From 1-10 to 8-10: The story of Schalke 04’s miracle run
Do you believe in miracles?
From a measly4% chanceof making it into this year’sLeague of Legends European Championship (LEC) Summer Playoffsto a rollercoaster win streak to end the season, Schalke 04 Esports has been the feel-good story of the LEC Summer Split.
What looked like an impossible task from the last few matches of the Split became a miraculous run as the team went on a seven-win streak against big teams like G2 Esports, Fnatic, and Origen.
Schalke 04 (2-10)defeats Misfits Gaming (5-7)
Schalke 04 (3-10)defeats Excel Esports (6-7)
Schalke 04 (4-10)defeats Origen (6-8)
Schalke 04 (5-10)defeats Fnatic (7-8)
Schalke 04 (6-10)defeats Team Vitality (7-9)
Coming into the last week of the season, Schalke 04 needed one last win to qualify for the playoffs. Unfortunately, the team they would be facing was league leaders MAD Lions, who had plenty to play for with an automatic qualification to Worlds at stake for locking up the top spot.
On the other hand, losing to MAD Lions would automatically eliminate Schalke 04 from contention.
The entire season came down to one last game.
With VIT and MSF officially eliminated from#LECPlayoffs contention, only 3 teams are left fighting for the 2 remaining spots. The#S04MiracleRuntook a pretty heavy hit with FNC’s win, as they now have to win their match vs MAD tmrw to even keep the dream alive.pic.twitter.com/adMtuQpbYk
Schalke were optimistic after the ban-pick phase and looked like the stronger comp at the start of the game.
Each player put in stellar performances, with both Erberk “Gilius” Demir and Felix “Abbedagge” Braun’s (or should we say Fakerdagge?) playing at their absolute best, while Andrei “Odoamne” Pascu’s steady and reliable play on Shen put Schalke 04 in position to win.
While the game remained close throughout, Abbedagger was the hero for his team when he put the game on ice with a huge quadrakill at the 32-minute mark that left MAD Lions reeling.
From there it was just a matter of clean up as Schalke 04 completed their miracle run.
do you believe in the#S04MiracleRun?pic.twitter.com/0fZOsoYE7e
abbedagge and gilius is like faker and peanut in their prime
Schalke 04’s victory earned them a slot at the Summer Playoffs, while MAD Lions’ defeat cost them their automatic qualification for Worlds 2020, finishing the Split in second place.
Narrator: It is not.Sadly OG’s loss to@Roguemeans we finish the regular split in second place.#LEChttps://t.co/SS9AAbcQcJ
Top laner Odoamne revealed that they were able to break the negative stereotype against them and showcase Schalke 04’s potential to everyone. They intentionally left overpowered picks and sacrificed some of their champions to create a powerful team to outplay MAD Lions.
I’m a believerpic.twitter.com/dZ7FgGTcjE
Schalke 04 Esports will try to keep the underdog dream alive as they go up against SK Gaming at the LEC Summer Playoffs lower bracket this Saturday, August 22.
Round 1 of the#LECSummer Playoffs:Upper Bracket:@Roguevs@FNATIC@G2esportsvs@MADLions_LoLENLower Bracket:@S04Esportsvs@SKGamingpic.twitter.com/SWn9s2hibA
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