FC Schalke 04 takes down Rogue and advances in the LEC summer playoffs

William Davis Published 31/08/2019

FC Schalke 04 is going to Athens!

Despite a sloppy showing in round two, the team is advancing in the 2019 LEC Summer playoffs after taking out Rogue. This puts the Schalke in a solid position for qualifying for the 2019 World Championship, no matter the final standings.

Rogue is not so lucky, with the rookie squad’s summer season ending here. Due to the LEC’s rules, Rogue doesn’t have the championship points necessary to take part in the gauntlet.

Inspired takes over the jungle for FC Schalke 04

Rogue took over game one right out of the gate. Kacper “Inspired” Słoma started the game by taking his side of the jungle and encroaching on enemy camps. This saw him quickly hit level six, which scared Schalke away from making any offensive maneuvers.

The early ultimate allowed Inspired to leverage his advantage into strong lane pressure. One well-placed ward spotted Kim “Trick” Gang-yun in the jungle so Rogue had good information about his pathing.

Schalke collapsed as three in the top lane, which gave them a windfall of gold and set them up to transition towards the rift herald. Rogue unsuccessfully challenged them for the objective, but walked away with three kills for their effort.

The play around the rift herald was the beginning of the end for Schalke. Rogue had control of the lanes and Schalke constantly overextended, which was punished each time.

Around the mid lane, Oskar “Vander” Bogdan jumped in as Rakan and killed Felix “Abbedagge” Braun. Rogue followed up the move with a short team fight that turned into an ace and the baron buff. At 25 minutes, Rogue claimed the first win of the day.

Schalke snowballs out of control

Schalke changed strategies in game two, drafting a lineup with a stronger early game and targeting Inspired’s champion pool when choosing bans.

This forced Inspired to lock in Zac, a champion that doesn’t offer many opportunities early. Schalke exploited that weakness and snowballed early.

Trick pressured multiple lanes and with the solo laners ahead, Schalke could funnel gold into Elias “Upset” Lipp. That investment paid off in the late game.

Despite owning a solid lead, Schalke struggled to close the match out as Rogue found opportunities to punish misplays from Schalke. Rogue found a glimmer of hope for a comeback, but couldn’t capitalize.

Schalke killed four Rogue players and grabbed the baron buff to tie the series.

Odoamne wins the game for Schalke

The teams slowed down the pace of the series in game three. Both squads took the time to farm and reach the critical level six. Rogue funneled most of its resources into Paweł “Woolite” Pruski, relying on him to execute on his Draven pick.

Rogue took control of the bottom lane while Schalke played defensively. Trick decided to get a hyper carry of his own and funneled gold into Andrei “Odoamne” Pascu, a move that paid dividends for Schalke. In team fights, Odoamne had access to the backline and possessed enough damage potential to burst down Rogue.

Schakle started to take over, but Rogue would not go down without a fight.

Around the baron, Vander threw a binding at Abbedage and caught him before he could get inside the Twilight Shroud. Without Abbedage, Schalke was vulnerable to Rogue’s attack, which saw them kill four Schalke members inside the jungle

Rogue pushed for the base and reached the nexus, but Schalke respawned and kicked them out. Schalke got back online and returned to the baron.

Powered up, Odoamne came in clutch with a flank that turned into his first pentakill of the season. Without opposition, Schalke took the enemy nexus and advanced to match point.

Schalke punches its ticket to Athens

Rogue drafted a comfort pick for Inspired in game four, with the jungler playing Olaf. The champion’s early presence and Inspired’s proficiency with him allowed Rogue to get aggressive in Schalke’s jungle early. This resulted in Trick falling behind in gold and set up Inspired for bottom lane ganks.

The two teams went back and forth, trading objectives and kills evenly. Sloppy plays from both sides prevented either from gaining any serious momentum, or properly using their advantages.

Finn “Finn” Wiestål started to help Rogue pull ahead and continued to be a force on Aatrox. Rogue claimed the first baron of the game and turned up the heat on Schalke, but it wasn’t enough to close the game.

Schalke found Vander on his own around the mid lane. Killing the support caused a chain reaction that led Schalke to the top lane where they pounced on the rest of Rogue’s players. Schalke rushed to the bottom lane and closed the game.

Schalke advanced to round three of playoffs where they will face the loser of G2 Esports vs. Fnatic.

William Davis

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