Doing the Double: Fnatic Rising win Forge of Champions

By LVP UK

In their first split, Fnatic Rising have established a domestic dynasty. By winning 2-0 over Diabolus in the Forge of Champions Grand Final, Fnatic secured a grip on both local trophies, and set the bar for dominance of the UK and Ireland!

After winning the UK League Championship Spring Split, Fnatic Rising came into Forge of Champions as the top seed. That meant they entered the tournament directly in the Grand Final stage as a Bowser-esque Final Boss for the rest of the British Isles to face for the trophy.

And they certainly lived up to the hype…

Semifinals and bracket final

Before Fnatic played in the Grand Final, the four remaining teams had to fight each other for the right to face them.

Diabolus were heavy favourites in the first semifinal, taking on the sixth-placed side from the Spring Split. But Phelan Gaming proved just as plucky as they had against Enclave Gaming in the previous round, with Achuu’s FEARLESS assassin Tristana the catalyst behind their Game 2 win. They pushed Diabolus to a 3-game series; ultimately, however, it was the Devils’ individual skill that shone through.

Incredibly, it was instead the hyped match-up between Excel UK and MnM Gaming that was a one-sided 2-0. Forget League of Legends; this was The Monk Show. Continuously finding kills with numbers disadvantages, MnM’s AD Carry played like a man possessed, aggressively pushing every lead until Excel’s Nexus was down.

That set us up for a tantalising bracket final. Diabolus Esports may have entered as the higher seed, but MnM were the team in form, having not dropped a single game en route to the match. It was Diabolus, though, were the ones who claimed the 2-0 win; despite close kill scores in both games, as a team they were able to be keep their eyes on the prize and be decisive when it counted. There was no better example than Kroghsen’s backdoor!

Grand Final

Bah Gawd, that’s Fnatic’s music!

EU Masters had been the last time we’d seen Fnatic Rising play, and the team instantly demonstrated why they were worth the wait—and why they were worth a guaranteed Grand Finals spot.

(If you’d like to watch the series, don’t forget—it’s all available on our YouTube channel!)

Like the rest of the Forge of Champions Main Event, the Grand Final was a best-of-3, so there was virtually no room for error.

Perhaps benefitting from having warmed up through their previous series, Diabolus were the ones to strike First Blood. It came in the bot lane, as Yusa and Hadow’s Caitlyn/Morgana lane punished Dan’s Rek’Sai for a failed gank.

However, Diabolus were unable to push their advantage, as Dan persevered and out-pressured Munckizz around mid and bottom lane. With Fnatic Rising deftly playing around Kerberos’s split-push Vayne (minus a couple of silver-bolted hiccups), they were able to force a large enough lead to begin steamrolling fights. One such collapse, at the mid inhibitor, was enough to end the game.

Dan once again looked to attack Diabolus’s bottom lane with an early gank in Game 2. But this time, it was an entirely different story, with a dive clean enough to make Tom Daley proud.

With the early lead secured and Fnatic running rampant as a 5-man death ball, the second match was all but over. Diabolus went for one last hurrah to break Fnatic’s bot lane siege, but by that point the boys in black and orange were already too far ahead.

That win ensured that Fnatic Rising will enter the Summer Split as the defending champions of both the UKLC and Forge of Champions, wrapping up an incredible start for the new line-up. With Diabolus contesting them at every turn and other teams eager to rise to the same level, the next split promises to be an intriguing one to watch.

 

 

The trophy may have been secured, but Forge of Champions is not over yet. Bulldog Esports and Darkspawn Gaming will be in action to fight for their UKLC spots in next week’s Promotion tournament!

They’ll be joined by two teams from the Forge of Champions Open Tournaments, who could steal their places in the league from them! Hybrid eSports UK, NVision Esports, Looking for Org and EJBY Brotherhood will all go head-to-head during a series of off-air games on Tuesday to determine which two teams will compete with Bulldog and DarkSpawn for promotion.

Make sure you’re ready by following our channel at twitch.tv/lvpuk. And stay tuned to our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for more updates and announcements as all the season’s drama unfolds!

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