LEC Spring: FNC & MKOI already in a tight spot for Week 2

The first week of the LEC Spring Split delivered its verdict this Monday, with its share of surprises and twists. While – for the first time in European Tier 1 – the regular season takes place entirely in BO3, the 10 teams battle it out over 7 weeks to determine the six best teams who will advance to the playoffs starting in mid-May. The playoffs conclude on June 8, with the team that will succeed Karmine Corp as European champions and the other finalist representing the region at the MSI and the EWC. So what are the results and stakes before the second week kicks-off?

A costly defeat for Fnatic

The alarm bells are already ringing for two European powerhouses. While Fnatic and MKOI are logically expected to be at the top of the table, both already experience pressure after the first week of competition. On one hand, the Black and Orange suffered the biggest upset of the LEC 2025 by getting destroyed by a reshuffled SK Gaming team (10th at Winter). With the addition of two rookies, the German structure got the split off to the best possible start despite some unconvincing scrim sessions, according to the players in interview. For Fnatic, this defeat is likely to be costly as the team finds itself 1-1 ahead of a Week 2. They will now meet the Winter champions, followed by a Week 3 where they will take on Vitality, who seem much more dangerous since the departure of Zdravets “Hylissang” Galabov.

On the other hand, MKOI had the toughest possible start. Facing the two Winter finalists in the first week. Nevertheless, the two defeats obviously didn’t put them in the best conditions to start the split. As David “Supa” Martínez told me in an interview during Winter, this is a team made up of highly emotional players who can be very affected by bad momentum. And all the more so given that they were in the best conditions to win Game 3 against KC. To the point where Jankos had bet his eyebrows that they couldn’t lose it when the Spaniards had secured a 6k gold lead. But due to some worrying mid-game decisions and a disastrous teamfight science, the LEC retiree now looks older than ever…

I said I will shave my eyebrows if @MovistarKOI lose with 6k gold lead

I'm sorry @KarmineCorp never doubting you again pic.twitter.com/sXMASDA6Ac

— Marcin Jankowski (@JankosLoL) March 30, 2025

The Fear Match

It looks like Week 2 is already shaping up to include one of the most important matches in the playoffs race. After MKOI, Rogue and GX are the other two teams at 0-2 after the first week. They’ll face off this Monday in a match that’s already pivotal, since in Weeks 3, 4 and 5 they’ll face only teams from the Winter top 4 – apart from SK. This means that the team which fails to secure a W in Week 2 could potentially find itself 0 or 1 win down at the start of the penultimate week of competition.

In other words, such a condition would make it virtually impossible to reach the top 6. And the same applies to FNC and MKOI. Note that, unlike all the other years when there was little room for accident – with only two teams eliminated at the end of the Regular Season – this time four teams will be out. I wouldn’t be surprised to see one of the favourites completely miss out through overcockiness in such a format.

In terms of positive results, no team is currently 2-0, but there are already 6 teams with 1 win and zero losses. Karmine Corp seem to be the most capable of finishing their second week on 3-0. Especially as G2 only play once, but should still simply secure their second win against the young Team Heretics. TH won’t have the easiest of weeks though, since after the Samurai they’ll be taking on KOI. Who – as you may have guessed – desperately need a win to close the second week of competition.