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　　Showdown between Western rivals as Cloud 9 and Fnatic fight over a Grand Finals seat.Katowice Day Two did not disappoint, with a constant barrage of tense and dramatic matches. The road to the grand finals have been paved by teams playing their hearts out, and over the bodies of the heartbroken as a result.

　　

Bracket Matches

Invictus Gaming vs Fnatic

Best Play: The best play of the day wasn't even a fight, but a brilliant tactical manoeuvre. IG had been denied Dragon all day, but finally got one at 34 minutes. But even that was a deception, as Fnatic was at Baron, securing it unopposed and with IG unaware!

　　MVP: sOAZ was down 50 cs for most of the game and the rest of the lanes were struggling to keep up against Invictus Gaming's aggression. It was on Cyanide to keep his teammates' hopes alive with solid ganks mid and unyielding Dragon control.

　　

Gambit Gaming vs Team WE

Best Play: A mutual gank at bot lane sees Diamond eat an Assault and Battery – not the most promising start for Gambit. But while the fight seemed to go in WE's way, they stuck around a bit too long and positioned themselves a bit too conveniently. Genja drew back a Piercing Arrow and took a 17:20 doublekill.

　　MVP: Infinity Edge on Varus? A ZEPHYR as his second completed item? Only Genja can somehow go 9-0 with such a build, shattering Team WE's playoff dreams.

　　

Gambit Gaming vs Taipei Assassins

Best Play: Morning's visit down bot lane started off promising, with a Death mark on Edward to start things off. But Alex was lying in wait, turning the three-man gank into a doublekill for himself at 13 minutes, and offering Genja a bite off Morning as well.

　　MVP: Alex's LeBlanc was terrifying, even as the game went late. Nobody was safe – not even TPA's tanks could take more than one rotation before being forced back to base for a quick heal.

　　

Semifinals – Cloud 9 vs Fnatic

Game One

Best Play: Tied on turrets and nothing to separate the two teams at 20 minutes. Meteos eats a burst from xPeke, triggering a fight near Fnatic's wraiths. Yellowstar might be down, but sOAZ charges ahead anyhow, laying the smackdown on Sneaky – then Rekkles swings into play with one kill, two kills, a triple-kill on Cloud 9 to swing the game and path a way to Baron!

　　MVP: Rekkles again for Fnatic, being where he needs to be when he needs to be there, each and every time.

　　

Game Two

Fnatic chases Cloud 9 away from Baron Nashor, seeking an opening for their own attempt.Best Play: Fnatic was desperate to keep Cloud 9 off Baron at 39 minutes, sending a standard tanky front line of sOAZ and Cyanide to scope out the threat. What neither were expecting, however, was for Cloud 9 to aggressively pursue them instead, with Sneaky slamming the go-button on On The Hunt to chase them up through top lane, knocking Fnatic back to their base.

　　MVP: Meteos is North America's most-feared carry jungler for a very good reason. Rekkles' usual consistently high performance was suppressed at all turns by Meteos' jungle Kha'zix.

　　

Game Three

Best Play: Fnatic's team synergy was on display almost right off the bat. Cloud 9's bot lane, commonly considered its weakest point, was abused relentlessly by xPeke – who was often nowhere near the lane! In the very first instance, the moment that Sneaky ate a Death Sentence to the face, the Mega Inferno Bomb was sent flying, landing perfectly on him to set up a lane-winning double-kill for his teammates.

　　MVP: As impressive as Rekkles' 7-1 record was this game, it's hard to deny that much of it was propelled by xPeke's one-man carpet-bombing. C9's attempts to recover bot lane were disastrously turned aside by a rain of hexplosives.

　　

Semifinals – KT Bullets vs Gambit Gaming

Game One

Best Play: KT Bullets are known for their Baron-centric strategies, and their 34:35 ambush at Baron was no exception. They'd waited for Gambit to meet them at the dreaded objective, the death of so many pro teams, and initiated hard onto Genja. He was chased almost all the way to Gambit's base, leaving his team deprived of damage. Alex Ich got a doublekill off the fight, but he was the sole survivor, allowing the Bullets to steamroll up through mid lane.

　　MVP: InSec's Kha'zix was a lethal weapon, and specifically against Alex Ich. Alex's LeBlanc managed to die twice in a row in the midst of a seemingly safe top lane shove, and neutralizing the burst caster left Gambit with increasingly poor options in teamfights.

　　

Game Two

Best Play: There is ONLY one possible candidate for Best Play in Game Two. The game itself was a bloodbath of mistakes and capitalizations from either side, with Gambit and Bullets fighting toe-to-toe throughout the round. KT Bullets had the early lead, but Gambit's turnaround and Baron gave them a decisive late-game advantage, turning a one-nexus-turret situation into a push onward for the Bullets' base. But with one breathtakingly daring stroke, the Bullets sent Leopard as a sacrifice to distract Gambit while the rest of the team made an all-in bet on Gambit's base, securing their seat in the grand finals!

　　MVP: Kassadin might be nerfed on this patch, but Ryu doesn't care! Though it took him a while to get rolling, his mid-game presence constantly bedeviled Genja – the game was, in many ways, a race between him and Alex Ich to see who could get the most kills.

　　

Standings

Summary of the Day

The European teams struck back after a disastrous Day One. Fnatic took to the fore with strong sets against both Invictus Gaming and Cloud 9, demonstrating a level of play they haven't been able to accomplish in weeks against fellow EU LCS teams. The battle against North American rivals Cloud 9 was an especially pitched fight - a final (or rather momentary) settlement of grudges from back at Worlds and the Battle of the Atlantic. Cloud 9 finally floundered in the third and last match, and Fnatic was headed to the Grand Finals.

　　Gambit Gaming was also having a good streak, starting out. The new Taipei Assassins might have carried on the tradition of the old guard by knocking Gambit down in Day One, but there was no repeat performance. Team WE weren't able to halt Gambit either, further adding to the Russians' fame and glory as killers of Asian teams. The Korean KT Bullets triumphed convincingly in game one of their semifinals set, but the outlook wasn't nearly as clear in game two. Gambit was even on the path to victory after a few decisive turnaround fights!

　　They weren't at all ready for the dramatic backdoor assault on their base.

　　Only Fnatic left to represent Europe. And once again, KT Bullets holds sovereignty as gatekeepers to a tournament title. Will they lock the doors on the West's last remaining hope?

　　Image credit: ESL, Leaguepedia