Red Bull eSports
NA may be getting all the franchise love, but EU is still going strong with a new format, two new organizations and a load of new rosters. Come and meet the new-look EU LCS.
It seems 2018 is set to be a massive year for League of Legends esports, and while it’s NA that seems to be getting most of the love for next year, with a franchised league and a lot of big name investors, the EU LCS looks set to be one of the most competitive regions once again.
The competition will again feature 10 teams, but the two-group format is gone; instead returning to the best-of-ones of a few years back, where every team plays everyone twice in the regular season. The broadcast has moved to later in the week, with Fridays and Saturdays being the main broadcast days and we have two new teams in the league.
NA is undoubtedly where most eyes will be at the start of the season, but EU should not be overlooked. Mostly because the league has some of the strongest franchises in League history and the early rosters are shaping up nicely. So let’s take a deeper look at the EU LCS teams for 2018.
NA may be getting all the franchise love, but EU is still going strong with a new format, two new organisations and a load of new rosters. Come and meet the new-look EU LCS.
It seems 2018 is set to be a massive year for League of Legends esports, and while it’s NA that seems to be getting most of the love for next year, with a franchised league and a lot of big name investors, the EU LCS looks set to be one of the most competitive regions once again.
The competition will again feature 10 teams, but the two-group format is gone; instead returning to the best-of-ones of a few years back, where every team plays everyone twice in the regular season. The broadcast has moved to later in the week, with Fridays and Saturdays being the main broadcast days and we have two new teams in the league.
NA is undoubtedly where most eyes will be at the start of the season, but EU should not be overlooked. Mostly because the league has some of the strongest franchises in League history and the early rosters are shaping up nicely. So let’s take a deeper look at the EU LCS teams for 2018.
1. G2 Esports
The new kings of Europe of course return for another year, and again will be hoping to lift the trophy. G2 have dominated the league in recent years, winning the last four splits, and will now be looking to tie Fnatic’s record of five split victories. They’ll have to do this with a new look roster however, as three of their players have moved to new regions. The strength of the G2 organisation should secure them a solid team, but they might not reach the heights of the last squad.
2. Splyce
After a great first year that saw them make it to Worlds, Splyce had a quiet 2017 with the same roster. Now they’ve recruited a new team, only keeping Kasper ‘Kobbe’ Kobberup from last year, but on paper look just as strong. Talent has been brought in from some of EU’s strongest teams and, when combined ,the new Splyce roster has a solid chance in both splits.
3. Fnatic
The former kings of Europe finally found some form in the latter half of this year, which was enough to get them to Worlds and into the quarter finals. Despite this, it’s fair to say that it wasn’t a great year for the org once used to winning every split, so they’ll surely be looking to return to the top this year. We don’t know much about their new roster just yet, but we do know that franchise star Martin ‘Rekkles’ Larsson will return. He built a solid team last year, so this year we expect no different.
4. Misfits
Misfits couldn’t have had a better 2017 without actually going on to win Worlds. After playing their first-ever split in Spring they made it to Worlds by the end of the year and almost pulled off the biggest upset in League history, taking SKT all the way to a game five in the quarter final, which they arguably should have won. They have a new look roster, but the backbone of the team is still there and that should be enough to make them a title contender once again.
5. FC Schalke 04
FC Schalke 04 have had a bit of a rough time of it in League of Legends, getting relegated as soon as they entered the league and never making it back – that is until now. The team dominated the Challenger Series and the roster is filled with LCS veterans. They even have former LCS star player and broadcaster Mitch ‘Krepo’ Voorspoels as their coach. With the backing of a massive football club behind them, things are again looking good for Schalke and the removal of mid-season relegation means they won’t be out within a few months again.
6. Unicorns of Love
The Unicorns have had a rough off-season. Romain Bigeard, their iconic team manager has moved over to the States to run OpTic Gaming’s new LCS team, and their star roster of players have also departed. We don’t really know what their roster will look like just yet, but with Bigeard and the star players gone this’ll be a total rebuild for the Unicorns and that’s never easy. This could be a long season.
7. Team ROCCAT
Quietly, ROCCAT actually had a pretty good season this year and managed to pull themselves out of the ‘destined for relegation’ list of teams. However, that may not be the case for 2018 as we have absolutely no idea what their roster will look like. Most of the big-name free agents have been snapped up and it’d be tough for ROCCAT to sign them in the first place with the likes of Fnatic and G2 looking to rebuild.
8. Giants Gaming
Schalke aren’t the only returning team to the LCS in 2018. Giants are also back after coming through the Challenger Series. They actually made it out of Challenger as the top seed, beating Schalke in the winners bracket, but that might not mean much when the season starts as there’s no word on what their roster will be. We’ve seen Giants prove an inconsistent team at best in previous years and that could be the case once again.
9. H2k
It’s almost a surprise to see H2k in the LCS for 2018 after their very public disagreements with Riot’s setup for EU. H2k have claimed that being in the league is financially unsustainable and that they’d drop out unless Riot met their demands for 2018. Riot seemed to meet them halfway, and H2k are sticking around at least for now. Again, we know little about their roster, but with the org seemingly not prepared to lose money yet again it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them acquire some younger, cheaper, talent.
10. Team Vitality
Team Vitality have been around for a while now and are slowly becoming an EU LCS mainstay. However, in the off-season they lost two players to Schalke, and have made no announcements about their roster for 2018. The org has proven that it can put together solid teams with lesser known players, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see that happen again, especially as the risk of relegation for the first split of the year is now gone. Teams can experiment with new names and make changes in the summer if needed.