Tim Reichert, the former CEO of Excel Esports, and José Díaz, the former CEO of Giants Gaming, will jointly helm the organization as co-CEOs.
This announcement was made on Twitch.tv, where the leaders emphasized their commitment to competing in various leagues, maintaining existing partnerships, exploring new esports, and expanding globally.
The merger marks the end of the familiar Excel Esports and Giants Gaming logos, making way for the newly minted GIANTX branding.
The organization is set to participate in high-profile leagues, including the League of Legends EMEA Championship, VALORANT Champions Tour Series, Game Changers, Spanish LVP, FC24, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
GIANTX aims to cater to a diverse fan base by creating bilingual content, targeting the vast Spanish-speaking audience, and positioning themselves as the team for the Spanish region to rally behind.
The organization retains their workforce, with headquarters in London and Malaga and a performance centre in Berlin.
The combined resources will be utilized to explore new opportunities and venture into additional competitive gaming titles.
The leadership duo, Reichert and Díaz, expressed confidence in GIANTX becoming a major player in the esports universe.
The organization’s global vision spans from London to Malaga, with Berlin serving as a central sports hub for major competitions.
The merged entity will continue partnerships with both organizations, emphasizing the creation of a unified vision to broaden the global audience and optimize competitive strategies.
In terms of competitive rosters, the organization will compete in VCT EMEA 2024, LEC 2024, and the Spanish LVP and Game Changers, combining the strengths of Giants and Excel.
The League of Legends roster for LEC 2024 includes Andrei “Odoamne” Pascu, Lee “Peach” Min-gyu, Patrik “Patrik” Jír?, Adam “Jackies” Je?ábek, and Lee “IgNar” Dong-geun, aiming for success in the upcoming season.
As the esports community anticipates the impact of this merger, GIANTX enters the scene with aspirations to leave a lasting mark on the competitive gaming landscape.
A legacy in Southern Europe
A challenger from The North
Unite to disrupt the equilibrium
Together we stand as GIANTX pic.twitter.com/GRpWUZF0la
— GIANTX (@GIANTXENG) December 14, 2023
]]>
On Thursday, November 10 the organization released a video via its official Twitter page revealing the list of players to represent them in the international scene.
We didn't want any official leaks happening so we kinda had to hack Riot
Meet our #VCT roster for 2023. pic.twitter.com/aoHL0GGfXW
— Giants (@GiantsGaming) November 10, 2022
This included Adolfo “Fit1nho” Gallego who has been on the team since last year, Retired Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player ?ygimantas “nukkye” Chmieliauskas, former Gen.G Esports player Emir “rhyme” Muminovic,
Russian player Kirill “Cloud” Nehozhin and former G2 Esports player Aaro “hoody” Peltokangas. Also joining the team as their head coach is former G2 Esports Russian coach Daniil “pipsoN” Meshcheryakov.
G2 Esports did not make the Riot partnership for the forthcoming year, which has led to their Valorant team members taking a run at other partnered organizations such as Giant Gaming.
The EMEA team made its debut in the Valorant scene in 2020, but has managed to amass great success despite its short stint in the game. The team has played incredibly well both on the domestic and international stages. At the 2021 EMEA VCT Giant Gaming came out earning a 5th-6th at the Challengers playoffs.
The team’s new coach, PipsoN, is a former CS:GO coach and has recently represented several esports teams from various regions, such as Orgless, G2 Esports. He can also be said to be a returning coach, having coached the Giants’ Gaming Valorant team in 2021. As a coach, the 27-year-old has had his fair share of ups and downs in tournaments; while he has led his teams to victories, he has also overseen disappointing play. The 2022 VCT EMEA Last Chance Qualifier saw him guide G2 Esports to a 3rd place finish.
Nukkye, on the other hand, is a Lithuanian former CS:GO player who started his esports professional career as early as 2016 but only transitioned to Valorant in 2020. And ever since, he has represented top teams such as Team Heretics and, most recently, G2 Esports. The 25-year-old versatile player also competed in the 2022 VCT: VCT Stage 1 Master Reykjavik, in which they came in 5th or 6th place in the match. Nukkye has now been assigned to play the flex role for Giant Gaming.
