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The 2022 LEC Spring Playoffs have begun. After eight weeks of the Spring Split, six teams will determine the winner of this edition of LEC Spring, the fourth since the league split from the LCS and rebranded to LEC. The first matchup saw first seed Rogue dismantle the third-seeded Misfits, who were sent down to the losers bracket to battle the winner of the Excel versus Vitality best of five. The way in which Rogue were able to win was fairly impressive and it could have important implications on the rest of the playoffs. Here are three important takeaways from Rogue dominating Misfits in the 2022 LEC Spring Playoffs.
Takeaways from Rogue win over Misfits
Odoamne might be the best toplaner in Europe
Now, Rogue and their success in the last couple of splits is really a team effort. It was the synergy of Trymbi and Hans Sama in the bot lane, where Hans Sama became one of the best ADCs in the world. They were well complemented by Inspired in the jungle, Larssen in the mid lane and Finn in the top lane. However, as Hans Sama and Inspired left the team after the 2021 World Championship to play in the LCS, there were doubts on whether the team can bounce back and remain in the playoffs. They have done so, and it has been mostly through the stability given to them by Odoamne.
The former Schalke 04 toplaner has been the bedrock of this team since he arrived after Finn left for LCS in 2020. From the get-go, he has been one consistent member of Rogue and one player that they can always count on. In this series, Odoamne has once again shown why Rogue got him a couple of splits back. In the three Rogue wins, Odoamne pulled out some of the best games of the entire split, including a 10/2/7 scoreline on Jayce into HiRit's Camille, carrying the organization to a pivotal win in Game 2. While that was the most impressive scoreline, his most impressive game was Game 1, where Odoamne pulled out a toplane Rumble. He used amazing Equalizers to completely deny Misfits any chance of surviving an engage done by Rogue. He has been instrumental all split and he will be a headache for any opposing toplaner in the upcoming rounds of the postseason.
Comp is for-real
If we look at this offseason for Rogue, losing their nominally two best players in Inspired and Hans Sama surely hurt them a ton. Their replacements, Malrang and Comp, were immediately deemed as unworthy, mostly due to the greatness of both Hans Sama and Inspired. Yet, both have exceeded expectations and put Rogue in a position to not only make the playoffs but to be the first seed with 14 wins out of 18 games. The bigger gap was definitely in the ADC role, as Hans Sama was the best player on the roster, so many doubted Comp's ability, especially since his last three splits ended in two last-place finishes and one second-to-last place finish with Vitality.
However, he was truly great this season for Rogue. He has been very consistent and, in terms of pure stats, he has been on fire. Comp was first in CS per minute, first in gold per minute, first in kill participation, and second in gold share, across all ADCs of the league. It is important to mention that powerhouses like Upset from Fnatic and Carrzy from Vitality were his competition, which makes it even more impressive. In terms of these four games specifically, his Zeri performance in Game 4, which ended up to be the last one, was especially impressive, as he had a 7/0/7 scoreline, together with being 38 CS up on opposing ADC Neon and out-earning him by four thousand gold. An impressive performance as Comp really looks to join the ranks of the best ADCs in Europe.
Misfits overachieved and will likely drop out in their next Best of 5
One conclusion anyone can draw from this round of the playoffs is that we now all understand why Rogue, who had the power to choose their opponent, chose Misfits over G2. Misfits were completely overmatched in every regard and while they had some good moments, specifically winning the third game and some early moments in the second game, it was visible that they are not ready to play with the big teams in Europe yet. It is still a valid split for them, as they made the playoffs with a 12-6 record, getting a better seed than even the European powerhouses G2.
In terms of these playoffs, after being defeated by Rogue, Misfits are still not out. As specified above, they still have the losers bracket. Depending on the outcome of the G2 versus Fnatic matchup, they will either play versus the winner of Excel versus Vitality or play the winner between G2 and whoever wins the Excel versus Vitality matchup. However, after watching them play versus Rogue, we can safely say that any of these three teams would beat these Misfits in any best of five. It was a good run in the regular season and they still have potential, but they are still not there on that level with other European teams.
