Half time in the LEC: Schalke on playoff course, SK weakens

When the ten LEC teams meet on Friday, the half-time of the summer season is reached. Who is on the world championship course and what about the German teams Schalke and SK Gaming? We take stock after the first weeks.

Four wins, four defeats and fourth place in the LEC. Schalke showed a good performance in the first half of the season – especially against the background of the weak second half in spring. Against top teams such as G2 Esports, Fnatic and Origen, Königsblau suffered three bankruptcies, but they have to be coped with. Especially as Schalke usually defeated his direct rivals convincingly.

The decisive factor for the increase in form is, on the one hand, ‘trick’. The newcomer from South Korea has shown the hoped-for effect and brought more structure into the Schalker game. Also, the youngster equalises the inexperience of Midlaner ‘Abbedagge’. Since the German talent has also rein in his risky playing style, Schalke almost always survives the first minutes without a large gold deficit.

Or to put it in numbers: At the 15-minute mark, Königsblau leads with an average of 111 gold, which is enough for fourth place in the LEC statistics. In the subsequent game phase, tactics and team fights decide victory or defeat. Königsblau is well prepared for the latter thanks to ADC star player ‘Upset’.

And although the squires have already made a few drastic mistakes this season, Schalke seems like a team with a plan. That doesn’t make Königsblau a Worlds team yet, but it should be enough for a place in the playoffs.

SK in crisis?

The situation is slightly different for the second German team, SK Gaming. Before the start of the summer season, the traditional organisation changed Academy top planner ‘Sacre’. The Croatian serves the team as an additional carry option and made a promising debut. Nevertheless, SK weakened last week. The defeat against Splyce was not yet worrying. The fact that the team lost the following day against Excel came as a surprise, as the English team had never won a game before.

SK Gaming is currently on a 3-5 backlog and is therefore still within reach of the playoffs. However, the form curve is pointing downwards, and due to the increased competition from Rogue and Team Vitality, the team has to catch up quickly again; otherwise, an early-season threatens.

Origen gets competition

While the two German teams are fighting for the playoffs, Fnatic and G2 Esports are already looking towards Worlds. Both teams have only lost one out of eight matches so far and are therefore in a good position to play for the title again this season. Origen, on the other hand, are anything but certain that they will be the third European team to go to the World Cup. The reigning runners-up are experiencing a mixed season and have lost half of their encounters. Since Splyce has recently even defeated Fnatic and is getting better and better, Origen is beginning to worry.