Rhyme, who will take on the controller role in his new team, is also a former CS:GO player and a Norwegian national who has been a member of some top teams such as Ninjas in Pyjamas, Gen.G Esports, and he played in Funplus Phoenix about two months ago as a substitute in the 2022 Valorant Champions. Rhyme is also the in-game leader of the newly formed roster.
Cloud, who will be the primary initiator for the team, began his professional career early in the last year while playing with Crowcrowd. He has competed on numerous occasions on international stages. In addition, he has won the Most Valuable Player title at the 2021 VCT: CIS Stage 3 Challenger 1.
Hoody is a Finland national who also transitioned from CS:GO to Valorant, like his current teammates rhyme and nuykkye.started He has competed for teams like Orgless, G2 Esports, and in 2021 he had a 10-month stint with Giant Gaming.
Fit1nho, who has been on the team the longest, has been tasked with the role of primary duelist. He has participated in the team through tons of tournaments such as the 2021 VCT, the LVP Genesis Cup Visión and lots more.
The newly put-together team will play for the first time at the Kickoff tournament of the 2023 VCT, which is scheduled to be held in February in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
]]>The acquisition of x6tence is just one of many business deals that Giants Gaming – officially the Vodafone Giants – have made this year following a US $3.3 million investment from the Sánchez Cózar Group, which consists of founder José Antonio Sánchez Cózar and key shareholders Alejandro Beltran, Gabriel Saenz de Buruaga, Luis Ferrandiz, and Lolito Fernández.
The financial terms of the deal that united two of Spain’s biggest esports organisations were not disclosed to the public.
While the two parties are currently working on integrating x6tence’s staff into their new parent company, the team’s CS:GO roster were not a part of the deal. This leaves Jonathan “JonY BoY” Mu?o, Nicolas “NikoM” Miozzi, Tomás “tomi” Guardia, Matias “tutehen” Canale, and Morís “OMG” Marquez-Cid without a team.
Although x6tence’s CS:GO squad have not won a single tournament since GAME Stadium 2017, the Spanish team showed some promise at the end of May this year when they made it to the semi-finals of ESL Masters Espa?a Season 7. Nevertheless, the overall performance of the roster did not reach the goals that had been set by the organisation.
“With yesterday’s news, we announced that our intention was to return x6tence to where it deserves to be, especially when it comes to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive,” read the announcement on x6tence’s official website.
“After a period of 10 months since the CS: GO first team project began, in which we have not achieved the stated objectives, it has been decided to pause the activity of the roster immediately.”
This deal won’t mark the end of x6tence as a CS:GO team, as Vodafone Giants CEO José Ramón Díaz said they will continue operating under their own name for the time being. Mr Díaz also noted that this acquisition gives his organisation the ability to work with two brands at the same time, which should attract more sponsors and help develop the Spanish esports scene.
“Giants Gaming has been consolidating an unprecedented market leadership position in recent years and we believe that it is time to make a change of pace and go a step further. With the acquisition of the X6tence brand and our incorporation into the project, we kick-start a new stage of hope where we will work like never before to reformulate the rules of esports,” said Mr Díaz.
The next step for x6tence is to “restructure the division and redefine new goals and objectives”, with the intention to grow the brand and assemble a team that will represent one of the oldest Spanish esports teams.
This deal also sees x6tence’s League of Legends team, which competes in the Liga de Videojuegos Profesional SuperLiga Orange (LVP SLO), rebranded as Vodafone Giants for the LVP SLO 2020 Summer competition, slated to kick off on Monday, June 15.
]]>The Portuguese organization made it official on December 20 when they announced the pair would be exploring options outside the team.
JUST and Stadodo have wasted little time revealing their plans, announcing they would be joining forces with Christopher “MUTiRiS” Fernandes, Ricardo “rmn” Oliveira and Omar “arki” Chakkor, who will all leave the Giants at the end of the year, following a split with veteran Ricardo “fox” Pacheco. While the members of the team are largely finalised, the quartet have not revealed a team name or sponsors.
Both stadodo and JUST joined the OFFSET team as two of the founding members of the new roster, which was established in February 2018, when the organization decided to enter the CS:GO scene.
Stadodo opted to leave the team later in August 2018 to enjoy a short stint with For The Win Esports, before he made his way back to OFFSET in late December 2018. Due to his ability as a player and a team leader, stadodo also took over the role of an in-game-leader in September 2019, after Ricardo “zlynx” Matos left the active roster to take on the role of Esports Director at OFFSET.
JUST stayed with the team since his arrival in February 2018 and during that time proved to be one of the key members of the team, which has been making waves in the Portuguese CS:GO scene in 2019.
In 2019 alone, OFFSET won 14 tournaments, including three qualifiers and claimed either a second or third-place finish in eight other events. OFFSET also participated at Moche XL Esports 2019 in June, where they finished fifth-sixth after suffering a reverse sweep defeat against GamerLegion (1-2), yet their biggest achievement is their back-to-back ESL Master Season titles.
While a fairly successful team throughout 2019, the recent news leave OFFSET with huge shoes to fill, having lost two of their top performing players, one of whom was also team’s IGL.
With the departure of JUST and stadodo, OFFSET are left with a three-man roster of Francisco “obj” Ramos, Paulo “pr” Silva and Rui “RIZZZ” Lima, who are now on a lookout for new members.
MuTiRis, rmn, arki, JUST and stadodo, on the other side will form a new team, which will be coached by current Giants coach – Ricardo “AIm” Almeida. The new Portuguese team are reportedly on a lookout for an organisation to represent in 2020.
The CS:GO community took the news with mixed feelings, yet there is clearly some optimism surrounding the new five-man roster, who is believed to become a force to be reckoned with in the Iberian scene and should they find a proper organization, MuTiRis, rmn, arki, JUST and stadodo just might make an appearance in the international scene as well.
]]>Whoever wins the upcoming fixture will earn the chance to prove themselves at the main event, which will be a great achievement for teams of this calibre.
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Movistar Riders have made a few roster changes in 2019 so far, starting in January when they appointed Galder “bladE” Barcena as head coach. In March they lost Christian “loWel” Garcia to the HellRaisers and in April they signed Raúl “DeathZz” Jordán Nieto to complete the starting line-up.
Movistar have won three out of their last five matches, defeating ENCE (16-14), Ambush (2-0) and Epsilon (2-1) while losing a BO1 match to Epsilon and a BO3 match to Sprout. They also played in the Kalashnikov Cup Season 2, where they lost all three matches against Epsilon (16-11), expert (16-14) and Syman (16-13).
Their opponents have made a few roster changes as well. Giants have benched Jo?o “KILLDREAM” Ferreira and replaced him with Luís “ZELIN” Lousada, who joined the team on trial back in February 2019. At the end of March, Rui “rizzz” Lima was dropped and Jo?o “KILLDREAM” Ferreira allowed back into the starting line-up.
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Like their fellow Iberian outfit, Giants were present at the Kalashnikov Cup Season 2 and the results were quite similar. They lost all three matches against Nemiga (16-7), DreamEaters (16-13) and forZe (16-8) and placed dead last in the league due to Movistar’s better round difference (-10).
But unlike Riders, who were invited by the tournament’s organisers, Giants Gaming had to go through an online qualifier to reach this stage. They played a total of three maps in two matches, winning the first match 2-0 against Cream and following up with a 2-1 win against Queso in the qualifier finals. Veteran Ricardo “fox” Pacheco averaged a 1.13 HLTV rating and was also the best player in the qualifier with the 1.43 HLTV rating – quite an achievement for a player that most consider to be washed up.
Movistar Riders are considered favourites priced at around $1.40 odds, which overrates them a bit. They are probably the better team, but both want to play at the main event and have had enough time to prepare for each other.
Expect all three maps to be played. The Giants should have a legitimate chance for an upset, especially if Pacheco performs as he did in the qualifier. The odds for the Over 2.5 maps are around $2.00, which is enough value to recommend a bet on both teams winning at least one map.
