Hype is building for this evening’s qualifiers in the ESL UK & Ireland League of Legends Premiership.
With the likes of MnM, Diabolus, NerdRage, xL and more unveiling their spring 2018 UK LoL rosters, teams are preparing to secure entry into the ESL Prem, which features two groups and a second tier of competitive play.
Other teams and rosters have been added to the qualifiers sign up page. And among them is a team interestingly named stifsiM Gaming (read it backwards…)!
Their list of sign ups includes BIMBO, Chrisberg, Prosfair, Shikari and Special, as well as Joe “InnerFlame” Elouassi, the British general manager of Misfits.
It seems the LCS side is looking to the UK scene with its Academy team. It will be a full circle for the organisation, having qualified for the LCS from the UK scene a few years back.
Misfits has other links to the UK, of course. Two of its players – top-laner Alphari and jungler Maxlore – are British and originally played together in the ESL Prem a few years back with Team Infused.
stifsiM’s qualification page also features an image of the Miami Heat logo in a different colour. Misfits is of course owned by the US basketball brand.
Esports News UK reached out to our contact at Misfits and they remained coy as regards to a providing an official comment, but it seems the comments will come if this academy side successfully qualify for the ESL Prem.
UK scene heroes Aux and Nutri will be casting tonight’s qualifier matches, so don’t miss out on the stream! We’ll see you there.
Gunna be casting tomorrows @ESLUK Qualifier games.
Will be streaming from https://t.co/9MZJqSt9NP
Starting around 6:30-6:45 GMT to discuss rosters before we get into the games.
Will be joined by the talented @NutriLoL for the cast.
Tune in!— Dan (@Aux_LoL) January 28, 2018
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
