Fnatic suffer heartbreaking loss to Immortals at Worlds
The second day of the League of Legends World Championships complied more misery on the European teams.
Misfits made their international debut only to get steamrolled by an impressive Team WE who put in the type of performance we expected to see from them in the Play-Ins.
But in a day of crazy games, it was Fnatic vs Immortals and SKT vs EDG that really stood out.
It was all smiles for Immortals after they secured a crucial victory against Fnatic in Group B
The Chinese crowd were electric, their support and cheers for EDG and WE were deafening
Fnatic suffered a horrendous upset against Gigabyte Marines (GAM) on the opening day and had to bounce back against Immortals if they hoped to still qualify for the quarterfinals.
It was the first EU vs NA game of the tournament and it did not disappoint. Martin 'Rekkles' Larsson stepped up on Twitch and was obliterating his opponents.
He gained an early 2-0 lead against his lane opponents thanks to a well executed dive and gank by Mads 'Broxah' Brock-Pedersen's Lee Sin. However, that meant Fnatic had to sacrifice Paul 'sOAZ' Boyer in the top lane.
He must have felt lonely after earlier that morning, his team forgot him at the hotel and he had to catch a ride from his opponents, Immortals.
My team left me and i had to jump in the IMT bus.. just tells me how much they care about toplane �� — Paul Boyer (@sOAZIZGOOD) October 6, 2017
The game was on a knife's edge until disaster struck in the 50th minute of the match. Rekkles had played the game flawlessly but with the pressure of the world on his shoulders, he saw red for a brief second.
'Pobleter' Park was standing tantalisingly close and Rekkles couldn't resist. He engaged in the fight and when Pobelter flashed away Rekkles also flashed to follow him.
What he didn't know what the rest of Immortals were there waiting and he no longer had an escape. His only death of the game cost his team the match and he knew it. He had carried his team through the match but he eventually collapsed under the weight.
It was more misery for Fnatic after an agonising loss to Immortals despite Rekkles' best efforts
After the struggles the Swede has had this year, it was heartbreaking to watch but you have to still give him credit for his performance, he played phenomenally.
Still, it was a superb performance from Immortals who are looking very impresive as is the rest of their region.
Cloud9 recorded their first win of the group stages with an important victory against AHQ and Team SoloMid started their Worlds 2017 campaign with a win in a superb win against Flash Wolves.
The game was incredibly intense as both teams found small advantages but an incredible Gnar ultimate by Kevin 'Hauntzer' Yarnell caught the entirety of Wolves which helped TSM snowball to vicotyr.
You could see how much it meant to the team as they leapt out of their chairs, Yiliang 'Doublelift' Peng couldn't stop his hands from shaking.
Elsewhere Gigabyte Marines promised to show something 'never before seen in League of Legends and they delivered with Mordekaiser and a ridiculous combination of rotations.
Unfortunately Longzhu were far too savvy for their tricks. Archie's Mordekaiser went 0/8/0 breaking the record for the most deaths without a single kill or assist.
TSM couldn't contain their joy after a difficult win in their opening game against Flash Wolves
Longzhu were too savvy for Gigabyte Marines mind-games and are breezing through Group B
The other Korean team playing on day two, SKT T1, had a phenomenal match against EDward Gaming. EDG were desperate to bounce back from their shock defeat against AHQ.
The Chinese crowd were obviously behind EDG but the odds were stacked against them, it's never easy to defeat the three-time World Champions yet EDG nearly did.
EDG came flying out the doors and killed members of SKT over and over again. After just 25 minutes they had already taken down an inhibitor and were 9.1K gold ahead.
No team has ever comeback from a deficit as big as that at that time yet that is exactly what SKT did. The world was dreaming but there is a reason SKT are considered the best team of all time.
An incredible engage by 'Wolf' on Rakan meant his team could follow up including a beautiful Orianna shockwave by Lee 'Faker' Sang-Hyeok for one of the most incredible wombo combos in history.
Wolf pulled off a sensational engage on Rakan to help SKT T1 to a record-breaking comeback
It took a world-class play to silence the raucous Chinese crowd as everybody in the arena was left gobsmacked. SKT still faced an uphill battle but they were in full control and knew this position well.
SKT are now firmly in control of Group A while EDG are in danger of yet another international failure for them. Next up they face Cloud9 in what will be a must win match.
We're only two days into the World Championships but has always been a fantastic watch and is shaping up to be an extraordinary tournament.