A new record of unique viewers for professional League of Legends in Europe was set yesterday during the 2020 LEC Summer Split finals between G2 Esports and Fnatic.
The previous record of 898,000 viewers, which was set last week, was surpassed. Over 1,002,000 viewers tuned in to see G2 sweep Fnatic yesterday, according to data from Esports Charts.
G2 vs. Fnatic is usually one of the most-anticipated matchups of the LEC playoffs, regardless of their regular season performances. Most fans know that even if they have poor games in the regular split, they usually bounce back in the playoffs due to their veteran best-of-five experience.
G2 improved their playoff performance this split after being dropped to the lower bracket last split by MAD Lions. They won the first round but then lost to Fnatic in the second in one of the best series this year. Both teams pulled out all the tricks up their sleeves, but Fnatic triumphed in the end.
G2 bounced back, however, and took down Rogue in the lower bracket in another close best-of-five series. That set up their desired rematch against Fnatic and they took down their rivals 3-0, mimicking the Spring Split finals.
The series began with a surprise Shen pick in the jungle by G2. They countered Fnatic’s aggressive playstyle by using Shen’s ultimate to stop their opponents from outnumbering them in small skirmishes. Jankos popped off, leaving Fnatic flabbergasted as they kept losing all fights due to his ultimate.
Following the huge Jankos performance in the first game on Shen, his pick was banned in the first draft phase by Fnatic in match two. Jankos was given Sett instead, one of his best-performing picks this split. Fnatic failed to properly deal with the juggernaut, who roamed everywhere around the map and ensured his laners had backup whenever Fnatic went for a play.
The last game looked the closest with both teams bringing out their most powerful picks. Fnatic banned away Shen once again but still gave up Sett to Jankos, who secured early leads and had good dragon control. While Fnatic managed to equalize the gold lead, one crucial skirmish for the Dragon Soul sealed their fate. They lost the teamfight, the Dragon Soul, and the series shortly after.
G2 looked phenomenal throughout the entire series with most members completely outclassing their opponents. Caps, however, was on an entirely new level, making his opponent Nemesis look like a gold-tier mid laner.
With the LEC Summer split concluded, G2 will be the LEC’s first seed going into the 2020 World Championship. This means they’ll avoid immediately facing other first seeds from other regions, such as Damwon Gaming or Top Esports. Fnatic, however, run the risk of getting such strong and dominant teams in their group.