LEC Winter Groups Week 1 results

We are halfway through the 2023 LEC Winter Split, with week 1 of the Group Stage being complete. Can ‌underdog teams ruin the plans big organizations have? Will a new, young, and upcoming team shake up the European scene?

Group A results

Vitality Team Heretics first round

Coming into the group stage of the 2023 LEC Winter Split tied for the first seed, Vitality had quite a bit of expectations on their shoulders. Game one of their series against Team Heretics seemed like an extension of the regular split. Vitality got an early lead through the bot lane and once jungler Bo got a double kill before the 10-minute mark, the game was over. The Chinese jungler has been one of the most dominant imports the LEC has ever seen, and his Kindred performance in this game proved it. 

Game two swung in the completely opposite direction, with Team Heretics rookie bot laner Jackspektra exploding on the stage. The young Norwegian known for his hyper carries blew Vitality’s Caitlyn Lux combo out of the water thanks to Mersa’s Nautilus engages. With Bo on Wukong duty and mid-laner Perkz being stuck under tower farming as Kassadin, the game was over in 26 minutes.

The third and deciding game saw Bo once again on his Kindred. He jumped out to an early two-kill lead but at the expense of two early drakes going on the side of Team Heretics. But Vitality put the pressure on, securing the next two neutral objectives and cracking the base of Team Heretics at 22 mins thanks to the Baron buff. The game dissolved into chaos after that, with both teams going for plays that delivered mixed results. Team Heretics’ jungler got caught out and gave Vitality the Ocean soul, but Vitality threw it right back at them with a few bad fights. Both teams secured one more Baron buff until Vitality eventually closed out the 40-minute slugfest and advanced to the next round with a 2-1 series win over Team Heretics. 

SK Esports KOI 2023 LEC Winter

SK Esports has been the feel-good story this split in the LEC. But nobody came into this series expecting the young squad to topple the former LEC champions. Despite being ahead of them in the standings. This is the same team that won the 2022 LEC Summer Split as Rogue and apart from the rebranding and top lane change by sending Odoamne to Excel, most of the winning formula stayed the same. Game one echoed this sentiment, with SK’s impressive young bot lane managing to create a lead. But Korean import Malrang dictated the pace of the game with his Sejuani pick in the jungle role. His efforts in the early game made SK’s mid-lane Jayce useless before finishing the game out in 27 minutes. 

The outlook was even bleaker in game after KOI’s bot lane secured the dreaded Lucian Nami combo. They managed to secure an early kill and went to grow their lead until Comp finished with a 10/0/7 KDA on Lucian.  The inexperience reared its face throughout the game, despite valiant efforts from the young SK squad. Their jungler Markoon did manage to prolong the game by stealing the baron buff and making crucial engages. But in the end, KOI were the better team and it showed in their 2-0 win over SK esports. 

Vitality KOI highlight LEC Winter group stage

The first qualification match for the Winter Split playoffs happened in Group A between Vitality and KOI. The bad results for Jayce mid laner players continued in this game as well, with Perkz being helpless against 2 tanks backed up by a Soraka and Orianna. The Soraka in particular hurt Vitality’s bot lane, managing to take their tower in 9 minutes without jungle interference. From there the game only snowballed in KOI’s favor, as Vitality didn’t have enough damage to burst through all that health, healing, and shielding. 

Vitality tried to shake up the scenery in game two, putting Bo on Nidale instead of tank duty. But similarly to game one, the game was decided through the early bot lane plays. In fact, Malrang’s smart counter gank crushed Vitality’s hopes of going to a game three. The French team didn’t get a single kill until the 15-minute mark when Koi already had 10. 

Their top side did their best to stall out the game. Forcing fights left and right and collecting a few shutdowns. But Larrsen scaled up to be a dominant force on his signature Azir pick by the 25th minute and put a nail in Vitality’s coffin. With that 2-0 win, KOI advanced to the playoffs in the 2023 LEC winter split. Vitality will get another shot next weekend. They are facing the winner of the Team Heretics and SK Esports matchup in the lower bracket qualification match. 

LEC Winter Groups B results

MAD Lions Astralis

The MAD Lions and Astralis opened up ‌competition in group B, fighting for a chance to advance to the playoffs. Naturally, MAD Lions support Hillysang flashed in and secured first blood for his team. Game one was neck even at 15 minutes, with both bot lanes pushing the tempo. But from that point forward, team fights started erupting. And the MAD Lions were in full control thanks to their draft. The ADC for Astralis, Kobbe,  could only dream of playing the game. With Maokai, Nami, and K’Sante’s ultimate abilities flying around, living was simply not an option. 

The bloodshed continued in game two, which is understandable when you have a Draven and Lucian facing off in the bot lane. The kill score was 3-3 just 5 minutes into the game, with 8 of the 10 players fighting in the bot lane. At the 15-minute mark, Astralis had secured 2 drakes already and a 5 kill lead, but that didn’t translate into a gold lead. The next 10 minutes saw more of the same, with both teams forcing fights around neutral objectives. Astralis ended up winning out, securing the Baron Nashor 25 minutes into the game and ending it 2 minutes later. With the series being tied at 1-1, both teams prepared for the deciding game three.

