League of Legends: LEC Regional Qualifier preview
European League of Legends has finally come to a conclusion in 2019. The LEC Playoffs are over, G2 Esports have been crowned, and all that’s left is to find the third seed Europe will be sending to Worlds in the regional qualifier.
EU fans have been waiting for this for years. European League of Legends is back on top and G2 Esports might be favourites to win the World Championship in October and November. Fnatic also look strong, as the LEC teams are now a force to be reckoned with in global competitions and will have Korean and Chinese teams on their toes heading into Worlds 2019.
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One thing remains to be decided – Europe’s third seed. Origen, Schalke 04, and Splyce will be battling it out over the next two days for the final European Worlds spot. Then, the winner will take on Fnatic to decide who will go through play-ins as the 3rd seed, and who will go straight to groups as EU’s 2nd seed. The regional qualifier consists of three best-of-5 series, beginning with Origen vs. Splyce on Friday.
Origen vs. Splyce
Kicking off Europe’s final event of the year, the Spring Split runners-up take on the Summer Split’s third placed regular season team. The objective is clear for both – win two bo5 series and you’re going to Worlds.
Origen’s monumental collapse in the second half of the season certainly has them heading into this round as the underdogs. Initially it seemed like the perfect homecoming for one of Europe’s most popular League of Legends organisations as they closed out the Spring Split with a second place finish, showcasing clean and intelligent game play along the way.
Nevertheless, the transition from Spring to Summer was less than impressive as the team finished in a disappointing 8th place in the regular season despite a number of playoff places being up for grabs right up until the final day of games. The roster looked to be a shadow of its former self as they struggled to recapture the patient approach to games that brought them so much success earlier in the year.
With the news that veteran jungler Jonas “Kold” Andersen will miss out on the regional qualifier due to health issues (being replaced by rookie jungler Nikolay “Zanzarah” Akatov) Origen fans will be a little less optimistic about their chances of reaching the 2019 World Championship through the regional qualifier.
As for Splyce, LEC viewers would have had them penned in for Europe’s 2nd or 3rd Worlds seed this time last month, but recent events – most notably a shocking 3-0 loss against Rogue – may leave fans and analysts with a different outlook. Despite a stunning regular season run that saw Splyce challenge Fnatic and G2 Esports, carving out a clear “top three”, the playoffs blow suffered at the hands of surprise competitors Rogue has left Splyce’s chances of reaching the World Championship up in the air.
Ultimately this match-up boils down to which Splyce will turn up on stage in Berlin. Will we get a second dose of the regular season masterminds that took down team after team in the late game? Or will it be another case of the lacklustre roster that flopped against Rogue?
Fortunately, Origen’s late substitution means that Andrei “Xerxe” Dragomir, Splyce’s star of the Summer Split, should have free rein over the jungle throughout the series and could propel his team to victory on Friday. Praised for his ability to control the early game and dictate tempo throughout the first twenty minutes, Splyce’s Romanian jungler should have a point to prove after being shut down by Rogue’s Inspired in playoffs.
All in all, the first game of the LEC regional qualifier could go either way. Origen are the more experienced team in bo5 series due to their triumphant Spring Split playoffs run, but Splyce have the edge when it comes to recent success. With a spot at League of Legends’ most prestigious tournament on the line, there’s no doubt both of these sides will be giving it their all in order to face off against Schalke 04 on Saturday to secure their Worlds place.