Fnatic and MAD Lions are set to cross swords on Saturday, September 9, in the semifinals of the League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC) 2023 Season Finals. It’ll mark their second meeting since the regular season and the first since late July, when Fnatic swept MAD Lions during the LEC 2023 Summer Groups.

Since their heroic run to the LEC 2021 Summer title, MAD Lions have been quite an enigma, usually saving their peak performances for best-of series. This likely has to do with their flexibility and ability to prepare for the games ahead.

Fnatic made significant strides in LEC 2023 Summer, and after finishing the first two splits in ninth and eighth place, the Black & Orange made the semifinals of the LEC 2023 Summer Playoffs. But like MAD Lions, Fnatic have shown good and iffy performances since the regular season, with a fairly high degree of volatility.

With óscar “Oscarinin” Mu?oz Jiménez out with an injury, Fnatic will continue playing with Martin “Wunder” Nordahl Hansen, who is hardly a downgrade. Wunder performed admirably in the series against Team BDS and should provide some consistency and a stable top side for Fnatic against MAD.

Fnatic have a better top side, but if we compare other lanes, it’s tough to pick a favourite. Both teams can play through the bot lane and have versatile mid-laners and junglers who can carry the series.

This game could go either way, so we would have to be getting slightly better odds from LoL betting sites to pick a team. Instead, we’ll take over 12.5 towers, as Fnatic and MAD Lions both averaged over 12 towers per game during the regular season.

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