Fnatic vs Astralis

Who would've thought that a game between Fnatic and Astralis would be *this* darn interesting? It's not necessarily an *important* match-up, but it is nonetheless a most interesting one. It's also a game that Fnatic, in a way, simply have to win. They haven't been all that impressive lately and we've been given a littany of excuses — some of which were more believable than others.

Astralis, on the other hand, are on the up-and-up (who would've thought), and anything they accomplish going forwad will be deemed a tremendous success. This, in turn, means they'll be playing without much pressure. No one's expecting them to beat Fnatic, so why stress about it? That, in short, is an aura and a benefit seldom attained by the many LEC gatekeepers.

JeongHoon and Kobbe, in particular, have been wrecking house on a weekly basis. Xerxe, too, is playing like he did back during his heyday. With so many solid players, it's really no surprise that Astralis have been able to hit the ground running despite facing some of the grimmest odds imaginable. Their record is that of a top-tier team but they've also had a very "easy" strength of schedule, so you really ought to take that into account as well.

Fnatic are struggling. That's no secret. We're also not quite sure whether or not they'll get on the same page in time for it to matter. You would think they'd be a bit more cohesive after well over six months of playing together but that simply isn't the case (for whatever reason). Be that as it may, they should still be cohesive *enough* to get a win over Astralis and finally correct course after a bunch of wholly mediocre showings.