The long regular season of the winter LEC 2023 is over, which means it's time to plunge into the group stage. There are 8 teams left in the race for a place at the Mid-Season Invitational 2023 and LEC Finals 2023, and on February 11 they will begin to determine the four teams that will advance to the LEC Winter 2023 playoffs.
Vitality and Team Heretics will open a new stage of the title European league. The match is not devoid of intrigue, and the format of the meeting is bo3.
Vitality confidently advanced to the group stage, finishing the regular season in 1st place. The team played the first stage with a score of 7-2.
Team Heretics played consistently average. They have 4 wins and 5 losses in the first stage.
We figure out what to expect from the duel between former teammates Perkz and Jankos, whether Heretics will be able to impose a fight on a formidable opponent and who, in the end, will get the first victory in the group stage.
Form Vitality
We begin the review of the match with an analysis of the form of Team Vitality. The French club will perform in this match from a position of strength.
The bookmaker unanimously names Vitality the winner of the match. The coefficient for such an outcome is at around 1.15.
For the top quality competitive League of Legends, this alignment of forces is nothing new. Vitality is a clear favorite due to their performance in the regular stage, however they are not armor-piercing, it is important to understand.
Composition Vitality
Vitality managed to achieve high results in the regular season thanks to successful roster changes. Vitality prepared carefully for the new season.
Team Vitality players
- Photon
- Bo
- Perkz
- neon
- Kaiser
Before the start of the tournament, Vitality looked like a “super team”, and after the matches of the regular season of LEC Winter 2023, they confirmed their status.
As a result of the regular season, only 2 matches were given away, which, in principle, is not at all critical. Particularly stand out as part of the duo Photon and Bo, who moved to Europe from South Korea and China.
Team Vitality Performance
In the first week of LEC Winter 2023, the team made it clear that they were aiming for the championship. Team Vitality won all their matches:
- 1-0 victory over Fnatic
- 1-0 victory over Team Heretics
- Defeated MAD Lions 1-0
It is noteworthy that Bo stood out in all games. The Chinese school of the League of Legends does not pass without a trace, and therefore in all 3 matches he was recognized as MVP.
The next week brought Vitality's first disappointment of the season. And they stumbled where they did not expect it:
- 1-0 victory over Astralis
- Lost to SK Gaming 0-1
- 1-0 victory over G2 Esports
We have to give credit to SK Gaming. The team beat Vitality by default, which speaks of SK as a qualified performer.
The third week ended for Vitality with 2 wins and 1 loss. It was possible to close it dry, but so what:
- Lost against KOI with a score of 0-1
- 1-0 victory over Team BDS
- Victory over Excel with a score of 1-0
It is noteworthy that the most difficult game was the series against Excel. Zaruba in the last match of the LEC Winter 2023 regular season lasted 54 minutes and Excel almost made a bright tribute, but fell a little short.
Team Vitality Champions
The most frequent top lane guest is Jax (2 matches, 100% win rate). Also chosen were KSante, Gnar, Gwen and Ornn, Renekton and Gragas. Ornn and Renekton lost their matches, not quite falling into the season 13 meta.
Bo mainly played for Vi. One of the most meta characters of the season appeared in picks 4 times and won all his games. There were also Sejuani and Maokai (2 games each and 1 win each).
In the mid lane, Azir became a favorite character (3 matches, 100% wins). The Croatian also played Ryze, Syndra, Cassiopeia, Tristana, LeBlanc and Taliyah. Only Tristana and LeBlanc lost.
Of the shooters, Zeri (3 games, 66% wins), Ezreal (2 matches, 100% wins), Varus (2 games, 100% wins) appeared most often. Caitlyn and Sivir picked once each: the first one won its game, and the second one lost.
Of the support characters, they played three times with Yummi (3 games, 33% wins), Ashe (2 matches, 100% wins). Leona, Braum, Nami and Lux won once.
Team Heretics Uniform
We continue the review with an analysis of the Team Heretics game form. The Spanish club will play as an outsider in this match.
Bookmakers do not believe in the success of Heretics against the backdrop of formidable rivals from Vitality. The chance of winning is equated to a coefficient in the region of 5.
Again, more than fair. Heretics in the course of the regular season looked faded, and their performance can only be assessed as “average”.
Composition of Heretics
If Vitality assembled a reference team with top performers, then Heretics did not have such luxury. I had to be content with strong “middle peasants”.
Team Heretics Players
- Evi
- Jankos
- ruby
- Jackspektra
- Mersa
Like Vitality, there are representatives of the Asian League of Legends here. Evi and Ruby came from Japan and South Korea, but they did not bring such a tangible impact as Photon and Bo to the team.
Team Heretics Performance
The first week at the LEC Winter Team Heretics started with two losses and one win. The favorites of the season and the “average” lost, which turned out to be far from the same:
- Beating Astralis 1-0
- Lost to Vitality with a score of 0-1
- Lost to SK with a score of 0-1
The second week brought Team Heretics a mirror result. The team won 2 matches, lost 1:
- Victory over KOI with a score of 1-0
- Lost to G2 Esports 0-1
- 1-0 victory over Fnatic
I would like to note the last series against Fnatic. The Japanese legionnaire Evi was just shining there, dragging a 40-minute game on KSante.
The “heretics” spent the final week poorly. We were satisfied with only 1 victory and that one against the worst team of the season:
- Victory over Excel with a score of 1-0
- Lost to MAD Lions 0-1
- Lost to BDS Esports with a score of 0-1
The victory over Excel was enough to continue the procession within the LEC Winter, however, it was not possible to see any confidence from the newly assembled roster of the Spanish club.
Team Heretics Champions
Evi played 6 matches on KSante and has a 50% win rate. In addition, Jax (won), Renekton (lost) was played.
In the forest, Jankos shows the meta: Wukong (3 matches, 33% wins), Vi and Graves 1 game and 1 win each, but the broken Maokai and Elisa did not bring success and lost their cards.
Azir was most often sent to the mid lane (4 games, 50% of wins). Cassiopeia was also played (1 match, 100% win rate), as well as Kassadin and Viktor, but they didn't win.
The bot is stable: Varus and Lucian have 2 games and 1 win each. There was also Kalista, who lost the match, and Zeri, who won hers.
Of the supports, Nami was chosen most often (2 games, 50% of wins). Karma, Nautilus, Lulu and Braum picked once each, but only Karma and Braum won their series.
History of personal confrontations
The teams played each other in the first week of LEC Winter 2023 - Stage 1. Vitality celebrated the victory in bo1, confidently outplaying their counterparts in 28 minutes.
The outcome of the fight
In this match, the only outcome I see is a confident victory for Vitality. Yet nominally the French club looks much stronger than their rivals.
Vitality surpasses Heretics in every way: personal performance, team interactions, understanding of the meta. It will not be difficult for the first to beat the “heretics” in bo3.
Result: 2-0 in favor of Vitality.
