After 48 regular games, 5 tiebreakers and many matches coming down to the wire, the top 8 semi-professional teams in Europe are heading to the playoffs. So far, the EU Masters tournament delivers the kind of League of Legends drama we needed after the playoff finals in Europe and North America.
The EU Masters is the biggest League of Legends tournament in Europe right now, bringing the top regional teams together in a nearly one-month event with bragging rights galore and €150,000 on the line.
The main event saw the top 16 teams clash together in four groups and only the eight best teams in the tournament would advance to the playoffs – and by Sunday evening, we found out who they are.
24 games were not enough
At the end of EU Masters Week 1, two groups had a clear first and second place with a team with a 3-0 and 2-1 score respectively. The other two groups had a labyrinthine 3-way tie for the lead with three squads all standing at 2-1. One might be excused for thinking the former two groups were decided… and one would be wrong.
Week 2 saw a slight change in the format that LoL fans would be familiar with from Worlds, where all the games in one group were played on the same day. The big story of Week 2 was the resurgence of BT Excel in Group A, the UK team which ended the first week with a 0-3 record. They bounced back with three straight wins to force a tiebreaker with Germany’s GamerLegion and then take that game too, securing the second seed.
Meanwhile, Group B’s leaders Vodafone Giants stumbled, leading to a three-way tie where they, LDLC OL and AGO Rogue all ended the day with a 4-2 record. The outcome in Group C was pretty similar as once more three teams – FC Schalke 04 Evolution, K1CK Neosurf and Movistar Riders were once more unable to select a clear winner. The only group where six games were enough to determine the winners was Group D, where mousesports took three clean wins and Fnatic Rising took down Balkan wildcards Energypot Wizards to secure second place.
Tiebreak Heartbreak
Sunday was the day dedicated to the remaining tiebreakers. According to the tournament rules, the two teams with slower wins would fight between themselves for one of the playoff spots, with the winner taking on the third team to determine first and second seed. In Group B, France’s LDLC OC went all the way, taking down first Vodafone Giants and then AGO Rogue to top the group, leaving the Polish squad in second place.
Group C saw Spanish second seed Movistar Riders repeat the same feat as they first eliminated DACH champion FC Schalke 04 Evolution in a nearly 50-minute slugfest and then bested K1CK Neosurf to earn first place.
Somewhat surprisingly, the two regions considered strongest before the tournament – Spain and the Germany, Austria and Switzerland DACH circuits – only have a single representative going forward. France, the UK, Ireland and Poland all have two teams each.
The European Masters continues on Tuesday with mousesports taking on AGO Rogue from 18:00 CEST. Meanwhile, if you missed our previous coverage on Europe’s premier regional tournament, you can catch up here:
READ MORE: