The EU Masters, the most prestigious biannual League of Legends tournament of the European Regional Leagues (ERLs), is now reaching its latter stages.
For our brave warriors from the British Isles, this was another shot at proving themselves, but both BT Excel and Fnatic Rising have been knocked out in the quarter finals this week, despite some promising signs earlier in the competition. Megalodontus recaps how they fared.
The group stage
Both seeds from the UKLC this year – Fnatic Rising and BT Excel – were granted direct entry into groups, skipping out on the perilous path of the play-ins.
Prior to the tournament, we also covered both teams’ chances of making it out of groups.
All looked lost for BT Excel – then the miracle run happened
We all knew this would not be an easy group, but many still had faith in Excel’s regular split form, where they utterly dominated in a best-of-one scenario.
But after the first round of play, their path out and the hopes of the UKLC faithful grew dim, with the loss to YDN Gamers hitting particularly hard (we did say that YDN were not to be underestimated!)
But the newly introduced double round robin format gave some hope that Excel could weave one last magical spell… and what a spell that was.
Taking inspiration from Fnatic’s 2017 run (from being winless to progressing with four consecutive wins), Excel’s first scalp was the Prime League’s third seed Team GamerLegion, before moving on to upset the eventual group toppers GamersOrigin.
Still hurting from their unexpected loss against YDN, Excel went full throttle and sealed a much needed 3-0 second round to force a tiebreaker against GamerLegion, who also sat at 3-3 when the day ended.
Read more: Something Special: BT Excel pull off miracle run to reach EU Masters quarter finals
Despite the headlines parading Special’s impeccable 10/0/9 Zoe, some duly remembered this as the fateful reunion of Hjarnan and Kasing.
And with that, Excel advanced to the knockout stages in the most outlandish way possible!
Business as usual for Fnatic Rising
In our preview we at Esports News UK unbiasedly said that Fnatic should exit this group, but of course our brothers over in the Balkans thought otherwise.
To be fair, the Energypot Wizards brought their A-game over and even defeated Fnatic in the first round of play. However, Fnatic’s grueling win over group favourites mousesports gave them a much needed lifeline. This meant three teams ended the first round with a 2-1 score.
However, in the second round of play, mousesports and Fnatic just played their usual games and mostly cruised through.
There were two tense moments however, where they lost the runback against mousesports and were placed in a do-or-die last match of the day against Energypot Wizards. The game itself was incredibly tense, both teams sitting almost evenly for about 28 minutes before Fnatic finally found a crucial skirmish. They then secured the Ocean Soul, another big teamfight and their ticket into the Knockout stages.
And yes, we never doubted them. Just like Excel.
The knockout stage
Since both our UKLC representatives (soon to be playing in the NLC) exited the group stage in second place, their first hurdle would immediately be against the first-placed teams of the other groups.
BT Excel were drawn against LDLC OL, France’s second seed consisting of the much respected support Yellowstar, while Fnatic Rising faced off against Movistar Riders, Spain’s second seed.
Despite their valiant performances, Excel fall to the foxes in blue
Needless to say, many saw Excel’s miraculous run through groups as a sign of sorts. Perhaps this would be their chance to finally break free of the ‘top eight’ curse, having been at this leg of EUM twice before. Some even hoped that Excel could carry on their fine form and make a run to the finals.
Unfortunately, this was not to be as they fell 2-0 in the quarter final.
LDLC OL’s solo lanes in Bando and Vetheo looked somewhat shaky in groups, but for this series they turned up big time. Simply put, LDLC outplayed Excel in both games almost all across the map.
Despite a spirited effort and a very rarely seen Nami pick by Kasing, LDLC proved too strong and ran them over, ending the game at 26 minutes after an early Baron take.
Game 2 provided no respite for Excel either. The French side’s ruthless early-game streak continued, led by the nitro in the jungle himself, Tynx. LDLC slowly choked Excel out thereafter and gave them no avenue for a comeback, sealing the game in 27 minutes.
In the three times Excel have made it to the EU Masters (this being their third), they’ve never made it past the quarter finals and thus this roadblock continues. Can they overcome it next time?
Still, that miracle run was impressive, and we look forward to seeing how they get on in the NLC this summer.
Fnatic suffer surprise defeat to Movistar Riders
by Dom Sacco
The UK’s Fnatic Rising faced a spirited Spanish side in Movistar Riders this evening, and from game one it was clear that Movistar would not roll over.
It was a relatively close game for the most part, with Fnatic only holding a 2k gold lead at the 35-minute mark, with each team securing three drakes each.
The bot lane and junglers were relatively even for most of game one, but Fnatic top-laner Pride showed his dominance with a 4/0/7 performance as Renekton, with a lead of almost 100cs over Movistar’s beansu. It was a similar story for Fnatic mid-laner MagiFelix over Movistar’s Xico. While the game was pretty even up until the late game, Fnatic won an integral team fight in their jungle and went on to steamroll Movistar’s base.
Game two was a different story. Movistar established a five-kill, 5k gold lead by the 20-minute mark, with three drakes, led by an emphatic ADC performance by JaVaaa (Miss Fortune). After taking the fourth drake and winning a teamfight mid, they took the nexus at the half-hour mark.
Game three was painful to watch as a UK fan. It was Fnatic’s turn to get ahead, with three drakes and a 6k gold lead at 20 minutes. It was Fnatic’s lead to throw. And throw they did.
Movistar picked up the next three drakes, with better teamfighting and positioning, and the longer the game went on, you could feel Fnatic’s frustration rising. And the same went for the final team fight, Fnatic were scattered and Movistar were able to pick them off one by one before ending the game.
And so, the UK’s pain in Europe continues. We’re sure we’ll be back and someday, we will make it to the grand finals. But not today. Now leave us as we drown our sorrows and we’ll see you for the next NLC and UKLC.
Really looking forward to keep working with these boys and progress in summer split. Will be crazy exciting with the new UK/Nordic league and just to continue improving as a team.
— NicoThePico (@NicoThePico) May 6, 2020
Stay safe friends. All love ???????? #FNCWIN
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.
