The iron gauntlet to Twickenham and the EU Masters: Can Phelan Gaming undertake the miracle run to the UKLC finals?

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Image edited and article written by Megalodontus
In one of the most brutal climbs to the top of the UKLC gauntlet, the Irish wolf pack of Phelan Gaming have taken their first strides to conquer this labyrinth with sheer grit, determination and of course, solid gameplay. 
Will their journey take them to ultimately face the kings of the British circuit in Fnatic Rising, or will they meet their ‘Demise’ today? Megalodontus takes a look.
Everyone and their nan these days have been echoing the rise of Boris Johnson and his plan to ultimately seal the deal on Brexit. But luckily, the LVP has intervened to give everyone else another point to be chatting about: the UKLC gauntlet!
Among the gauntlet formats that exists in competitive League, this one arguably personifies its origin of “running the gauntlet”. It is a pitiless climb to the top and truly a test of iron wills.
The ultimate prize? A trip to England’s sacred Rugby grounds in Twickenham to play in a live UKLC finals against Fnatic Rising, not to mention a trip to the coveted European slugfest of champions, the EU Masters.
7 teams enter the gauntlet, 2 will make it to the EU Masters, but only 1 can rule Britannia.
 

The strength of the pack

Phelan
Coming into the first round of the gauntlet, very, very few people would have predicted Phelan Gaming to go as far as they have right now. They have faced many struggles through their journey through the UKLC’s 7 towers and faced Enclave Gaming in the first round, an opponent that defeated them in the final tower of the regular season.
The sole Irish representative among the 7 contestants had to win a tiebreaker against newcomers NVision Esports to challenge for the title, and their performances last night proved they were not taking this chance for granted.
 
Round 1: Enclave Gaming (2-0)
In the first round stood Enclave Gaming. Many predicted Enclave would come out on top due to the presence of toplaner Rifty. Clearly, Phelan had other plans in mind.
Game 1 started off with spicy picks in the new Pantheon for Beartree and the exceptionally rare Illaoi for Rifty. From the get go Phelan shifted into the highest gear possible and gave Enclave very little room to do anything.
Instead of choosing to contest Rifty in lane, Beartree’s Pantheon was used to quickly impact other parts of the map with his timely Grand Starfalls, proving that even behind he remains as the Unbreakable Spear for Phelan.
A teamfight gone wrong for a Mountain Drake all but sealed Enclave’s fate, as Phelan took the fight, took the Baron, took the next fight after their Baron buffs had worn off and took Game 1.


Battered and bruised but not out, Enclave armed Rifty with his signature Jax pick and Skude with Nidalee in hopes of taking the series to a 3rd game.
Phelan were not impressed. The Iron Revenant Mordekaiser made his debut in the UKLC at long last in the hands of Beartree, while the Danish Dynamites Achuu and Visdom in botlane confidently locked in Ziggs and Volibear. This game promised to be entertaining if nothing else.
The early game went quietly until Beartree solo-killed Rifty. And he would do so again not long after under turret, cool as a cucumber and leaving the jaws of Phelan fans hanging in awe. After that it was all Phelan Gaming taking fights and objectives, they were not going to let Enclave’s picks of Jax, Azir and Xayah scale.
After taking down Baron a second time, Phelan marched in confidently and put Enclave out of their misery, sealing Game 2 and convincing series overall. This momentum would prove to be vital in their next series against Diabolus Esports.


 
Round 2: Diabolus Esports (2-0)
The heat of the Summer Split has not been overly kind on Diabolus. While there have been glimmers of hopeful moments within the split, none of it came close to their dominance in Spring where they rained hellfire and sowed the seeds of chaos. Like Phelan, they hoped for a turn of fortunes in the gauntlet.
Game 1 started off with Beartree getting his hands on Pantheon once again and Dragdar on Veigar in the botlane. This game would turn out to be an unrelenting brawl with both sides trading blow for blow, tower for tower till Achuu’s crucial ambush onto Furuy in the top lane broke the deadlock and allowed Phelan to take the Baron.
Phelan proceeded to methodically choke the wounded demons out and took a decisive 5 for 1 teamfight in the mid lane after, sealing their victory for the first game of the series.


You could tell the Irish wolf pack’s confidence in their grand hunt to the top was at an all time high with Chemera pulling out Zed. It’s the first time he’s played it in the UKLC but you couldn’t tell with his final score of 8/1/0.
Once again, Phelan went in with all guns blazing. Beartree’s Pantheon has become an absolute menace and we will be surprised to see teams continue to leave it unbanned as he heaped despair onto Kakan’s Gnar, giving a kill to jungler Sof at 3:43 and then solo-killing him a minute later. After that Phelan proceeded to divide and conquer the map, pick after pick left Diabolus helpless to respond.
A baron take translated into a triple inhibitor push and Phelan went for the throat, fearlessly striking the killing blow and ending the game in commanding fashion at 26 minutes, their shortest game time of the 4 games played.


 
Tonight: Demise Esports and MnM Gaming
Demiselogo squarePhelan’s good form must be continue to hold as tonight they take on Demise Esports, the Reapers. Demise have truly been a wonderful surprise and addition to the UKLC and managed an impressive 4th place finish by the end of the regular split. They’ve shown to be a creative and fearless team, introducing the much dreaded Garen/Yuumi botlane into the league.
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And the winner of that series will face MnM Gaming, the all UK powerhouse. Despite their struggles to live up to people’s expectations early on in the split, MnM seemed to have uncovered the perfect recipe to keep their fiery marshmallows from melting unceremoniously.
Defeating Excel UK in the final tower of the split has surely given them a huge confidence boost, and all eyes are on them now to perhaps break the iron grip of Excel UK and Fnatic Rising.
Who will rise? Who will fall? Tune in at 6pm BST today at https://www.twitch.tv/lvpuklol to catch the all the action live

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