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H2K Gaming took sole ownership of first place in Group B of the European League of Legends Championship Series on Friday with a 2-0 sweep of Splyce to kick off Week 8, Day 2 in Berlin.
What was truly shocking about the match was the significant disparity in skill between the two teams. H2K (7-3, 16-6 match score) and Splyce (6-4, 12-11) seemed evenly matched, at least based on their respective records, going into it. Once the two teams hit the Rift, however, it was another story entirely.
H2K buried Splyce alive in Game 1, snowballing so hard that Splyce couldn't even survive until 30-minute mark. H2K then went on to take Game 2, despite a renewed effort from Splyce, who put all its faith into AD carry Kasper "Kobbe" Kobberup and his Kog'maw, which proved unable to carry his team to victory. It was striking to see the difference between the two teams, as H2K seemed to be on the same page in teamfights in a fashion it hasn't been for some time -- an evolution that will serve it well in the future against the teamfight-heavy Unicorns of Love, who H2K are now in direct competition with for control of Group B.
The series MVP was actually the support of H2K, Choi "Chei" Sun-ho, who played his best series of the Summer Split against Splyce.
Chei was the catalyst of H2K's unstoppable snowball in Game 1. His immaculate Thresh play not only got his bot lane partner, AD carry Sin "Nuclear" Jeong-hyeon's Tristana, fed in the early game and created opportunities for H2K outside of lane as well. Chei's Thresh dictated the pace of Game 1 and kept H2K in the driver's seat, and his Game 2 performance was, if anything, better.
Support Trundle isn't a pick we've seen succeed all that often in the EU LCS thus far, but Chei knew just how to utilize the Troll King in teamfights. Every time Splyce tried to engage on H2K, Chei simply used Pillar of Ice to zone Kobbe out of the teamfight, which left Splyce without a damage source.
Nearly every teamfight followed the same predictable pattern of Splyce trying to engage, only to have the engagement blow up in its face when it realized that Kobbe was stuck getting trolled to death. Unsurprisingly, it was pretty easy for H2K to win fights in this manner, and it went on to do the seemingly impossible and defeat a Kog'Maw-centric composition in the late game to take home the 2-0 sweep.
H2K will next do battle with Team Vitality at 11 a.m. ET on Friday, while Splyce's next match comes at 11 a.m. ET on Thursday when it takes on the Mysterious Monkeys.