Despite a shaky start to the Forge of Champions tournament and having the controversy of Barrage fielding two teams hanging over them, Barrage Retirement Home Edition (RHE) fired their cannons and sent their naysayers to the depths of Davy Jones’ Locker.
In this article, Megalodontus recaps the UKLC promotion tournament.
Barrage RHE’s inception into the UK scene, despite the hilarious announcement, drew huge discussions surrounding the existence of sister teams and their legitimacy should both teams get promoted.
This prompted LVP UK to issue a clear statement on the matter at hand.
However, big changes were in the works for the UKLC in 2020. Other than the removal of the UKLC tower format, only one team would ultimately be promoted to the UKLC, rather than two.
So for the Grand Finals we had brother vs brother, warship against warship as the UKLC’s Barrage Esports team took on their very own old folks home counterparts.
You know what they say though, old people have drunk more salty tears than you’ve drunk wate- wait, that’s not the actual quote. Nevermind. (Editor’s comment: Megalodontus I’m only leaving nonsense like this in the article because I like you – Dom)
Barrage RHE stuff their canes into their sister team’s cannons and win 3-1
But before their gritty, dominating three straight wins against Barrage Esports, the mature gents had to hear the rattling of their old bones a number of times, before eventually salvaging their ultimate prize from the murky depths.
Barrage RHE lost their first outing against Diabolus Esports 2-0, but they quickly bounced back in the qualification round for the promotion tournament. There, they lost to Bulldogs Esports initially but beat Belong Teesside and got their revenge on the Bulldogs in the Loser’s Bracket.
At the start of the tournament, things seemed slightly bleak for Barrage RHE when they fell to NVision Esports 2-0. But that would be the start of an incredible Loser’s Bracket run to Promotion.
They would go 2-1 against Degree Esports in the first round, took revenge against NVision -going 2-1 as well- in Round 2 and finally set to rest the ‘whose warship is better’ argument against their more prestigious sister team.
So while it’s a little late, congratulations to Barrage RHE! We hope you continue to play well into your ’80s!
“During our first scrim, we all said we believe we can qualify for UKLC. I believe our mentality is beyond any other team in the promo/relegation tourney.”
Mateusz ‘Kiao’ Sujdak, head coach of Barrage RHE
Skude named MVP
‘Not once did we argue as a team or tilt’ – interview with Kiao
We spoke to Barrage RHE’s head coach Mateusz ‘Kiao’ Sujdak about their win and what it meant for this extremely new roster and here is what he had to say.
How does it feel winning the promotion tournament and beating your more prestigious sister team, all in your first split as the head coach? Did you enjoy the overall experience?
Kiao: Honestly, winning the promotion tournament feels really good as it was a redemption arc for myself and all of my players. We all struggled this split, so being able to come together and win something right at the end feels great.
I had an unfortunate interaction with a UKLC team which led me to spending my split in the UKEL with Radiant Esports, where sadly not all of my players had the drive and dedication/time to improve.
Joining a team which did want to improve and already knew the fundamentals was really cool and I can’t thank Richard ‘Froomie’ Froom enough for the opportunity.
I really did enjoy the last 2 months with BRHE. I can’t say anything about the future of BRHE, however I myself will be exploring options for 2020.
BRHE was formed rather hastily and predictably struggled early on, but for the promotion tournament, you guys had a miracle run with an incredible finals performance. Did you and the boys ever expect that BRHE would have made it all the way and beat your sister team in a convincing 3-0 fashion?
Kiao: During our first scrim as a team, we all said we generally believe we can qualify for UKLC. We have a good balance of everything really on this team. But most importantly, I believe our mentality is beyond any other team in the promo/relegation tourney.
Not once did we argue as a team or tilt within games. We took it one game at a time and the players trusted me, and I in turn trusted them. From scrim results I was quite confident we could beat Barrage, however I am slightly disappointed in how weak Barrage looked.
Onward to 2020!
In 2020 Riot are paying more attention to the European Regional Leagues (ERLs) and looking to up the professionalism within the ecosystem: starting with the Premier Tour (DACH), the LFL (France), the SLO (Spain) and also the UKLC.
With LVP ditching the tower format to form a more competitive and consistent environment, along with the outlined changes coming in from Riot, there is much to be excited about for UKLC and ERL fans in 2020!
We look forward to covering all the thrills, spills and ageing players next year and beyond.
Megalodontus is a miraculous survivor from the mass extinction and somehow learnt how to use his stubby fins to operate complicated mechanical equipment and drink tea. Worryingly for cryptozoologists, he’s been writing League of Legends articles too.
A self-taught writer who’s had the privilege to work with good editors who aren’t terrified of his pearly whites, Megalodontus is often seen writing either independently or for various websites such as this one. When not writing, he usually runs it down mid in real life and is fascinated with watching paint dry.