Prediction: Over 2.5 maps – $2.00 at GG Bet
The only team locked in its place are the league leaders Fnatic, while all the other competitors have the chance to move either up or down on the ladder. The battle for the last playoff spots is going to be a bloodbath, with six teams fighting over the two spots. Let’s dive into the matches then!
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GIANTS GAMING vs. SPLYCE
Another tough game for Giants, but this time against a team who definitely won’t hold back. Splyce will fight tooth and nail for the playoff bye, and Giants are probably just a minor obstacle for them at the moment. Both individually and macro-wise, Splyce have an edge on Giants on paper, but we won’t know until the game starts. Still, in maybe the most heavily favored match of the week, Splyce are likely to send Giants home before the playoffs.
Best bet: Splyce to win $1.50 with GG Bet
H2K vs. TEAM ROCCAT
Not an easy match to predict, but if we take recent form into consideration… well, it’s still not an easy match to predict. Both of these teams can be brilliant, with H2K beating G2 and Misfits, and Roccat smashing G2 and Vitality in recent games, but when matched against each other, it’s near impossible to know who will be victorious. As mentioned earlier, Roccat likes playing simple snowbally comps, while H2K sometimes likes to give Marcin “Selfie” Wolski and Patrik “Sheriff” Jiru scaling champions and stall the game. In this match, I would give a very slight edge to Roccat, simply because they have looked much more coherent in their macro, but H2K certainly have their say and won’t back down easily.
Best bet: Team Roccat to win $1.53 with GG Bet
UNICORNS OF LOVE vs. MISFITS GAMING
Again, two direct contenders for the last playoff spots meet each other. If UOL lose to G2 earlier, their path to playoffs is over, but if they win, Misfits should be more than respectful towards the motivated bunch of Unicorns they will be playing. Misfits are certainly better individually, but their lows can be so low that UOL might completely stomp them in team-fights. UOL’s strong mid-game team-fighting and synergy will be tough to deal with for Misfits, but if the Rabbits have a good enough early game, the team-fights may not even be needed to win the game for them. Overall, Nubar “Maxlore” Sarafian and the rest of the team will have to stop Jonas “Kold” Andersen from getting the Unicorns ahead, and since Kold is well known for his shaky pathing and getting caught out, a slight edge to Misfits might be the most that can be said about this match.
Best bet: Misfits Gaming to win $1.36 with GG Bet
G2 vs. TEAM VITALITY
The two shakiest of the top four teams meet in their last game of the split, directly fighting over a higher spot on the table. GodGilius and the crew might have what it takes to take down G2, especially if Perkz plays as badly as he did last week, and Jiizuke comes out of lane with a lead. Vitality’s bot lane also seems much more stable than the much criticized duo of G2. The answer to G2’s needs will lie in the top lane and jungle positions, where Martin “Wunder” Hansen has been popping off all split, and is very likely to beat Lucas “Cabochard” Simon-Meslet in lane convincingly. Marcin “Jankos” Jankowski is also in much better form than Gilius, and shutting his opponent in the early game will be of key value for G2. Still, Vitality’s simple strategy has worked against struggling teams, and the Bees have a good chance of taking this game.
Best bet: Team Vitality to win $2.20 with GG Bet
FNATIC vs. FC SCHALKE 04
The last game of the split will be the regular split winners Fnatic playing against the newly motivated Schalke. The German team is one of the most mechanically proficient in the league, and if Fnatic decides to take the game easy or practice some new compositions, Schalke might punish them and lock their cherished playoff spot. However, Martin “Rekkles” Larsson and Rasmus “Caps” Winther have looked unbeatable in the last few weeks, and will probably have their own reasons to display their full skills and confidently decimate any opponent they face. Fnatic are the favorites once again, but the Boys in Royal Blue might just catch the last train to playoffs with a win in one of the toughest matches of the season.
Best bet: Fnatic to win $1.40 with GG Bet
League of Legends EU predictions for Sunday
- GIA vs SPY – SPY
- H2k vs ROC – ROC
- UOL vs MSF – MSF
- G2 vs VIT – VIT
- FNC vs S04 – FNC Best place to get involved in the above action is with GG Bet ]]>
Another lucrative four-fold payout was snatched out of our reach last week after H2K spectacularly choked to Unicorns of Love, the worst team in the League. Thankfully, our favourites – Giants, Misfits and Vitality soldiered on with solid form.
