On November 14, 2021, YouTuber HandOfBlood announced that he would launch an eSports team in League of Legends. This team was called Eintracht Spandau and was set to shake up the German LoL scene. This is now a year ago, and we at MeinMMO are taking stock.
What is special about the team? HandOfBlood and his agency INSTINCT3 had big plans with Eintracht Spandau. They participated directly at the start of the Spring Season 2022 of the Prime League, the highest German-speaking LoL league. There, they wanted to create a stir primarily through storytelling:
- HandOfBlood portrayed himself as a successful, but somewhat foolish and emotional president. His scuffle with the head of the Berlin competitor BiG is unforgettable.
- The LoL streamer Broeki became the janitor and commentator of the co-streams.
- Every match was accompanied by a lot of fuss on Twitch. Notable names such as Maxim, a former LoL shoutcaster, were guests in the streams.
- There were press conferences like the big football teams.
- Besides the team itself, a huge fan base also supported the project. On Twitter, you can find numerous accounts that present themselves as fan clubs of Eintracht Spandau and produce additional content.
HandOfBlood proclaimed during the presentation of Eintracht Spandau that they aimed to land among the top teams in the Prime League in the long term. Moreover, the big goal was to win the European Masters, the highest European tournament behind the professional league LEC.
However, in the first year, not everything went according to plan. Especially in terms of sports, there is room for improvement, as head coach Christoph “nRated” Seitz told us. Appropriately, there are also some roster changes for the 2023 season.
Learn more about Eintracht Spandau in this video:
Disastrous start brought mockery, but a small miracle followed
How did Eintracht Spandau start in 2022? Very modestly. The first four games in a row were lost immediately. We at MeinMMO mocked back then: If they are losing this often right from the start, how can they win a title at the EU Masters?
However, the team showed character right from the first split. They were able to win match number 5 for the first time, and immediately euphoria broke out. The players and fans celebrated the victory like a real football team – with drinks and singing in front of a pub.
The victory was extremely important for morale, as Johannes Gorzel, the Co-CEO of INSTINCT3, revealed to us:
Our most important victory in 2022 was right away the first one, against Wave in the first half of the Prime League. Actually, it was a match against the bottom team without great prestige, but for us it was the relief after a 0:4 start to the league. We celebrated it like some other teams do with their derby wins.
Indeed, the victory against Wave marked a turning point, even though immediately afterward there was a loss against Berlin International Gaming, the “arch-enemy” of Spandau. This was also where the aforementioned scuffle occurred, which we embedded as a video again:
How did Eintracht Spandau make it to the playoffs? After six match days, it looked like Eintracht Spandau would not play a major role in their first split. But that changed.
The team discovered a special mechanic that helped them win over and over again: the dragons. They secured the first dragon every single time in the upcoming matches and usually added more afterwards. They approached the dragon soul so quickly that the opposing teams had to react. Eintracht Spandau took advantage of this ruthlessly.
By the end of the season, they won 8 games in a row and only lost to GamerLegion in the second half. They even achieved second place and qualified for the playoffs for their first entry into the EU Masters.
How did the playoffs go? Curiously. Right at the start, Eintracht Spandau (second place) and GamerLegion (first place) played to see who would need to face an ascending competitor in the semifinals and who would go directly to the finals.
Eintracht Spandau easily swept GamerLegion off the field with 3:0. Suddenly, they were seen as a great hope for Germany. However, GamerLegion made it to the final and took revenge. They sent HandOfBlood’s team home with 3:0 and took the title. A bitter day:
The worst defeat of the entire year was the final in the Spring Split. Had we won there, it would have been the ultimate storyline. We started weak with a losing streak, fought back, and would have ended the split as titans. But it just wasn’t meant to be.
Kevin Westphal, head of the sports department at Eintracht Spandau
Entry into the EU Masters Spring and the next disappointment
What followed after the Spring Split? The best teams from the Prime League entered the EU Masters. This is a tournament in which the best teams from all over Europe compete for the trophy. The EU Masters take place once in spring and once in summer.
With the second place in the Spring Split, Eintracht Spandau directly made the jump into the tournament, but they didn’t get far. They were eliminated early in the group stage.
Although they won against the Serbian team Crvena zvezda Esports, that was also the obligatory win. They lost against the French team Vitality.Bee and the Polish team AGO. Although the team of HandOfBlood showed morale in the end and eventually defeated the group leader, it wasn’t enough to advance.
In the end, both AGO and Vitality.Bee reached the semifinals, but ultimately the team Karmine Corp, featuring the pro Rekkles, won the EU Masters Spring 2022.
Strong start in the Summer Split – will it be enough for the title this time?
How did the second half of the season go? In May, the Summer Split in the Prime League started. Eintracht Spandau aimed for the title and immediately did everything right at the start.
