EU Masters Spring 2020: The Top 5 Teams in the Main Event
By Jack Coleman
#2 – Vodafone Giants
🇪🇸 Antonia “The3Antonio” Espinosa (Top)
🇩🇪 Leon “Lamabear” Krüger (Jungle)
🇬🇷 Prodoroms “Pretty” Kevezitidis (Mid)
🇵🇹 Amadeu “Atilla” Carvalho (ADC)
🇵🇱 Robert “Erdote” Nowak (Support)
The Superliga champions Vodafone Giants had a dominant regular season, only dropping three games. During the Spring playoffs, Giants handily dispatched G2 Arctic in the semi-finals before narrowly edging out Movistar Riders in a five-game final. Now, the Spanish team turns its attention towards recapturing the EU Masters trophy for the Superliga.
Upon first look at the roster, the name that stands out is undoubtedly Atilla, the Portuguese AD Carry played for Team Vitality for the 2018 and 2019 seasons. He certainly displayed his caliber during the regular season earning the league’s Most Valuable Player award.
Lamabear also briefly played in Europe’s top division, going winless in eight games in 2017 for Mysterious Monkeys. He has been competing in the Superliga for the past three years, finally lifting the trophy this split.
His partner on the top side, The3Antonio, is also a veteran of the Spanish scene. He has won the league on three separate occasions and is an almost ever-present playoff contender.
Mid laner Pretty has bounced around several European regions since 2015, even competing in the old EU LCS promotion format with Millenium in 2016. Recently, he has looked potent in the center of this Giants roster.
Finally, Update has less experience than his teammates but he has achieved considerable success during his short career. He was part of the Devils.One roster which won the Ultraliga and reached the knockout stage of European Masters last Summer.
The Vodafone Giants will be facing stiff competition in Group B. LDLC finished on top of the Ligue Française de League of Legends (LFL) regular season and only faltered during its finals. They will be the largest threat to Giants and should be prepared for accordingly.
This group is far from a two-horse race, however, as the Ultraliga champions AGO Rogue will also be looking to capture a ticket to the knockout stages. The first-seed Polish team has historically been a threat to the so-called “major” regions and this Rogue team is certainly capable of upsetting the apple cart.
The Dutch champions Defusekids are a question mark, many analysts will place them comfortably at the bottom of this group. However, during the play-in stage, they topped their group ahead of Mad Lions Madrid, one of the top teams in Spain. If Giants play to their potential and don’t get complacent, they can top this group and proceed to face bigger fish in the knockout stage.