MAD Lions KOI vs. Fnatic Prediction on February 16, 2024

Match info

The playoffs for LEC Winter 2024 (League of Legends EMEA Championship Winter 2024), the most prominent professional League of Legends (LoL) competition in Europe, are underway. Four teams remained vying for the tournament title. Here, we’re discussing the duel that will happen on Friday, February 16, at 5 p.m. local time at Riot Games Arena in Berlin, Germany: the Lower Bracket Semifinal between MAD Lions KOI and Fnatic. The victor moves on to the top 3, where it squares off against Team BDS in the match leading to the Grand Final.

Meeting statistics

The teams in the race for the greatest LEC Winter 2024 squad in Europe are feuding not just for recognition but also for actual cash awards; €80,000, a ticket to the Mid-Season Invitational in 2024, and a spot in the LEC Finals 2024 are all up for grabs.

Let’s try to discover who’ll be more resilient and place among the best three teams in the competition, MAD Lions KOI or Fnatic, as well as who’ll bid farewell to the LEC Winter 2024.

The current form of MAD Lions KOI

The MAD Lions KOI’s form is where we begin our match analysis. They are clearly the heavy underdogs in this duel based on values set by LOLbetting sites.

The MAD Lions KOI appeared to be all in based on the LEC Spring split. The Spanish team barely made it to the Group Stage. They battled blood and sweat to get to the Playoffs, where they defeated G2 Esports in a hard-fought Bo5 in the opening round. They still had to defeat Vitality (3-1) and close the reverse sweep against BDS in the Grand Final. Without a question, the “Lions’“ roster is competitive. They have frequently demonstrated this in practice, but this doesn’t always translate into excellent performance—first and foremost on the international scene, but occasionally even on the regional one. For instance, placing in the top 8 at MSI 2023 is commendable in theory, but the outcome at LEC Summer 2023 is already depressing. The current Spring split champions finished in the Top 7 at the most recent LEC Championships, which is obviously below their level. The MAD Lions took on EXCEL in the opening game of the LEC Finals 2023 and triumphed 3-0. They had previously faced G2 Esports in a match that ended in a 1-3 loss. MAD Lions and Fnatic squared off for a spot in the LEC Finals 2023 Grand Final. The colorful match concluded with the “Orange“ winning 3-2. MAD Lions qualified for the 2023 Worlds, though, representing Europe’s third quota.

The “Lions“ opened Worlds 2023 with a defeat to Cloud9 in the Main Stage and continued the year’s strongest event by beating BDS in the European derby. MAD Lions fell short against NRG Esports in the third game. They faced up against Weibo in, for them, the Worlds 2023 do-or-die match, lost 0-2, and got eliminated from the competition. Despite being the underdogs, MAD Lions defeated Team Heretics in their attempt to reclaim their status in the European League of Legends. They lost against SK Gaming next. The third game they played, against Karmine Corp, was an absolute spectacle: an international fan war with up to 750,000 spectators at its pinnacle, and the MAD Lions emerging victoriously in the end. They struggled through the Group Stage: 5-4.

The “Lions“ took on Fnatic in the opening round of the Playoffs. The “Orange“ had a fantastic game and won 2-0. Following their elimination from the playoffs, MAD Lions KOI faced off against GiantX, defeating one of the top teams from the previous campaign of the LEC Summer 2023. With confidence, the Spaniards proceeded to overcome Vitality as well.

The current form of Fnatic

Now let’s look at Fnatic’s form as we continue our match analysis. The “Orange“ will play as the favorites in this match. Fnatic made an appearance at LEC Winter 2023 to kick off their ascent to the LEC Regional Finals the previous season. It wasn’t a good one, as the “Orange“ failed to advance past the group stage and placed ninth overall.

The next season, the European organization offered Carl Martin Erik “Rekkles“ Larsson one final shot. He didn’t make use of it. Fnatic lost their first game against MAD Lions after emerging from the group stage, capping the Spring split at the top 8.

The team had two awful splits that led to huge re-splits. The ADC Rekkles and support Henk “Advienne“ Reijenga left. Korean legionnaire Oh “Noah“ Hyeon-taek and seasoned support Adrian “Trymbi“ Trybus took their positions. The improvement arrived quickly. In order to go to the Top 4 at the LEC Summer 2023, Fnatic faced EXCEL in the opener and prevailed in a close best-of-five match. Fnatic and BDS engaged in a fierce battle (3-2) in the LEC Finals 2023 “small final“ match. To advance to the grand final, Fnatic had to defeat MAD Lions. Once more, the “Orange“ emerged victorious in the full-fledged bo5, but G2 Esports defeated them 3-1 in the championship match.

Fnatic gave it their all during the 2023 Worlds. After falling to LNG Esports in the opening game, they outperformed GAM Esports. They lost to BLG en route to get a 1-2 record at the moment. They then overcame C9 by a score of 2-1, and in the match to move on to the Playoffs, they were defeated by WBG, who incidentally emerged as the World Championship’s silver medalists.

Fnatic played their first match at LEC Winter 2024 versus Karmine Corp. Judging from past seasons’ precedent, Fnatic’s victory came as a surprise. They then defeated Vitality. After that, Fnatic took two series, but they were defeated by SK Gaming. The Regular Season started rather well for Fnatic, but things went south after that. They had a 5-4 record at the end of this stage. The “Orange“ defeated the MAD Lions with great assurance to start the LEC Winter 2024 playoffs. They next played against G2 Esports and performed admirably there, even taking the map, which hadn’t been done by anyone against the German team until then. Fnatic took on SK Gaming in the encounter to advance to the quarterfinals. Despite the German club’s best efforts, Fnatic prevailed 2-1 and secured their spot in the LEC Winter 2024 top 4.

Head-to-head

During the course of the two teams’ last five mutual encounters, MAD Lions only had one victory, which came during the LEC Winter 2024 regular season. However, they were defeated by Fnatic already in the opening round of the playoffs.

Match analytics

From our perspective, there’s no doubt about the outcome of this match. Fnatic will reach the Lower Bracket Final and be ready to face BDS, whom they’ll undoubtedly challenge if given the chance. It’s more likely a coincidence that MAD Lions made it through the lower bracket than not because their opponents in the first two rounds were far inferior to Fnatic’s.

Try your luck on Handicap Fnatic -1.5 at odds of 2.00 on Betcoin.ag.

Results of the forecast

Forecast failed. MAD Lions KOI vs. Fnatic 3:2