Here are our top picks for Week 4 of the EU LCS Spring Split.
EU LCS Spring Split, Week 4 Accumulator of the Week with Betway Esports
- Splyce to beat H2K – 1.30
- Team Vitality to beat ROCCAT – 1.55
- Giants to beat Misfits – 2.30
- Schalke 04 to beat G2 – 2.05
Betway.com fourfold accumulator pays 9.50
H2K Gaming vs. Splyce
Game 1, Friday, February 2, 5pm GMT / 6pm CET
H2K played some terrible LoL last weekend, steamrolled by the previously winless Unicorns of Love and humiliated by G2 the following afternoon with only one kill to their team’s name.
The group need to rethink their ability to properly use game-scaling to their advantage, given the fast and decisive manner in which both of their previous opponents swept them to prevent any chance of a late-game rush.
Meanwhile, Splyce upset the superior Team Vitality with smarter positioning but wasted their farming and hypercarry advantages against G2.
So long as mid-laner Yasin ‘Nisqy’ Dincer Kasper and top-laner Andrei ‘Odoamme’ Pascu are less conservative in the opening minutes, we think Splyce can learn their lesson in time for a bounce back against the new bottom-of-the-barrel team.
Splyce to beat H2K Gaming – 1.30 at Betway.com
ROCCAT vs. Team Vitality
Game 2, Friday, February 2, 6pm GMT / 7pm CET
Team Vitality continue to destroy the competition with better macro play, unwavering defense and smart teamfight baiting to catch cocky opponents off-guard and remain on top of the standings at 5 -1. An easy pick, then.
Jungler Erberk ‘Gilius’ Demir was the star of last week, using smartly timed ults with Sejuani to bring back the match against Schalke 04 under their control while the rest of the squad picked off objectives and built up their gold lead for a final, decisive push.
As we predicted, ROCCAT show no signs of adjusting their overly aggressive plays for higher-ranked opponents like Vitality, and suffered snowball losses to Fnactic and Giants as a result – and we’re not too confident they won’t repeat the same mistakes here in their desperation for a win.
Team Vitality to beat ROCCAT – 1.55 at Betway.com
Giants vs. Misfits
Game 3, Friday, February 2, 7pm GMT / 8pm CET
The Giants continue to focus on objective play and the long-game to great effect, as demonstrated with their comeback win over ROCCAT last weekend.
Mid laner Felix ‘Betsy’ Edling led the Giants with his dominant Azir and an overwhelming hyper carry, while AD carry Pierre ‘Steeelback’ Medjaldi’s smart positioning was crucial in shutting out ROCCAT from a late-game Baron secure.
Misfits leaned a little too hard on AD carry Steven ‘Hans sama’ Liv last week, who carried the overly passive team to victory over Fnatic with his ridiculously high damage output.
However, they arguably only got the lead after Fnatic fumbled on a critical teamfight push, and displayed a lack of coordination in where to press their opponent even with a 6,000 gold lead.
Expect a back-and-forth struggle given the way these two have been fighting the past few weekends, but the Giants will know how to close.
Giants to beat Misfits – 2.30 at Betway.com
G2 vs. Schalke 04
Game 5, Friday, February 2, 9pm GMT / 10pm CET
Both G2 and Schalke have struggled to find their place in the EU LCS Spring Split – this match will determine who ascends from the middle of the pack and gets a real chance at top 3.
G2 returned to form with their dismantling of Splyce last weekend, smartly calling their Elder Dragon bluff while mid laner Luka ‘Perkz’ Perkovi? performed some crucial clutch sleeps for easy teamfights and a slow and steady close.
Schalke have significantly improved on the teamfighting front and in securing the right picks throughout the game, with mid-laner Erlend ‘Nukeduck’ Holm continuing to deal out consistent damage as Galio and top-laner Milo ‘Pride’ Wehnes exerting constant pressure as Kha’Zix.
We’re backing Schalke 04 for another bounce back given their better team composition, especially if Nukeduck can continue to keep the mid-lane down on lock.
