FC Schalke 04 vs Misfits

For our first match of the day we have a rather interesting fight between Misfits Gaming and Schalke 04. Now, in all fairness, this is definitely not a marquee match-up by any stretch of the imagination, but it is an engaging scrap that should entertain us even though it won't matter much in the grand scheme of things.

Both teams have a reason to tryhard, although they find themselves on opposite sides of the spectrum and, by proxy, the LEC standings. Misfits Gaming is currently not just in the running for the playoffs but are all but a lock, given their stellar win-loss tally. They're tied for fourth place with Rogue gaming which, all things considered, is quite a spectacular accomplishment given just how much hype and momentum (or lack thereof) they had coming into the year. The fact that they're one of the best teams in the region certainly caught everyone by surprise.

Their wins aren't flukes, either, but are rather earned in sweat and blood -- they're well-deserved. We're still not quite sure how good they really are when compared to the very cream of the crop, but they're more than talented and capable enough to not only finish in the Top 6 but even -- potentially -- make waves in the playoffs. Still, we're a few weeks away from that point and theorizing won't do us much good at this point. What's important, however, is to end up as high as possible in the standings. The higher they are, the bigger the odds of evading G2 Esports or Fnatic. Fighting against either at this point in time would equal a guaranteed loss.

Because of this, we expect them to pull no punches from the moment they spawn on the Rift. They have all the right tools to compete at the highest of levels and will surely bring their A game. Schalke is not the biggest challenger around so they're probably not going to prepare too much, which could result in a much closer skirmish than most people expect.

Speaking of Schalke, unlike Misfits Gaming, they have nothing to fight for other than pride and a little bit of redemption. That's about it, seeing how they're out of the playoff race. That's a depressing outcome, but they've still managed to save a bit of face after all that has happened with FORG1VEN, Gilius, and so on. Finishing eight in a stacked region is not exactly abysmal, and they were actually able to correct course and even register a couple of solid wins over the last couple of weeks. The most important thing for Schalke, however, is the fact that they're not getting outclassed. Instead, they're slowly bleeding across the map, before ultimately giving up an insurmountable lead to their opponents. Still, they're competitive, and will often fight from the very get-go which means they don't go down without a fight. For the LEC fans watching online, that's about as much as we want.

In the end, however, we're going to side with Misfits on this one. There's no reason not to, although -- again -- this might be a lot more competitive than people expect. Febiven and Razork should be more than enough for Misfits to create an early lead and snowball it into the mid and later stages of the game. They're simply too good individually to drop the ball against a team like Schalke at this point, and after witnessing Abbedagge's abysmal play last week, it's fair to assume that Febiven will have a field day from the moment he reaches his lane.

In any case, we should definitely be entertained.