A quick look back on the 2019 ENUK/BEA Proving Grounds

At the time of this article’s publication, ENUK’s editor Dom Sacco worked for the British Esports Federation (formerly the British Esports Association) full-time, so was not able to write about the organisation objectively. Dom left British Esports full-time in February 2021 and now produces its email newsletter on a freelance basis.

UPDATE (December 23rd): The official MVPs (most valuable players) have been announced.

Better late than never!

Your 2019 UK Proving Grounds MVPs are as follows… @LoL_DBL
@DandyChapLoL
@BBMuffin2 @LoLKzed @Oliver310798

We will contact you shortly for your details. Congratulations 🥳

— UK Proving Grounds 🇬🇧 (@UKPGLoL) December 23, 2019

ORIGINAL ARTICLE (posted December 5th 2019):

Fiestas, free-for-alls in every lane, unexpected comebacks and butt-clenching moments? You’re in the right place: it’s the UK Proving Grounds!

Megalodontus takes a look at how the grassroots tournament went.

8 days, 8 teams, 1 prestigious title: All with the the goal to promote up and coming League of Legends players within the UK scene and act as a soft launchpad for their potential careers – and greater things ahead.

ENUK helped to fund a similar grassroots initiative back in 2017 and returned to support the 2019 Proving Grounds along with the British Esports Association.

Before the matches: Tier lists and predictions

More than 40 players were given the chance to prove themselves on the Rift this time around.

Tournament organiser Richard ‘Froomie’ Froom of Barrage Esports gave the community an in-depth primer before the event started, looking at 10 League of Legends players to watch in the 2019 Proving Grounds.

Other figures in the community also prepared their own tier lists for fans of the scene.

The Official Torok Tier List for @UKPGLoL!

Do you agree?

Who would you move around?

Join the discussion! ⏬ pic.twitter.com/1lCZoZSYB5

— James Thomsen (@TorokLOL) November 13, 2019

@UKPGLoL Top lane tierlist made by myself and I.

Based on my experience vs them, their personal competitive experience, judgement of opgg: champ pool and rank etc.

Please don't take it personally and prove me wrong if you're lower than expected. pic.twitter.com/e8dsKn6jZl

— Eragon (@EragonUK) November 13, 2019

Me and @Divinuss made a tier list for the upcoming @UKPGLoL for a bit of fun.

Whilst we put in quite a bit of research and talking to people knowledgeable about the UK scene, it goes without saying that this is just our opinion of course 👍

Enjoy 👀 pic.twitter.com/UwrcQyWARW

— Ryan 'Rydona' Dunkley (@Rydona_LOL) November 13, 2019

https://twitter.com/Vellamoisia/status/1195294016876744705

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D Tier Deadbeats win the UK Proving Grounds 2019

The D Tier Deadbeats literally ran the gauntlet on the last day, defeating teams 4Fun and the MAD LADS before coming back from a 1 game deficit against Team#1 and winning the championship in two straight games.

Mid-laner BB Muffin stood out in this tournament, and his teammates such as toplaner DeathByLollipops and ADC Fuyu stepped up huge throughout the day. You can imagine this has brought about many Twitch and Twitter comments demanding an overhaul of tier lists.

I personally would like to see jungler Conorg given the VIP MVP of the tournament because he actually played Hecarim (my favourite champion)!

AND THATS IT FOLKS D TIER DEADBEATS ARE YOUR 2019 UK PROVING GROUNDS CHAMPIONS!

DeathByLolliepops@Conorg1232
@BBMuffin2 @fuyulol
@ZooLoL_

Thanks for all who tuned in over the past two weeks.

Big thanks to our partners @British_Esports & @Esports_News_UK!

— UK Proving Grounds 🇬🇧 (@UKPGLoL) November 28, 2019

“Our team is…we get along better than other teams. I guess we had an actual synergy.”

– DeathByLollipops

Tournament organiser, spreadsheet archwizard and supreme coach of Enclave Gaming, Alexander ‘Wise Traveller’ Wise tirelessly compiled all the important data such as the win/losses, player stats and various charts such as objectives taken per team in a comprehensive Google docs for spectators and coaches to use.

https://twitter.com/WiseTravellerUK/status/1199747094510260224

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VoDs and a review by Furndog

Josh ‘Furndog’ Furneaux, a veteran coach within the scene most well known for his time in Excel Esports, offered to do a VoD review to help the up-and-coming players, and offered them a few tips along the way.

