LEC Spring 2022 Playoffs starts on Friday as we preview Rogue vs Misfits Gaming
At last, the LEC playoffs are set to start in two days. The break has been too long for the fans and everyone is anxious for it to begin. Teams should have had plenty of time to prepare for their opponents and the new patch they will be playing the playoffs in. With that much of a break, only time will tell if they come prepared or fall apart due to rust. Thus, we start the previews of the LEC Spring 2022 Playoffs with Rogue vs Misfits, the first playoff series that kicks off on Friday.
Rogue vs Misfits Gaming Preview
For the consecutive splits, Rogue end up at the top despite the roster shuffle they underwent this past offseason. Meanwhile, Misfits also had a bit of turnover on their team but remained a strong enough team to make it back into the playoffs. Let’s start with Rogue first and then move on to Misfits Gaming as we talk about these two teams and talk about the series we have coming in soon.
Rogue
The new rendition of Rogue is working out really well despite the skepticism by most fans and analysts. Many pegged them as a playoff team but they definitely proved others wrong. This is still a strong fundamental team that has replaced a strong jungler with another one in Malrang. Though the core has remained intact, they have stuck to their roots as a team.
Most of their wins came on the back of playing fundamentally solid League of Legends and not trying to overcomplicate things too much. Like with this team, you can’t quite pick out the obvious weakness for this team based on the regular season.
However, if you include their past playoff woes, there may be some flaws that we can nitpick on. Larssen for one has not been a performer in the postseason and he will have to rewrite that story. What this team will be judged on is playoffs success, not regular-season wins. They have always been excellent during the regular split but they always fell flat on their face in the playoffs. This could be the start of a new chapter for Rogue or the same old story.
Let’s talk about the series in general as we have to talk about the win conditions for this team going up against Misfits.
Win Conditions For Rogue:
- Larssen Must Be Great
- Bot Lane Success
As Rogue are already favorites being the stronger team, there isn’t a lot of win conditions needed for them to go against Misfits Gaming. The biggest one is mid lane where the series might be decided. On one hand, we have Larssen, who has had his playoff disappointments and on the other side, it’s a potential MVP of the LEC in Vetheo. As mentioned earlier, Larssen has to rewrite his story or fall to the wayside and be known as the player who underperformed when it mattered.
For Rogue to win this series, Larssen has to be great. He cannot let Vetheo be better than him or else it will spell trouble for Rogue. It’s as simple as that for this series. As long as Larssen holds his own and gets help from his team in doing so, it should not be terribly hard to win the series.
The second one is more common when you talk about this version of Rogue. They have played around the bot lane more as Comp has been their carry for the most part and Trymbi exerting his will in terms of playmaking. There’s a lot that goes into Rogue playing through the bot side.
They want to unlock Trymbi to make plays while ensuring Comp gets all the resources he needs to carry. This is their biggest strength going into this series as they face Neon and Mersa. As long as Rogue’s bot lane gets ahead, Rogue always has a chance to win the game and the series.
As long as both the win conditions are fulfilled, this should be a relatively hassle-free series for Rogue. However, as past LEC playoffs would tell us, wait for the surprises to kick in.
Misfits Gaming
Moving onto Misfits Gaming, they are a team that has relatively kept their level from Summer 2021. They almost beat Rogue in that playoffs but Rogue managed to win in the end. We could see the same story resurface or not. There are some differences with this team as they have two rookies on the team. That will be a cause for concern against Rogue, who are experienced enough as pro players.
There are some other significant differences such as the rise of Vetheo as a superstar and Neon being as good as he has been in teamfights. Misfits this year look like a more organized team and have a clear identity. They rely on solid gameplay and then taking the fights that is required to win. This team is also one of those teams that have come back from big deficits. Replicating that in the playoffs will be difficult but they have the capability of doing it based on the regular season.
Let’s talk about the win conditions for the series in the Rogue as they face a very strong team in the first round of the playoffs.
Win Conditions
- Vetheo Continues His Dominance
- HiRit Finding Advantages
- Rookie Nerves Not A Problem
Whenever you talk about Misfits Spring 2022, it must start with Vetheo. He has been a man on a mission and he is paramount to Misfits’ success as a team. He is their best player by a good mile and he needs to keep playing at that level to beat a team like Rogue. This is his time to seal his status as a top 3 mid laner in the LEC or even higher.
HiRit has had an inconsistent split as he has not looked as great as some people would have expected. Despite that, he has done what was asked of him but if he were to unleash in the playoffs, Misfits would look like a formidable team against anyone. Against Odoamne, it’s a lot to ask considering how solid of a laner Odoamne is. However, if HiRit was to find advantages in the top lane, things could become easier for the rest of Misfits to win the series.
Lastly, it’s daunting for rookies to perform in their maiden split, in the playoffs at that. As long as they can hold their nerves, this could be a fun series to watch. Particularly Shlatan, who has received a lot of praise, should keep his momentum and play how he has been playing and not try to do too much. The same can be said about Mersa. Both of them need to play as they have been playing and Misfits have a very good shot at winning this series.
Let’s move on to what we think of the matchup between the two teams and our predictions.
The Matchups And Our Predicitions
Rogue vs Misfits brings up an interesting series in our hands. While both teams have been to the playoffs before, there are some members on both teams that have not been in the playoffs before. However, Rogue clearly has the advantage in terms of experience and they will rely on that. On the other hand, Misfits will need to keep their style and momentum going to potentially beat a team like Rogue.
The mid lane obviously draws attention instantly as it’s Larssen vs Vetheo while both junglers will want their respective mid laner to get ahead. Top lane should be a wash as Odoamne and HiRit are both good laners to just keep things stable. The key differences are in the mid and bot lane. Whichever way the pendulum swings for either lane decides the series for sure. Both teams like to teamfight and we should see a lot of brawls on Friday.
For our prediction, we are expecting this to be a 3-1 Rogue win. While Misfits have what it takes to make it a series and win the whole thing, we find it hard to see that happening given how good Rogue has looked. To throw caution to the wind, we have been here before and Rogue will have to prove they are a team to watch out for in the playoffs. Thus, we might see a controlled win by Rogue or a chaotic win by Misfits. Only time will tell which outcome we get.
It should be a good series to watch and it’s a good series to kick off the LEC Spring 2022 playoffs. Let’s hope we get a fun series to watch and some solid gameplay from both sides.
