE were able to close the game out. 

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SK vs. EG
(click for drafts)

Before talking about the events of the match itself, what must be covered is the legacy between these two teams.  Both top teams in their prime, the teams have a unique rivalry -- a friendly relationship of comradery as well as one of stiff competition.  This stems from the fact that two of SK's old teammates make up a rather large portion of Evil Geniuses. With neither teams wanting to be dead last, it was the most tense game of the weekend.

The game started off heavily in favor of SK Gaming as Candypanda was able to acquire a first blood right off the bat.  Froggen also had his flash blown and while against a Xin Zhao jungler, that meant he had to play very passively, allowing Ocelote to put extreme amount of pressure on the map.  Ocelote took full advantage of the lead, assisting in every single kill in the game up to the point of 6-0 for SK Gaming.

Even with a collosal lead, SK Gaming was caught off guard in a fight gone wrong at Baron, allowing Evil Geniuses to gather an ace and Baron as well.  Even with a rough early game, Twitch was sooner or later going to achieve hyper carry status while Froggen had the natural extreme map pressure as Twisted Fate, allowing them to keep lanes shoved and grab easy inhibitors.  In one incredibly tense game, Evil Geniuses made a comeback and found themselves leaving SK gaming in the bottom of the results.

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LD vs. GMB
(click for drafts)

If there's any game that has rendered a massive lot speechless, it would without a doubt be Lemondogs vs. Gambit Gaming.  Kicking off into champion select,  Gambit Gaming were able to get their very classic "Moscow 5" dream composition with Diamondprox on Lee Sin, Alex Ich on Ryze, and Genja on Ashe.  However, a little bit of overaggression and greed would push Gambit Gaming in a snowballing direction opposite where they wanted it to go.

At every chance Gambit could have pulled it together, they let it slip after their initial deficit caused by the overaggression which was capitalized on by Dexter.  At first, it was Diamondprox chunking Nukeduck to half.  That wasn't enough for him though and he decided to come back for the kill, which needlessly wasted a flash.  Seeing Nukeduck low, Alex Ich attempted a Flash + Q which would not land the killing blow but instead would begin Dexter's snowball on Elise.

Ignoring calls and just generally being careless, the live crowd would see the seemingly previously unstoppable Gambit becoming crushed under the pressure of Dexter's jungle and the Lemondogs overall control of the direction and pacing of the game.  No mercy was given to Gambit Gaming as they were left hopeless, save a few picks here and there.  In a shocking and unsuspected result, Lemondogs would make short and decisive work of Gambit Gaming, providing the largest stomp of the LCS.

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