And in a pressure packed situation like that one, Astralis decided to flip the script. It’s been a long time since we last saw Karma mid. But its been even longer since we saw a Cassiopeia and Twitch bot lane. We mentioned both champions in our bot lane meta guide and article going over the Rod of Ages changes. The mid game dissolved in pure chaos symbolic to this entire series. Fights erupted all over the map with no clear winner.

Astralis managed to secure the Baron buff but only one player made it out alive with it. The aggression didnt let up but all that fighting had a cost. MAD Lions’s top laner Chasy got so far ahead on his K’Sante pick, that Astralis could not deal with the newest tank in Riot’s pool of champions. He ended game 3 with a 9-1-6 score line , helping his team edge out a 2-1 win in this series. 

G2 Esports Team BDS

Team BDS is another exciting young team that somewhat exceeded expectations during this 2023 LEC Winter split. They got dealt a bad hand, facing the juggernaut that is G2 Esports in the first round of the group stage. The first game started out in true 2023 LEC fashion. Early skirmishes resulted in both teams gaining advantages on the opposite side of the map. The carry for Team BDS was always bot laner Crownie, and he had 4 kills on his Zeri. On the opposite side, rookie jungler Yike brought out the Lillia on which he also had 4 kills before the 20 minute mark. Both teams were playing support champions according to the 13,3 patch, but G2 benefited more. The last twelve minutes of the game dissolved into more fighting, with G2 securing 2 Baron buffs that helped them take down Team BDS. 

G2 tried to keep the same tempo in game two and it backfired. The early aggression resulted in handing over 2 early kills to BDS’s Azir. Not only was this a death sentence, but Adam’s signature Olaf pick just ran through G2’s team composition that was ill-equipped to handle him. The melee carries couldnt live long enough in team fights, and it resulted in Team BDS securing 3 drakes and a baron buff before the 30-minute mark. Hans Sama had a valiant effort on his Xayah but unfortunately it wasn’t enough to stop the wrecking ball that BDS was.

The third and deciding game was encapsulated by BDS’s inexperience. Drafting a Caitlyn Karma bot lane sounds good on paper. But it only works out if your team plays around it. Caps was the only LEC mid-laner that managed to win on Jayce this weekend, and he did it two times. He somehow managed to roam bot at level 3 and ruin BDS’s chances of winning the game. The sequence of bad plays continued, as G2 ballooned their gold lead to 10 000  with 15 kills by the 15-minute mark.  It was evident that team BDS ran out of gas for the last game, with G2 closing it out in 23 minutes with 27 kills. With that win they secured a 2-1 series win and advanced to the qualification match in Group B, where they were scheduled to meet the MAD Lions. 

G2 Esports exit LEC winter groups stage victorious

The MAD Lions jumped out to an early lead in game one but G2 never faltered. G2 top laner Brokenblade took a page out of Adam’s playbook, picking Olaf into the K’Sante matchup. This enabled the death ball playstyle that G2 preferred, resulting in a cash in for Hans Sama’s signature Draven pick. Once he got the Zeri shut down as well, the game quickly became a one-sided affair. We explained in our bot lane guide why Tristana and Draven are such powerful picks, and G2 put on a clinic with them. Having Infinity Edge as your second item is such a major power spike in competitive play. G2 managed to close out the game in 28 minutes but before racking up 22 kills.

G2 tried to continue their blood thirsty ways in game two, but MAD Lions’ top laner Chasy was not on tank duty. Despite giving up first blood, his Jayce pick managed to withstand the early aggression. In the mid lane, that aggression backfired on G2, whose Kassadin pick could not match up against Nisqy’s Sylas. But what MAD Lions didn’t realize is that they gave Draven to Hans Sama once again. The entire time the game was tittering, he was collecting gold from his passive and kept G2 afloat. The continued fighting eventually backfired on MAD Lions, who simply didn’t have enough damage to kill the Jax and Maokai backed up by Soraka. Another loss for the team with a Jayce on their side. G2 ended the game in less than 30 minutes, gearing up for a duel with KOI in the winter playoffs.

Losers bracket preview for LEC Winter Group stage

The real fun begins this upcoming weekend, with the elimination matches getting underway. Only 2 of the 6 teams remaining can join G2 and KOI in the Winter playoffs. Naturally, there are some favorites. But if the new format has taught us anything, it is that upsets are very likely. 

In Group A Vitality will be awaiting the winner of the match up between Team Heretics and SK Esports. One of these teams will start their month-long break this Saturday, while another one will be joining them on Sunday. 

On the other side of the bracket, MAD Lions are fighting to get out of group B. They will face off against the winner of the Astralis and Team BDS duel. Stakes are high considering these two teams were the worst in the LEC during 2022. Making it to the playoffs in 2023 would mean a lot for both franchises. But there are a lot of hurdles along the way, so tune in for some great competitive matches.