Before the season, it was thought that a German midlaner could become champion in the US league of League of Legends. However, expectations were on Tristan “PowerOfEvil” Schrage (23), who played for Team Solo Mid. In the end, it was another German: Felix “Abbedagge” Braun (21) won the LCS title with 100 Thieves, having started the season with Schalke.
This is the champion they counted on:
- The 23-year-old Tristan Schrage made a name for himself in Europe with Origen and Misfits Gaming before moving to the USA in 2018. There, after stints with CLG and FlyQuest, he finally joined the US champion Team Solo Mid in 2020. Already in February 2021, PowerOfEvil was one of the strongest players in LoL in the USA.
- At TSM, PowerOfEvil had to step into big shoes. He was set to replace the legendary midlaner Bjergsen. TSM dominated the regular season, finishing first with an 18-9 record.
- But in the playoffs, TSM faced an early exit. In Round 3, they had to surrender to “Cloud 9”: therefore, TSM will not attend Worlds this year. A disappointment for PowerOfEvil for sure.
This is now the German champion: Felix “Abbedagge” Braun (21) started the season in blue on Schalke but was then sold to the mid-tier team 100 Thieves for reportedly a million US dollars.
There, Braun turned it around and led the team to a strong 2nd place in the regular season.
In the playoffs, although they narrowly lost the first game against Team Liquid 3-2 and had to qualify for the finals through the Loser’s Bracket by defeating Cloud 9, 100 Thieves secured a clear victory in the final with 3:0.
What makes the championship special? 100 Thieves is not among the “big four” that have so far dominated the LoL Championship in the USA: Cloud9, TSM, Team Liquid, and CLG have won all championships so far.
100 Thieves entered the LCS in 2018 and is considered a team that impresses more through content creators and its own merchandise line than through outstanding performance in esports.
But this time, the series against Team Liquid was a clear affair: 100 Thieves won decisively in three games with 3-0.
2 Germans are the best midlaners in the USA in terms of KDA
The German midlaners of the LCS are performing well: Abbedagge is seen as a key player for 100 Thieves:
- In the 17 playoff games, Abbedagge achieved a KDA of 4.1 – he was involved in kills 4 times more often than he died. This is the best value among all midlaners (via oracleselixir).
- PowerOfEvil also has strong values: In 13 playoff games, he achieved a KDA of 4.0.
Both German midlaners are outperforming the expensive EU import Perkz (3.6 KDA) and the US veteran Jensen (3.5).
Abbedagge will now compete at the LoL Worlds 2021 and measure himself against the best players in the world. In the midlane, this includes the Koreans Showmaer (DAMWON Gaming) and Doinb, who plays for the Chinese FunPlus Phoenix.
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