CLG.eu had to face WE in the winners bracket and they got 2-0 by WE the same team they had beaten in the quarter finals of worlds a few month earlier. This Blaze team had Flame, Lustboy, helios ,Captain jack and Ambition and was certainly not just a team to be brushed aside but in this tournament they had been completely defeated losing to fnatic, WE and M5 and crushing out.
M5 had a close series against’s blaze staying true to their modern day name “Korean Slayers”.
With M5 going to the loser brackets they faced Blaze who had gotten into the losers bracket do to the group stage loss to Fnatic. This was a turning point for both Fnatic and TPA, no more were TPA considered the best in the world and Fnatic was world class and proven. TPA did not get a single game in and lost 2-0. TPA couldn’t deal with xpeke and co, with Fnatic completely out playing TPA through out the entire series. This was the moment they proved they were a world class team. This was probably the point in which this reiteration of the Fnatic team put themselves among the likes of M5 and CLG.eu.
This was Fnatic’s second test in IPL5 could they some how content with the worlds best, the s2 champs ?. Fnatic after finishing second in their group and beating Blaze had to face what was presumed at the time to be the hardest opponents, TPA who in the group stages had fended off against’s M5. It was a clean sweep for CLG who won the series 2-0. Clg.EU had to face the NA’s powerhouse TSM with reginald in the mid lane. The bracket stages put M5 vs WE, at the time M5 were still heavy favorites to win this entire thing but “WE” put a dagger in the hearts of fans, as they 2-0 M5 showing that they were a team to be reckoned with. Fnatic lost to WE who had one of the best mid laners misaya and the best adc by far at this point Weixiao. It was only a best of one and people were still reluctant in believing in the fnatic chances at the tournament.īoth M5 and Fnatic went 2-1 in their respect groups with M5 losing to their seeming to be kryptonite TPA. No one would have predicted the loss of blaze and the manner in which fnatic completely dismantled this korean gaint. Leading up to the tournament fan favorites such as Clg.eu,M5 and TPA were all on the lips of who would, few could have predicted what would happen next. The group stages saw one major upset taking place in a game between the second strongest some would say the strongest korean team facing Fnatic with their new adc rekkles. Fnatic had not even been invited and team alternate another european team known for having the highest ranked solo players had got the spot. Alas alternate were not able to attend and Fnatic got sent and invite last minute. M5 was also invited to Ipl 5 and so had “WE” the mega giants from china and the world champs TPA. Many considered it a fluke at the time as Fnatic had not done anything major for an entire season, after losing this clg.eu went of to prepare for ipl5 a tournament with the best teams from all over the world, to call it a mini worlds would be unfair as it had more teams and a better format than any worlds had ever and has ever with a double elimination bracket allowed for teams to continue on after losing a game in the bracket stages. This tournament took a complete turn in the finals when clg.eu lost 2-1 to Fnatic. The next tournament CLG.eu attended was Dreamhack winter a tournament pretty much filled with European teams, it was supposed to be a simple win for Froggen and friends considering M5 the only other European team which could consistently beat them had not attended.
With M5 losing tales of the lanes a small tournament to SK Gaming and CLG.eu getting 2-0 by blaze MLG Pro circuit. The rivalry was probably one of the greatest the lol scene had and will ever see but both teams slightly fell of after the disappointing performance at worlds. Throughout s2 those two teams had met many times clg.eu being one of the few teams actually going toe to toe and beating the Russian Overlord. M5 had crushed nearly every opponent and were favourites to win s2 worlds losing to tpa in the semi’s, clg.eu also were knocked out in the semi’s and to the same team who knocked them out of the ogn finals Frost. M5 and CLG.EU both accomplished many feats in s2 with clg.eu going to ogn and placing second after going 2-3 againsts frost in the finals. The teams were Moscow 5(Gambit), Clg.eu(EG) and Fnatic. Coming into the first ever lcs split there were 3 european titans you could make an argument to place all 3 in the top 10 and at least 2 of them in the top 5 teams in the world at the time. This article will cover the rise of Fnatic and the journey of CLG and M5 including Fnatics after S2 worlds.