Irish esports organisation Nativz have won the Northern League of Legends Championship Division 1 NLC 2023 Summer Playoffs.
They beat Nord Esports 3-1 in the grand final today to secure their very first NLC title – and a Main Event spot at the upcoming EMEA Masters, which features all the top teams from across the region.
The NLC is of course the EMEA Regional League for the UK, Ireland and Nordics.
Nord Esports will also join Nativz in the EMEA Masters as NLC 2023 Summer Playoffs runners-up. They will join the Play-Ins stage, which gets underway on August 14th.
Nativz also held a summer finals viewing party on their Discord, hosted by SammyJungles aka Evil Sammy and Sator.
Nativz’ roster was Shikari, Stefan, Vladi, DenVoksne and Twiizt, while Nord’s was Kackos, Indecision, OMON, Hido and Seneca. The broadcast talent in the grand finals broadcast were Eragon, Hiprain, Wita and Duckling.
Nativz ADC DenVoksne said after the victory: “Back to back to back summer NLC champion (3-1), really happy to be back at EMEA main stage. Let’s see what we can do. Now it is time to show we can compete with the best. GGs. Nord Esports’ miracle run coming to an end but EMEA Masters still ahead.”
While the NLC 2023 Summer Playoffs win is fantastic for Irish esports, it was tough for the UK esports organisations that made it to the playoffs, with Verdant losing 3-2 to Nativz and 3-0 to Nord, and Ruddy Esports falling 3-1 to Nord in lower bracket round one.
Verdant will feel disappointed in particular given they finished top of the regular season, with Nativz second, Ruddy third and Nord fourth. See more on that in our NLC 2023 Summer Playoffs Teams Confirmed article.
However, Verdant player Knighter was named MVP of the split:
Nord Esports also said it’s not the result they wished for, but the run was ‘impressive nonetheless’.
“Make sure to follow and support the players and coaches who worked hard to get to this point,” Nord added.
“From a rookie roster into a well-oiled machine, we are not even close to our ceiling! Our journey continues on the EMEA Masters Play-Ins stage, starting August 14th.”
Other teams that have qualified for the EMEA Masters 2023 Summer include the likes of Team 7A, Entropiq, KRC Genk and more in the play-ins, along with Karmine Corp, SK Gaming Prime, Bisons Eclub (featuring UK player NoName), Movistar Riders and others, to name a few, in the main event.
Related article: Why the Return of the National Leagues Matters, and What Went Wrong with the NLC Restructure – Opinion by Caster Initialise
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
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 worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
