2019 Play-In Profile: Unicorns of Love (UOL)

European League of Legends fans rejoice as their pink friends finally make their first World Championship. All it took was a region switch. Unicorns of Love joined the LCL this Summer Split, after being denied a spot in the franchised LEC. Within one split, UOL rose to the top of the field and beat Vega Squadron 3-2 in the finals to qualify into the Play-In stage of Worlds 2019. 

While the UOL organization has major region experience, including Coach Sheepy, most of the players on the roster do not. Support Edward “Edward” Abgaryan has been a professional player since 2012, when Moscow 5 was one of the best teams in the world. He has since played in the EU LCS, NA LCS and the LCL. Edward has been to several international events, including Worlds 2012, Play-Ins for 2017 and 2018 Worlds, and Play-Ins for 2018 MSI. 

Vladislav “BOSS” Fomin, Kirill “AHaHaCiK” Skvortsov, Lev “Nomanz” Yakshin and Nihat “Innaxe” Aliev are all much newer players to the pro level. While they have all been mostly playing Challenger-level circuits since 2016, BOSS joined the LCL in 2017, AHaHaCiK and Nomanz in 2018, and Innaxe just this year. Most of them were part of Vega Squadron earlier this year, and were one win away from making the MSI Main Event over Phong Vu Buffalo. That has been their only international experience. 

Their 12-2 Summer split record put them at the top of the tables alongside Gambit, who won the tiebreaker for first place going into playoffs. Once in playoffs, UOL won 3-0 over Elements Pro Gaming, then won 3-2 over Vega Squadron in the finals. The LCL was very competitive in Summer Split, so UOL certainly earned the spot. While Gambit was probably the better team statistically during the regular season, UOL was undeniably the best in playoffs. Nomanz, in particular, stood out as a high-damage, high-farm carry. He finished playoffs with 7 solo kills and 30 percent of UOL’s damage. 

Of the minor region teams, UOL has one of the best chances to make it to the Main Event. They should definitely look to finish first or second in their Play-In group against Clutch Gaming and MAMMOTH. From there, UOL should hope to meet anyone except DAMWON, where a solid best-of-five could get them out of Play-Ins. 

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