]]>Another glorious four-leg multi payout was just out of our reach last week after Splyce disappointingly rolled over to ROCCAT, though Fnatic, Misfits and Schalke continued to pull the rug from under the EU LCS’s favourites as we predicted.
Here are our top picks for Week 3 of the EU LCS Spring Split.
EU LCS Spring Split, Week 3 Accumulator of the Week with Betway Esports
- H2K Gaming to beat Unicorns of Love – 1.80
- Giants Gaming to beat ROCCAT – 1.85
- Team Vitality to beat Schalke 04 – 1.70
- Misfits to beat Fnatic – 1.90
Betway.com fourfold accumulator pays 10.75
Unicorns of Love vs. H2K Gaming
Game 1, Friday, February 2, 5pm GMT / 6pm CET
Unicorns of Love remain the only winless team in the EU LCS heading into Week 3 and we’re not surprised one bit.
They’re prone to sudden collapse after any opponent gets a teamfight snowball rolling and without a strong shotcaller, their indecisiveness has led to predictable, albeit entertaining massacres.
H2K Gaming fared little better last week in match-wins, but they scored plenty of First Bloods and early skirmish victories that showed some significant improvement in their lane-control.
Both teams will be looking to bounce back from straight losses, but we reckon H2K are due for a proper comeback game this Friday.
H2K Gaming to beat Unicorns of Love – 1.80 at Betway.com
Giants Gaming vs. ROCCAT
Game 2, Friday, February 2, 6pm GMT / 7pm CET
Both the Giants and ROCCAT head into their clash on Friday in form, though we think the former are better equipped to deliver the upset.
The Giants have opted for the long-game over aggro plays to find great success this series, patiently gold farming and handing off a few battles here or there before overwhelming their overconfident foes around the half-hour mark.
Mid laner Felix ‘Betsy’ Edling is the Giants player to beat after his excellent performance as Veigar last week, smartly using his stack of AP to decimate G2 and secure his team’s logic-defying comeback victory. AD carry Pierre ‘Steeelback’ Medjaldi and his late-game Kog’Maw is another emergent threat ROCCAT will need to shut down early.
ROCCAT doubled down on its aggressive objective baiting last week which worked against both of its weaker, more impatient opponents. However, the Giants are a much more disciplined threat, and so long as they keep promising ROCCAT mid-laner Jin ‘Blanc’ Seong-min from dominanting as Azir, they can set the pace once more.
Giants Gaming to beat ROCCAT – 1.85 at Betway.com
Schalke 04 vs. Team Vitality
Game 3, Friday, February 2, 7pm GMT / 8pm CET
Mid-lane marvel Erlend ‘Nukeduck’ Holm continues to be instrumental in Schalke 04’s handful of surprise victories this EU LCS series.
With pinpoint precision as Malzahar, Nukeduck and company have shut out numerous enemy carries and turned around many early skirmishes with calm and coordinated counter-plays.
As much as we’ve rooted for Schalke since the preseason, however, Team Vitality have shown superior macro play in almost every single match to-date – and we’re expect another decisive victory here.
Whether it’s mid-laner Daniele ‘Jiizuke’ di Mauro assassinating foes left, right and center as Ryze or support Jakub ‘Jactroll’ Skurzyńsk making the most of the late-game, they show no signs of ceding their top position.
Team Vitality to beat Schalke 04 – 1.70 at Betway.com
Fnatic vs. Misfits
Game 5, Friday, February 2, 9pm GMT / 10pm CET
Fnatic are on the verge of a bottom placing and desperately need the win this Friday.
However, their performance last week shows they have yet to improve upon their terrible lane management habits, allowing several opponents to backdoor their Nexus with inefficient recall.
Fnatic’s midlaner Rasmus ‘Caps’ Winther is the weak point the Misfits are more than capable of exploiting, particularly if Steven ‘Hans sama’ Liv can continue his teamfight domination while jungler Nubar ‘Maxlore’ Sarafian sows discord with more sneaky objective captures.