Tip for @UKPGLoL players, if you have the RP please name change to your actual ign so that people watching know who you are, after all that is the point in scouting grounds!

— Josh Furneaux (@ICMStellar_Josh) November 18, 2019

Here's the review from day 1 of @UKPGLoL, it's the game between Team 7 and Team 8 which won my poll with 37% of the votes. Sorry it took a while to upload also had some widows update issues! Enjoy https://t.co/tQdp482r8I

— Josh Furneaux (@ICMStellar_Josh) November 20, 2019

You can rewatch all the action, all the fiestas and all the excitement at https://www.twitch.tv/ukpglol/videos

Here is the final day of the tournament:

Watch UKPG 2019 – Finals from ukpglol on www.twitch.tv

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Some players such as midlaner BB Muffin from D Tier Deadbeats received an offer less than 10 minutes after they won.

https://twitter.com/BBMuffin2/status/1200183199873327109

Many players are now looking for teams as we approach 2020.

Thank yous

Credit to all the staff and casters behind the Proving Grounds:

• Richard ‘Froomie’ Froom
• Alexander ‘Wise Traveller’ Wise
• Sam ‘Manimal’ Newbould
• Harry ‘Docda’ Evans
• Will ‘Viperoon’ Whittingham
• James ‘TheGovernor’ Gove
• Adrian ‘Jamada’ Thorne
• Charlie ‘TheSarge’ Sarginson
• Joe ‘Munchables‘ Fenny

Just wanted to say the @UKPGLoL was an absolute blast to cast! Loads of games and an excellent talent team. Massive shout outs to @docdacasts, @JamadaLoL, @TheSargeCasts and @TheGovernorLoL for being excellent partners (@HeyMunchables was awesome too)!

— Viperoon (@eViperoon) November 30, 2019

Other grassroots UK LoL initiatives: The UK Inhouses

While LVP is ceasing operations in the UK and won’t be running the higher-tier UKLC in 2020, there are other great grassroots activities run by the community, including the UK Esports League (UKEL) and the UK Inhouses. There’s also LoLProsGG to help teams find info on players.

Resources for people looking to enter the UK Scene:@TheUKEL – UK 2nd Div@UKPGLoL – UK Scouting Grounds@LOLProsGG – Competitive ladder@OfficerNaughtyy's & @conorf95's In-Houses

Other People in the scene to contact:@froomielol @DBL_Coach @Coach_Furndog @MOR_Sovonix

— Nick Turberville (@CraneLoL) December 4, 2019

The UK Inhouses are Master-tier+ matches which feature a range of players, and offer multiple streams from different players’ perspectives. These dedicated streams continue to give exposure and valuable practice during the turbulent offseason.

🇬🇧 ATTENTION ALL UK COACHES MANAGERS AND OWNERS! 🇬🇧

The UK inhouses are turning out to be popular and a big success! If you are trialing players for div 1, div 2 or just making a roster this is the perfect place to find new talent!

Tell your friends and retweet this!! Dm me!

— MNM Alex (@OfficerNaughtyy) December 2, 2019

🇬🇧Eight of the players in tonights Master+ inhouse appeared in the #UKLC last season🇬🇧

Fantastic experience then for @LoLKzed who impressed at @UKPGLoL, and 16 year old prospect @L0LNoName who faces a tough challenge in @soflol.

📺Watch our featured POV streams at 6pm pic.twitter.com/iQfqyClkVW

— Conor (@conorf95) December 3, 2019

MnM Gaming’s Alex “OfficerNaughty” Bowley also held a forum of sorts called “UK Talk” where he invited major figures in the UK LoL scene such as Furndog, Crane, Britsaint, Grievance and such to discuss major topics and the future of the UK. The dedicated Inhouse streams are definitely a big step forward for the scene as we move into 2020.

Coaches and managers of UK/Ireland organisations are sure to be keeping an eye on them.

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As always, stay tuned to Esports News UK for more news and updates on UK esports and League of Legends developments