LEC Spring Playoffs 2021 lock in after week of upsets

The final LEC Spring Regular Split Super week is over, with the race for playoffs concluding. Six teams went into the week with a shot at playoffs, but only three spots were available. Overall, the race for Playoffs was very close, with the final Sunday determining the Playoff teams.

Heading into the week, Fnatic, SK Gaming, Schalke, Misfits, EXCEL and Vitality were the teams still in. The teams from left to right had the best chances of making playoffs, yet it was the more difficult runs that put in the most work.

In the end, Fnatic, SK, and Schalke were the three teams that made the LEC playoffs. Although, those three teams generally had the worst week out of all the teams. Here is what happened

Fnatic and SK had the highest chances of making the playoffs this weekend. Yet both needed miracles of their own to make it. At the start of the Superweek, both SK Gaming and Fnatic had a 90%+ chance to make the playoffs. However, they both nearly faced elimination.

Fnatic had a fairly easy week ahead fo them, yet, they managed the unlikely. The prestigious organization managed to go 0-3 against Rogue, Misfits, and Schalke. Despite this, Fnatic still made it to the playoffs with the Misfits and EXCEL momentum coming to an end on Sunday. Although, their Sunday game vs Rogue still mattered for seeding. With the three losses, Fnatic scraped by with a lower bracket seed.

SK has a very similar story. SK also lost three games in the final week, despite their amazing form going in. The roster lost to Rogue, Astralis and G2 Esports. The team also relied on Misfits’ and EXCEL’s momentum coming to a halt. SK’s storyline for the week seems to imply that the roster crumbles when the pressure is actually there.

EXCEL and Misfits both had heartbreaking stories in the final week. Misfits and EXCEL both performed admirably, only losing on the final day to take down their runs. Misfits went out the most unfortunate way, getting taken out by Vitality, the tenth place team in the league that needed a miracle run to make playoffs. This comes after the Misfits got the head-to-head lead against Fnatic and beating MAD Lions on the opening day.

But EXCEL’s is the saddest of them all. The EXCEL esports roster was incredibly unlikely to make playoffs, considering they had G2 and Rogue on the final week. Although, the team that had seven losses in a row managed the unthinkable, a back-to-back victory against G2 Esports and Rogue. The improbable upsets catapulted them into the Sunday, where sadly, Schalke’s target draft against Patrick knocked EXCEL from playoffs, securing the side’s own slot in the LEC Spring playoffs.

Schalke’s miracle run reared its head once more. Last Summer, Schalke needed to not drop a game in the second half of the split to make the playoffs. This year’s is nowhere near as miraculous, but the roster was statistically extremely unlikely to make the top four.

But the team’s 3-0 week meant that that the roaster moved its way up the ladder, and with G2 and Rogue landing a win on Sunday, they secured fourth place.

With all this said, the LEC Spring Playoffs is now set. G2 Esports took first place, Rogue second, MAD Lions third, Schalke fourth, Fnatic fifth, and SK sixth.

G2 Esports will face against Schalke, with Rogue battling MAD Lions in the Upper Brackets. Meanwhile, Fnatic and SK gaming will fight for survival in the opening Lower Bracker rounds. The Playoffs kick off on March 26.