In League of Legends the playoff race in the European league LEC is over. In 2021, the Spaniards from MAD Lions were still champions, but in the Spring Split of 2022 they will not play a role. The assembled team Vitality has overtaken them and thus eliminated them from the playoff race.
What kind of assembled team is this?
- “Team Vitality” only finished 6th last year in the European LoL league LEC. Therefore, in 2022, they dug deep into their pockets, spent a lot of money, and … ended up again in 6th place.
- The French have “got the best that money can buy”: including the Croatian midlaner Perkz and the British top-laner Alphari, who had spent their time in the USA as mercenaries until they were brought back.
- In 2022, Team Vitality wanted to rise to a major esports team at all costs. The project barely avoided catastrophe, but apparently, this does not harm the egos of the stars.
Team Vitality overtakes MAD Lions, grabs last playoff spot in LoL
How did the season go for Team Vitality? Not so great. The US mercenaries, Perkz and Alphari, arrived out of shape in Europe, and there were cracks in the team. Apparently, the team wanted to be “in shape over the course of the season.”
It barely worked out: With a record of 9-9, they secured the 6th and last spot for the playoffs of the LEC.
Before the last matchday, Team Vitality was actually in a promising position with 8-7:
- However, they lost the “important match” against the MAD Lions and also lost against G2
- But they managed to win against the bottom team Astralis
- Since MAD Lions won 2 matches but also lost against G2, Team Vitality barely managed to secure a spot in the playoffs.
Team Vitality thus faces the MAD Lions, the champions of 2021. They finished the Spring Split with a disappointing 8-10 and are the “negative surprise” of 2022. The champion team had to part with midlaner Humanoid and ADC Carzzy, replacing them with two rookies. However, this has not worked out in the spring. By the way, the Czech Carzzy was one of the 3 newly purchased players at Team Vitality.
Mad Lions is the first team in the history of the LEC to win two championship titles in a row but fail to qualify for the playoffs in the 3rd season.
Barely snuck into the playoffs, but with a lot of self-confidence
This is the amazing part: Despite Team Vitality’s inconsistent performance, the players exude confidence. They apparently believe they have “outstanding individual players.” They seem well prepared for the playoffs, where they have to beat everyone to become champions. This can be done from 6th place as well.
Jungler Selfmade says, for example, that the third-place team Misfits is 90% a “very bad team in the playoffs.”
They themselves are optimistic about making an impact as underdogs in the playoffs. They have prepared “many picks for a 5on5,” says Selfmade (via inven).
However, fans view this more critically; after the clear defeat against MAD Lions (25-8 kills), it was said that the team lacked “teamwork and coordination” among the 5 individual players (via reddit).
Who else is strong?
- The great power in Europe this year is again Rogue, who played 14-4. They were always considered the “young wild ones” along with MAD Lions – but Rogue often struggled in the playoffs. Maybe this year will be different. They will face Misfits in the first round.
- Fnatic comes from a difficult year, having lost half the team and publicly quarreled at the World Championship. However, they stand firm at 13-5. They seem to have brought in good players like the Dane Wunder (top-lane), midlaner Humanoid, and jungler Razork to fill the gaps left by the departure of Bwipo and Adam, who left under quite chaotic conditions.
- A mixed “rebuilding season” is being carried out by the former long-time champions G2. They have given up 3 players and are now rebuilding around midlaner Caps, jungler Jankos, and the German top-laner BrokenBlade. They entered the playoffs in 4th place with a record of 11-7. In the first round of the playoffs, they will face Fnatic immediately.
We have reported in detail about the troubles at Fnatic on MeinMMO:
LoL: The largest talent in Europe leaves Fnatic in a dispute with the German player
