Wild Fnatic comeback highlights LEC Summer Split Day 1

"It wasn't even close, man." When pressed if he was being serious, Rekkles responded, "Let's say I doubted it for like 30 minutes." While Fnatic won their match on red, the first four winners were all playing on blue. G2 opened the day with a win over MAD Lions, Vitality beat FC Schalke 04, SK took down Origen and Rogue topped Excel Esports before Fnatic's big win.

Fnatic mounted a frantic comeback in the closing seconds Friday, pulling out a win over Misfits Gaming to cap the first day of the League of Legends European Championship (LEC) Summer Split. G2 Esports, Team Vitality, SK Gaming, and Rogue also get wins to open the 10-team, eight-week tournament. However, the final match was the one that had everyone talking when the day was over.

With the game tied at 6-6, Misfits scored eight of the next 10 points to seemingly take command. But Misfits would score only one more point the rest of the way and Fnatic had just enough time to pull off the win. "We had it the entire time," Fnatic's Martin "Rekkles" Larsson, the match MVP, joked in a postmatch Instagram interview. "It wasn't even close, man."

When pressed if he was being serious, Rekkles responded, "Let's say I doubted it for like 30 minutes." While Fnatic won their match on red, the first four winners were all playing on blue.

G2 opened the day with a win over MAD Lions, Vitality beat FC Schalke 04, SK took down Origen and Rogue topped Excel Esports before Fnatic's big win. The Summer Split features a double round-robin format with all matches best-of-one. When play concludes Aug. 9, the top six teams in the standings will advance to the Summer Split playoffs. Teams will play two matches each weekend save the first and last weekend, during which teams will play three matches.

All matches in the double-elimination postseason bracket will be best-of-five, with dates yet to be announced. The top four teams will play in a pair of winners-bracket matches; the bottom two will play in a losers-bracket opener. The lower-seeded loser of the winners-bracket opening round will play in the second round of the losers-bracket. The higher seeded loser of the winners-bracket opening round will get a bye to the third round of the loser's bracket.

The top three teams will earn a spot in the League of Legends World Championship, scheduled to be played in China at a date to be announced. The fourth-place team will advance to the World's play-in event. Originally scheduled to have three spots in the Worlds, the LEC and the League of Legends Pro League (China) each received an extra slot when Riot Games announced the cancellation of the Mid-Season Invitational in April.

Week 1 continues Saturday with five matches and concludes Sunday with another five. League of Legends European Championship Summer Split remaining Week 1 matches

Saturday FC Schalke 04 vs. SK Gaming

Rogue vs. Misfits Gaming Excel Esports vs. MAD Lions

Fnatic vs. Team Vitality G2 Esports vs. Origen

Sunday SK Gaming vs. MAD Lions

FC Schalke 04 vs. Rogue Origen vs. Misfits Gaming

G2 Esports vs. Team Vitality Fnatic vs. Excel Esports

League of Legends European Championship Summer Split standings T1. Fnatic, 1-0

T1. G2 Esports, 1-0 T1. Rogue, 1-0

T1. SK Gaming, 1-0 T1. Team Vitality, 1-0

T6. Excel Esports, 0-1 T6. FC Schalke 04, 0-1

T6. MAD Lions, 0-1 T6. Misfits Gaming, 0-1

T6. Origen, 0-1