After three match days, the team had won all matches and even had time for a little mischief. As four teams stood jointly in first place, they renamed themselves to Aintracht Spandau – because the table was sorted alphabetically. Thus, they briefly held first place.
Matches four and five could still be won, but then the team fell into a slump. Match days 6, 8, and 9 were lost, and the second half also began with a defeat.
In the end, they only managed to secure fifth place, but at least qualified for the playoffs. However, they dramatically lost 2:3 against Schalke 04 Esports, who ultimately secured second place. Thus, Eintracht Spandau also missed the qualification for the EU Masters in the summer.
The last chance: the Prime League Supercup
What happened next? The last major tournament of the year was the Prime League Super Cup, a new format. There, the teams from the Prime League, Prime League 2, Prime League 3, and four invited teams competed.
Eintracht Spandau confidently advanced with a 6:0 record through the group stage and won their first match in the knockout phase. However, they were stopped in the quarter-finals against SK Gaming Prime. In the end, Hertha BSC from the second league won, followed by BiG in second place along with SK Gaming Prime and Kaufland Hangry Knights in third/fourth place.
The Kaufland Hangry Knights are an interesting team as the grocery retailer offered a scholarship and gaming house, and over 500 applicants competed for a spot on the team. They started in the fourth league but will already be playing in league two in 2023:
How did the year go for HandOfBlood’s team? For Eintracht Spandau, the first year as a team ended up being disappointing overall. There was no title and only one qualification for the EU Masters. Coach nRated told us:
From a sporting point of view, we could have achieved more; thus, we are satisfied with the performance of the individual players, but not with the end result. There was more potential.
Eintracht Spandau is a huge asset for the German LoL scene
Was everything bad in 2022? No, because Eintracht Spandau achieved an incredible number of milestones. HandOfBlood and his team’s biggest wish was to shake up the German LoL scene. And they succeeded.
- In 2021, an average of nearly 4,091 people watched the streams of the Prime League.
- In 2022, it was 9,215 on average.
- In 2021, the peak viewership reached 38,000. However, the second-largest stream only attracted 23,000 viewers at its peak.
- In April 2022, there were over 43,000 viewers, and later, thanks to NNO, a team of streamers, even over 78,000 people watched at their peak.
- Additionally, Eintracht Spandau launched their Twitch channel with almost 11,000 viewers on average and 37,000 at peak.
Moreover, many more media reported on the German league. We ourselves at MeinMMO wrote more than 20 articles about the team, and even general media outlets like Der Tagesspiegel and Sportschau took interest in the topic.
For Eintracht Spandau, it also went well. Their YouTube channel had already gained 100,000 subscribers by February and is now a Twitch partner.
Is there still more to achieve? INSTINCT3 is not satisfied yet. Especially in international comparison, the German league lags significantly behind France and Spain, where an average of 20,000 people watch and peak viewership exceeds 100,000.
We need to generate more enthusiasm for the league and its characters. And all this requires the teams, the league, and the media to step up. None of these groups are exactly shining right now.
If NNO had been promoted to the first division of the Prime League, this problem would likely have solved itself. That’s why it’s unfortunate that it didn’t work out.
Johannes Gorzel, Co-CEO of INSTINCT3
Coach nRated sees the sporting aspect as especially important:
It is also important that the sporting perception of the Prime League fundamentally changes in the European comparison. For this, there must be Prime League teams that take the sporting aspect seriously and make an impact in the EU Masters semifinals and finals. We plan to contribute to that.
Kevin Westphal also wishes that other German teams would follow suit and create their own storytelling. He jokingly says: “Anyone who takes on the tough challenge of creating a YouTube channel will get a ‘Eintracht Spandau’ cap from me as a gift.”
In a podcast, we discussed in detail with Johannes Gorzel and Kevin Westphal about Eintracht Spandau and the idea behind the team:
A sporting reorganization for 2023
What’s next for Eintracht Spandau? It is certain that the old team will not be taken completely into the new season. Currently, all five players are allowed to explore the market and seek offers from new teams. What the roster for 2023 will look like is still unknown.
In addition to player changes, the organization is also working on itself. Johannes Gorzel states about the future:
We will continue to provide the best infrastructure of all Prime League teams. Aside from that, it is now important to apply many learnings that an organization collects in its first year. Eintracht Spandau will approach 2023 with a strengthened understanding of team dynamics, processes, requirements, and the necessary roster.
What do you think about Eintracht Spandau, the presentation, and the German Prime League in general? What would need to change for you to grow your interest in the league? And which players would complement the team well? Feel free to share in the comments.
You can also check out the original announcement of Eintracht Spandau here:
German YouTuber founds eSports team – Immediately enters the highest German LoL league
