The marquee match-up was in the mid lane with Fnatic's Caps going up against IG's Rookie. Both teams sent constant pressure with multiple ganks early on with IG coming out on top with 2 kills onto Caps. The first full team fight happened around Rift Herald with Fnatic controlling the front line and getting the 1st kill, but IG turned it around with 3 follow up kills and the Rift Herald after the initial battle scattered. IG built up their lead with a gank bottom lane leading to a push towards the nexus turret which got them a few kills. TheShy continued to pressure bottom and drew Fnatic into a chase. This distracted them enough to allow IG to start Baron which they used to kill off 3 members of Fnatic for an easy Baron. The subsequent push ended the game in 27 minutes with IG pulling out to a 1-0 lead.
In Game 2, the focus was around top lane with IG sending multiple ganks early on and they were rewarded with 2 kills. Fnatic finally responded with a timely gank to save their top laner while taking out Fnatic's. A fight over the first infernal dragon saw all members converge into the river. It came down to a smite fight, which IG won and also caught out a Fnatic member to build on their small lead. Both teams tried to take control of mid, which resulted in multiple team fights. Time and time again, IG came out ahead in every team fight and now were significantly in the lead. Fnatic tried to make their way back into the game by taking Baron, but IG caught on just in time to arrive to ace Fnatic even after they secured it. IG was just too much and finished the game in just over 33 minutes and now they were 1 game away.
Fnatic started off Game 3 on the right foot as they caught out IG's support in the jungle at level 1 for first blood. This game was much slower and cautious by both sides with pressure happening in all 3 lanes. The teams finally came together for a team fight around Fnatic's mid tower. Both teams did not back down as the fight went on and drifted into the jungle, where IG constantly pushing Fnatic back and finally winning the fight 4-2. Another fight broke out bottom lane with Fnatic ganking with 3 members. They took out 2 members of IG, but the back-up showed up to turn the fight back in IG's favour. The other Fnatic members showed up late and paid the price as Fnatic got aced once again. With their backs up against the wall, Fnatic are slow to react to IG's Baron attempt. They finally arrive but only able to send in their jungler into the pit, which proves enough as he steals the Baron and they win the fight after to stay in the game. Even after this setback, IG were too strong and pressured Fnatic's base on all sides. Slowly but surely they took the base and swept Fnatic 3-0 in just over 25 minutes to win the 2018 World Championship!
This represents the first World Championship title by the LPL (China) and the end of of the 5-year run of the LCK (Korea).
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