Misfits to beat Fnactic – 1.90 at Betway.com
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The EU LCS spring tournament will see 10 teams duke it out for top spot in Europe, and will feature four of the best teams from the previous LCS summer season, winners of the EU LCS Summer playoffs and winners of the EU LCS Spring Promotion. The team that takes home the crown for the Spring Split will get invited to the 2018 Mid Season Invitational, sandwiched between the Spring and Summer Split later this year, for an additional shot at glory.
With major changes to the EU League this year – which includes the removal of mid-year promotion/relegation and the return to a single league, double round robin Bo1 (Best of 1) tournament format – it will be easier than ever for hardcore fans and curious newbies to jump in and start rooting for their favourite professional League of Legends esport teams.
Nearly every single team in the 2018 EU LCS Spring Split could prove to be potential dark horses, making our week-to-week betting opportunities all the more interesting. With the exception of Fnatic, every team has had massive roster shake-ups that will make the playing field a lot less predictable. With the tournament changing back to one game played per match, we fully expect there to be plenty of upsets and new strategies accustomed to steam-rolling the competition in a shorter period of time rather than the long and often agonising Bo3 events we endured last year.
Here are our best picks for Week 1 of the 2018 League of Legends EU LCS Spring Split.
EU LCS Spring Split Accumulator of the Week
- Misfits to beat G2 Esports – 1.90
- Unicorns of Love to beat Giants Gaming – 1.50
- Schalke 04 to beat ROCCAT – 1.45
- Splyce to beat Fnatic – 2.95
Betway.com fourfold accumulator pays 12.19
G2 Esports vs. Misfits
This year’s EU LCS looks like a head-scratcher, but G2 Esports is one of the easier teams to place higher on the list based on their consistent performance last season. Last year their roster thoroughly dominated the Misfits in the EU LCS Summer Split and Summer Playoffs, securing second and first place respectively with straight 2 – 0 and 3 – 0 wins. They only dropped one game to the Misfits in the EU Spring Split before returning to domination and securing the Spring Playoffs with only one match loss to Team ROCCAT. Fitting, then, that the opening match is the most interesting rivarly.
However, those days of glory might just remain in the past, as the old G2 have moved onto other teams with the exception of mid-laner Luka ‘Perkz’ Perkovic. While the new roster built around him looks promising – particularly jungler Marcin ‘Jankos’ Jankowski, one of the best pro LoL players in the EU without an EU LCS title – their inexperience and shorter time together as a team is unfortunately hard to overlook.
The Misfits are Europe’s LoL sweethearts going into the EU LCS. After suffering a heart-breaking defeat to SK Telecom T1 at last year’s World Championships and the loss of two of its star players, Lee ‘IgNar’ Dong-geun Tristan ‘PowerOfEvil’ Schrage, the team has re-organised itself with some strong new talent. Coach Hussain Moosvi will build on their undeniable progress to top 5 LoL team last year with the newly signed Chres ‘Sencux’ Laursen and Mihael ‘Mikyx’ Mehle, two former Splyce team-mates with great on-field synergy who will provide additional back-up for the dream-team duo of Barney ‘Alphari’ Morris and Nubar ‘Maxlore’ Sarafian, arguably two of the best top-laners and junglers in the EU region who many won’t argue got the Misfits to the World Championships with their carry plays.
If the Misfits can find a way to put Sencux’s individual talent as an assassin and splitpush to better effect for the team this season, we see them shaping up to finally have their year. With the switch back to Bo1 and a decent mix of old and new players, the Misfits’ hard-hitting playstyle will make them one of the teams to most likely establish an early lead.
Misfits to beat G2 Esports – 1.90
Unicorns of Love vs. Giants Gaming
Unicorns of Love (UoL) have, like other teams in the EU LCS 2018, suffered a few big losses in the form of veterans Zdravets ‘Hylissang’ Galabov and Tamás ‘Vizicsacsi’ Kiss to other stronger teams which may hurt their chances at playoffs contention. There’s still some solid promise here, though, with Matti ‘WhiteKnight’ Sormunen and Jonas ‘Kold’ Andersen both proven top-laners and junglers, respectively. Samuel “Samux” Fernández Fort is widely considered to be one of the best AD’ers in the league who got caught to UOL’s general under-performance last Split, but we see him most likely getting a proper chance to shine this season.
