The start of group B was between North America's 'Vulcun Tech Bargains' going against Europe's 'Fnatic'. The pick and bans between the teams was mainly focused on popular champions that the teams were known for. Vulcun would start the game with an extremely aggressive and get Zuna first blood, but the fight continued in Vulcun's favor as Mancloud would get a kill as well. Fnatic would retaliate at Vulcun's dragon attempt and get a kill along with stopping the dragon attempt.
Vulcun however wasn't going to let Fnatic spoil their World Championship debut as the game ended the laning phase. Mancloud would decimate Fnatic as he would end the game 8/1/4, proving once again why he was the player with the most kills in all of LCS. Nothing was going in the way of Fnatic as Vulcun would just continuously pound on the front gates. Vulcun ended the game with a 13 to 5 kill lead along with a 17k gold lead.
The second match would consist of fan favorites 'Gambit Gaming' going against 'Mineski' from the Phillipines. Both teams opted for a fairly standard pick and bans phase with nothing out of the ordinary. Once the game started both teams had the same idea, invade the red buff. With both junglers opting to mirror each other to start in opposite sides of the jungle and move on to their own blue. Mineski, would be the team that picks up first blood to start the feud between the two teams.
Mineski looked strong to begin with countering GBG at every attempt and even pulling ahead for a good while. Unfortunately for Mineski GBG is a team that excels once objectives start to become important. At the 11:30 min mark GBG would pick up a dragon and a kill securing themselves the first lead and tying the kill count. The game would just continue to snowball in the Russian teams favor as they would chase and kill at every attempt, much like their old playstyle. Gambit Gaming looked terrific after giving up some early kills showcased that they are still as good as they were one year ago.
Perhaps one of the top matches of Group B, Samsung Galaxy Ozone faced off against Vulcun Gaming. This match began with some interesting ban choices as both teams did not wish to have champions that were great at damage or crowd control. Ozone initiated the game with a interesting Thresh lantern and Jarvan gank at the bot lane. As Air Thresh was initiated, Zuna and Bloodwater managed to pull out of a sticky situation without feeding a kill. Mancloud would pick up a kill on Dade instead at the midlane in a 1v1 duel.
The game was filled with action constantly as dives and fights broke out constantly. Bloodwater played phenomenally saving Zuna on multiple occasions with perfectly timed returns. Vulcun played confidently as they would win fights after fight and leading in kills. Looper however decided that this game was his time to shine. This game marked Looper's first official match and he played guns blazing, utilizing the mad chemist. Looper's Singed play would be the downfall of Vulcun as he would be near unstoppable terrorizing the Vulcun backline. The fights started going in Ozone's favor as they would eventually comeback and crush Vulcun. Samsung Galaxy Ozone ended the game with a 22-13 kill differencial and a 10k gold lead.
The underdogs faced off against the, so far, underperforming Fnatic who looked to reedem themselves in this game. Minkesi, discouraged off of their loss against Gambit, found themselves in a rough spot for their game against Fnatic. Fnatic were able to pick up two kills, followed by a third one, extremely early into the game. As usual, Fnatic were able to snowball it.
In what was close to being a 16 minute game, Mineski showed that they still had some fight left in them. For another ten minutes, Mineski were able to stall out the game and force Fnatic into some risky plays, including a few backdoors and bumrushes to the nexus, paying homage to their play at IEM Katowice. Eventually, Fnatic were able to close out one of the most one-sided games we've seen in League of Legends history.
Gambit Gaming are not called the Korean slayers for no reason. While they struggled for the majority of the season on their own turf, Gambit Gaming continues to impress time and time again and really get things together when it's time to become serious. Gambit's bootcamp really showed their composure entering the final game of group B day 1 by dismantling early attempts to be overtaken by the Koreans.
In a counter-gank gone wrong and with proper execution shown by Diamondprox and Alex Ich, the powerful Russian midlaner would grab a double kill and Diamondprox's Evelynn would be shown disrespect from Ozone. While we generally see Korea falter internationally in the laning phase and pick it up later, that was not the case versus Gambit Gaming. The Russian powerhouses would not falter, and a game carried by Genja's unique Trinity Force Kog'Maw build would ensure victory as he would be much too slippery for the opposition.
