The EU LCS will be sending a new team to the League of Legends World Championship this year. Misfits are automatically qualified, since they made it into the EU LCS playoff finals. If they win the whole thing, Misfits would be Europe’s first seed team. If they lose the series to G2, then they would be second seed.
Misfits would finish the year with 120 championship points. Fnatic could tie that total by winning the third place match, but, as stated in Riot’s EU LCS rules, “In the event that multiple teams are tied in the standings at the conclusion of the Summer Split, then the team that gained the most points in the Summer Split will be considered the holder of the tiebreaker.”
Misfits’ qualification may come as a surprise to some, as they only managed to finish third in Group A in the Summer Split. However, they have blazed through the quarterfinals and semifinals. Misfits took down Group B’s second seed, Unicorns of Love, 3-0. They also upset Group A’s first seed, Fnatic, 3-1. This squad has certainly been turning heads, and G2 will be their last opponent for the Summer Split.
Image from LoL Esports Flickr
Misfits came into the Summer Split with 30 championship points, since they finished fourth place in the spring playoffs. During the regular season, Misfits had solidified themselves as second seed of Group A, between G2 and Fnatic. This finish caused Misfits to play Group B’s Splyce in the quarterfinals, who they beat 3-2. Unicorns of Love booted Misfits in semifinals by winning 3-1. Finally, Fnatic skunked Misfits 3-0 in the third place match, forcing them to finish fourth and to earn 30 championship points.
During the spring regular season, Misfits’ losses came at the hands of G2, H2K, Fnatic, and Roccat. Misfits lost both of their series to a G2 that only gave up one loss that split. They also lost their one cross-group match-up to H2K. Fnatic and Roccat were both teams in Group A that traded wins and losses with Misfits.
On the other hand, Misfits won both of their series against fellow Group A team, Giants. They also took down all of the other Group B teams: Unicorns of Love, Vitality, Splyce, and Origen. That is why it was a bit of surprise when Splyce took Misfits to five games in the quarterfinals, and Unicorns of Love beat them outright in four games. Fnatic had really come into their element in the playoffs, so few were as surprised with their victory over Misfits.
Image from LoL Esports Flickr
These shortcomings in spring playoffs must have been part of the reasoning behind the Misfits’ mid-season roster change. They added Nubar “Maxlore” Safarian as their starting jungler, dropping Lee “KaKAO” Byung-kwon. There was an official announcement from Misfits’ website, which cited “despite his fantastic individual performance, KaKAO had trouble contributing to communication.”
Throughout the regular season of the Summer Split, this change had not shown to be as impactful as anticipated. It was unclear whether or not Maxlore was a clear upgrade from KaKAO. Maxlore finished Spring Split with a lower KDA, an even damage share, lower XP difference at 15 minutes and a lower first blood rate than KaKAO. To be fair, Maxlore was playing jungler on a highly inconsistent Roccat squad, and he did show moments of brilliance. Also, if communication in and out of the game were of primary concern, then it is difficult as an outsider to judge how much that improved after the switch.
However, Misfits are feeling Maxlore’s impact in the playoffs this summer. Comparing his regular season statistics and performance with those of playoffs shows major improvement. His KDA is 160 percent higher (3.7 to 9.6), his warding has shot up from .82 wards per minute to .97. And he has flipped from starting 107 XP behind at 15 minutes to being 194 ahead. Finally, Misfits’ gameplay around Baron has felt much more calm and calculated during playoffs. This shift cannot be fully contributed to Maxlore, but his presence in playoffs has allowed Misfits’ Baron control to rise from 53 percent (2017 Spring playoffs) to 58 percent (2017 Summer regular season) to 78.6 percent (2017 Summer playoffs).
Image from LoL Esports Flickr
All in all, Misfits’ 2017 season will culminate in their joining the short list of European teams participating in the World Championship. They will be the 15th team to represent Europe at the event. This is an amazing honor.
Some may not remember that this is Misfits’ inaugural year in the EU LCS. Misfits follow in the path of other European teams that have qualified for Worlds within their first year of joining from the Challenger series. Last year, Splyce and G2 both qualified for Worlds, and they had just been promoted into the LCS that spring. Origen qualified for the 2015 World Championship by winning Europe’s regional gauntlet, despite that summer being their first LCS split.
While Origen has since been relegated from the LCS, G2 and Splyce have maintained a strong presence. G2 continues to stay at the top of the tables and Splyce has remained a playoff contender in Spring and Summer Splits. Hopefully, Misfits will join their ranks to remain a consistent top European team. They will be looking to prove themselves in the EU LCS finals against G2. Then Misfits will travel to China to further build their legacy.
Featured Image: LoL Esports Flickr
Other Images: LoL Esports Flickr
Player Statistics: GamesofLegends.com
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