Excel academy team and Vanir eliminated from NLC playoffs as Riddle and Dusty progress

Dom Sacco, Senior Editor

Last Updated: 17/06/2025

The first couple of fixtures in the Spring 2022 NLC playoffs have concluded, and a shock upset has seen Excel academy side JDXL eliminated in round one.

The NLC is the Northern League of Legends Championship, the European Regional League (ERL) for the UK, Ireland and Nordics, and features the best teams from the region.

There were six teams that entered the playoffs after the NLC Spring 2022 season standings were confirmed (in order): Bifrost, X7 Esports, JDXL, Dusty, Vanir and Riddle Esports.

Round one saw UK org Excel face Norwegian org Riddle earlier in the week, with the LEC academy side falling 3-1, and Icelandic org Dusty sweeping Nordic side Vanir 3-0 this evening.

Round two will see top-of-the-table sides Bifrost (Norway) and X7 Esports (Isle of Man) go head-to-head this Saturday (March 19th) and Riddle and Dusty face off next Monday (March 21st).

The winner of the Bifrost/X7 match will progress to the playoffs final and qualify for the Amazon European (EU) Masters, the tournament that will see the top teams from the different ERLs go head-to-head, while the loser will face Riddle or Dusty in the semi-finals.

The NLC grants two EU Masters spots, with the winner of the playoffs heading to the main stage, and the runner-up starting in the play-ins stage.

The LoL community has recently questioned the number of NLC slots in the EU Masters once again, with British LEC caster Caedrel bemoaning its ‘ridiculous seeding’.

Last year, the NLC saw two of its teams reach the EU Masters finals – Excel Esports academy team (last year known as BTXL) and Fnatic’s academy side Fnatic Rising. Both lost to French side Karmine Corp, who secured back-to-back EU Masters titles in 2021.

The Spring 2022 EU Masters starts on April 4th 2022 with the play-in stage, and finishes with the grand finals on May 8th.

While Excel may be disappointed to be exiting the NLC playoffs, Excel still have the LEC playoffs to play for, which they qualified for recently.

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Dom Sacco, Senior Editor

Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He has almost two decades of experience in journalism, and left Esports News UK in June 2025. 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 also previously worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation.

All Posts By Dom Sacco