The Giants have lost the promising line-up that got them through the EU LCS 2018 Spring Promotion to Team Vitality, only retaining top-laner Kim “Ruin” Hyeong-min from their pre-Challenger Series roster, who isn’t a standout himself. Charly ‘Djoko’ Guillard, Felix ‘Betsy’ Edling and Pierre ‘Steelback’ Medjaldi have EU LCS experience but little individual distinction, and with no synergy on display compared to the other newly-formed teams, there’s good reason why the Giants are predicted to be at the bottom of the EU LCS ladder this season.
UoL to beat Giants Gaming – 1.50
Schalke 04 vs ROCCAT
Schalke 04, the esports division of the German football club of the same name, return to the EU LCS after their embarrassing performance in the 2017 Spring Promotion tournament led them to be relegated. All of their roster subsequently abandoned ship, but judging by their substantially reinvigorated roster and management staff, Schalke 04 have made significant investments to become a formidable opponent once more.
For starters, their new line-up all have at least one Split worth of experience under their belt, which was put to good use when they went undefeated in the 2017 Challengers Series, smashing every single opponent 2 – 0 and setting the record of becoming the first ever European team to go undefeated throughout an entire season of the LoL Championship Series.
AD player Elias ‘Upset’ Lipp is the rookie to watch this season; while his trash-talking ways leave a lot to be desired, the raw talent on display in their scrims is undeniably promising, and the more experienced duo of Erlend V?tevik “Nukeduck” Holm and Oskar “Vander” Bogdan will keep him properly focused should their synergy click as we predict. Former LCS support and Riot Games commentator Mitch ‘Krepo’ Voorspoels, now on sub/support is one not to over-look, either.
On the opposite end of the field is ROCCAT, who dumped their more promising 2017 roster for a mix of semi-decent players who may or may not perform well together. Jonas “Memento” Elmarghichi is perhaps their most promising re-acquirement, returning after nearly two years to face his former Shalke alumni. Kim ‘Profit’ Jun-hyung from SKT and Ninjas in Pyjamas is a potential Korean superstar in the making, though he could bring some potential communication issues between the team’s crazily diverse roster.
Despite prior mis-steps in the EU LCS, Schalke 04’s roster are a lot stronger in our eyes, and ROCCAT have a lot more to prove with their mish-mash of so-and-so players before we start backing them.
Schalke 04 to beat ROCCAT – 1.45
Fnatic vs. Splyce
Unlike every other team going into the 2018 EU LCS Spring Split, Fnatic retained the majority of their roster with just one new support player in the form of Zdravets ‘Hylissang’ Galabov, previously of Unicorns of Love. Hylissang is notable for his Thresh play and active shot-calling, and will provide the much needed experience and leadership they required in support, despite Jesse ‘Jeziz’ Le’s decent comeback as player rather than coach last year (Jeziz will sub this season).
Fnatic top-laner Paul ‘sOAZ’ Boyer and the four seasons under his belt also help the team look as solid a line-up as it ever was, though we’re not sure if one new player alone will help stabilise their overall inconsistency, as seen in last year’s Spring Split. sOAZ himself has admitted in recent interviews the team has struggled with synergy and getting along, pointing to these behind-the-scenes troubles as the reason for their poor results last season.
Splyce is arguably the new potential EU super team to beat, based on raw talent alone. Head coach Peter Dun has built a team of European superstars and brought them together to form a deadly new combo to dominate Dun’s side lane control-focused approach. Mid-laner Yasin ‘Nisqy’ Dincer Kasper and support Raymond ‘KaSing’ Tsang are two extremely strong players from the NA LCS and European Challenger Series that will help bolster AD Kasper ‘Kobbe’ Kobberup, the final Splyce from last season who is underrated and who we can see getting the limelight he deserves with the new support formed around him. KaSing in particular is an amazing support and shot-caller we hope continues to perform.
As a collective, Splyce are already stronger than the team that beat Fnatic this time last year, and we think they will provide the first round upset excitement we all crave in this year’s much-needed revamped EU LCS format.
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