This is part 2 of a miniseries of articles that will take a look at the teams that made Worlds compared to the teams I predicted in the Hopefuls for Worlds series. You can read part one here.
As the teams for the four major regions have been decided for Worlds 2018, it’s now time to look back. This time around, we’ll be taking a look at Europe. We’ll look at the hopefuls that hoped to make Worlds and the reality of the three teams representing the region. We’ll find out how the teams ended up where they are and how the future looks for them now.
Courtesy of: LoL Esports Flickr
The kings of Europe managed to stay on their throne through the entire season. After dominating the playoffs with 3-1 victories over Misfits Gaming and FC Schalke 04, the team looks unstoppable as they make their way to Korea. This is thanks to multiple key members throughout the split.
First, there’s the MVP of both the regular season and playoffs in mid laner Rasmus “Caps” Winther. Caps has been absolutely dominating the entire region, topping the region in kills and destroyed any mid laner that went up against him. Otherwise, key performances from top laner Gabriël “Bwipo” Rau in both the top and bot lane and ADC Martin “Rekkles” Larsson upon his recent return to the roster helped the team defend their title. On top of that, jungler Mads “Broxah” Brock-Pedersen continued to take over the jungle, completely controlling the pace of the early game.
With the entire roster back together and looking amazing, they’ll be leading a very strong region into battle. Will they be able to redeem their mediocre performance at MSI? Or will a mediocre Worlds performance prove to be their fate as well? We’ll find out soon enough. With the group of death waiting for them, the teams will need to continue their great performance.
Courtesy of: LoL Esports Flickr
Team Vitality came out of nowhere during the Summer Split. Despite being a team that barely made fourth place in the playoffs, they shot up to second in the Summer Split regular season. While they didn’t make the finals due to a fantastic performance by FC Schalke 04, they did take the second seed for Worlds.
A huge reason for this boost in success is thanks to jungler Mateusz “Kikis” Szkudlarek who was added to the main roster halfway through the season. With the huge upgrade in the jungle, the team’s play improved vastly. It allowed top laner Lucas “Cabochard ” Simon-Meslet to play more aggressively which better fit his playstyle. With it, mid laner Daniele “Jiizuke” di Mauro continued to put on a show in his lane, as he remained the star of the team.
While this roster might not be the best team in the world, especially in their group against the likes of Gen.G and RNG. They’ll be very capable of pulling off some huge upsets against the team. Without a doubt, they’ll likely be the most exciting team to watch in the group stages.
One seed remained and two teams still wanted to return to Worlds. On one side was G2 Esports, looking to continue their streak of Worlds appearances since their creation. On the other side was Misfits Gaming, who tried to prove that they’re still a top team in the region. In the end, G2 took that final spot through a grueling gauntlet run as Misfits fell early to Splyce.
Courtesy of: LoL Esports Flickr
Throughout most of the playoffs and gauntlet, Misfits’ support Mihael “Mikyx” Mehle had terrible performances, especially on Alistar. In general, Mikyx was not able to keep up against opposing bot laners. Meanwhile, mid laner Chres “Sencux” Laursen was simply unable to contend against the other great mid laners the region had to offer. As a result, the team simply fell apart with two glaring weaknesses on the roster.
On the side of G2, a weak playoff performance was mostly forgotten after their spectacular play through the gauntlet. Thanks to some bounce back performances from ADC Petter “Hjarnan” Freyschuss (especially on Heimerdinger) and jungler Marcin “Jankos” Jankowski, they find themselves on the plane to Korea. On top of this mid laner Luka “Perkz” Perković returned to his world-class form and dominated the gauntlet. All this together allowed them to take out the likes of FC Schalke 04 and Splyce.
Courtesy of: LoL Esports Flickr
As a result, we have our third and final team in G2. While they’ve been inconsistent for the last couple months, the team is still a threat. The team has proved as much through the gauntlet that they can still beat any team on any given day. With a good warm up in the form of the play-in stage, expect G2 to fight for a chance to make top 8 this year.
After a very competitive season of the EU LCS, the three teams representing the region has finally been decided. With expectations high for the whole region, the teams will be under a lot of pressure. But with the best the region has to offer, expect some great games involving these teams.
To watch Worlds, visit watch.na.lolesports.com. For more information on the split, teams, standings and players, visit www.lolesports.com. Recaps of former weeks and other LoL content can be found at https://thegamehaus.com/league-of-legends/.
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Featured image courtesy of LoL Esports Flickr.
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