The first week of the LEC Spring Split was completed without a loss by SK Gaming and Team Vitality. An obvious top two emerged after the first three days of the second split of the 2023 Season, with Vitality and SK taking them in-game snowballing strategies to the #LEC rankings. Their next game will determine who is closer to the title thanks to similar methods of controlling the Rift but distinct game strategies.
SK Gaming departed the Winter Split during the playoff stage, accomplishing a historic achievement for the company, but it now appears that SK Gaming is completely blossoming in the Spring Split.
On the third day of the Spring Split, in the opening match of the day, the similarly unbeaten Astralis found their answer in SK Gaming. However, SK's dependability and cooperation triumphed over Astralis' explosiveness, leaving their opponents chasing the advantage the entire game.
With ease, SK controlled the Rift from neutral objectives to dives, snowballing their way from early-game advantages to Astralis' center.
The latter were unable to respond to SK's aggressive moves in their crucial League fight, and they lost control of their side of the field just as easily as Markoon's soaring kicks did.
In a similar manner, Vitality picked up their third victory on the same day.
In the early stages of the game, Bo and Photon's synergy on the top side of the Rift subdued Fnatic's recently arrived top laner. The dynamic pair amassed sizeable gold leads that Vitality never really relinquished for the remainder of the match, leaving Fnatic gasping for a respite amid Vitality's constant assault.
Twenty minutes had passed when Vitality advanced toward the Baron pit in an effort to win the boost over. Fnatic didn't sit still and moved to meet their opponents, but all they encountered was an overwhelming force that Vitality had amassed over the course of the previous 20 minutes.
Vitality finished the quickest game of the split so far after showing the blank screen to every Fnatic player.
This first week of Spring Split at the LEC seemed to have a focus on total dominance over the Rift from beginning to end. There have been a number of one-sided encounters where the victorious squad amassed an early advantage in money and kills before building momentum to the victory screen.
What’s next?
Next week, Vitality and SK's victory streaks—or, at least, one of them—will undoubtedly come to a stop.
This Saturday at 4 PM CST, the two best squads will square off.