Photo Credit: LoL Esports and Riot Games
Overview
Yesterday we focused on the North American LCS and the 10 teams that took part in the Spring Split for 2016, the article can be found here. Today’s article will look at their counterparts in Europe, the EU LCS which also features 10 teams duking it out for a playoff spot. Although both regions feature the same format and structure for the LCS, the results were quite different from both. The NA LCS’s hierarchy was more defined by the end of the season with the top teams and the lower teams separated by a large margin. The EU LCS’s rankings were much closer with the top teams barely edging out their competition.
Photo Credit: hngn.com
EU LCS Spring Regular Season
Rankings: EU LoL Rankings
G2 Esports (15-3): G2 was one of the teams to qualify for the EU Challenger Series and Promotion Tournament last split to receive a spot in the LCS this season. The team did not fail to disappoint fans with a high profile lineup of two Koreans and previous Unicorn of Love jungler, Kikis, moving to the top lane role. A lot of the team’s success can also be attributed to their coach, long time veteran, Youngbuck, who helped the team secure the first seed going into the playoffs.
H2K (14-4): H2K has always been a contender for the top team in the EU LCS ever since their induction in 2014. The team finished 3rd both splits they participated in previously. This time, they did one better, taking the 2nd place spot, just one game behind the leaders, G2. All of their players are veterans of the LCS with some of their players, such as mid-laner, Ryu, and ADC, FORG1VEGRE, in contention for the best player in the world at their roles at one time.
Team Vitality (13-5): The European LCS reveals a common theme in that, the newest additions to the season either perform extremely well or extremely poorly. Vitality showed that they were cut from the former description as compared to the latter with a strong showing. The players themselves are not newcomers to the LCS however, with most of the roster being a combination of the old H2K and Gambit Gaming lineups.
Origen (11-7): Origen made waves in the 2015 EU Summer Split, taking 2nd place by storm and giving the then-invincible Fnatic, a run of their money in the finals of the playoffs. The team was created by ex-Fnatic mid-laner, xPeke, and features some of the oldest veterans of Europe in the lineup. Although the team’s rise was fantastically quick, this season they have slowed down significantly, but still performing relatively well to take the 4th place seed for playoffs.
Unicorns of Love (10-8): UoL are perhaps one of the funniest teams to watch with some of their pocket picks and off-meta champions that throw off both their opponents and sometimes, themselves. Since their arrival into the EU LCS, the Unicorns have always managed to grab a spot above the middle of the rankings with their highest placing being 2nd in their first split. One thing is for certain though, when UoL are playing, the audience can expect an interesting game to unfold.
Fnatic (9-9): Fnatic were the undisputed kings of the European LCS ever since the creation, regularly dominating playoffs and the regular split. In the previous split, they managed to attain an 18-0 record in the regular season. Since then, 3/5 players left to join new teams in North America and the team was forced to find new players to fill their roles. The team has noticeably struggled a bit this split, but still managed to break even in game won and lost at 9.
Elements (6-12): From 6th place to 7th place, the game differences widens a bit with Elements sitting at 3 games back from Fnatic. This team was originally the EU super team of Alliance, but since its creation has seen a major overhaul of its entire roster. Although the team has a few veterans, Elements was one of the “new teams” on the block so to speak.
Splyce (5-13): The 3rd new team to join the LCS, Splyce was the opposite of the other new teams. While both G2 and Vitality performed extraordinarily well for new LCS teams, Splyce was relegated to the bottom of the scoreboard and the Promotion Tournament. It could be that both G2 and Vitality contain rosters with several veterans and whereas Splyce’s roster has mostly rookies.
Roccat (4-14): Roccat’s legacy in the EU LCS has been good in the past, but this season they failed to deliver. The team does not have the excuse that Splyce does, with all of their players having experience on other teams in the LCS. To redeem themselves, they will have to fight their way through the promotion tournament against one of the rising Challenger teams.
Giants (3-15): Giants has been one of the teams that has hung around the border between the LCS and the Challenger Series. They have been relegated several times, but always manage to fight their way back into the LCS. As the lowest seed of all of the relegated LCS teams, they will have the hardest road back into the LCS.
The Playoffs
The EU LCS Spring Split Playoffs will begin on April 2nd with Vitality taking on Fnatic in the first best-of-five series and Origen playing Unicorns on April 3rd. The higher of the seeded winners will then take on H2K with the lower seed getting a chance to play the top seed G2. The 3rd place match will begin on April 16th and the grand finals will be played and concluded on April 17th. For more information about the playoffs or the regular season, the brackets can be found here and information at LoL Esports.