Eintracht Spandau defeated their opponent Gamer Legion 3:0 in the playoffs of the League of Legends Prime League. In particular, they had a firm grip on the second match from the very beginning. This secures them second place in the playoffs and a direct qualification for the European Masters. There, they will compete for the European Cup and face players like Rekkles.
How did the season go?
- The start of the season was difficult. The completely new team, founded by HandOfBlood and his agency INSTINCT 3, lost their first four matches by a large margin.
- However, things slowly improved and they were able to win their first games. They even celebrated loudly in front of a pub, just like real football fans.
- At halftime of the season, the team was at 4 wins and 5 losses in 8th place. However, they needed at least 6th place to qualify for the playoffs.
- By the end of the season, Eintracht Spandau really picked up the pace. They won 8 games in a row. They consistently relied on the same strategy. In the end, they secured 2nd place, allowing them to compete in the upper bracket of the playoffs.
- There, they faced Gamer Legion, the league’s first-place team, on March 8, against whom they had lost both matches in the regular competition – particularly dramatically in the second.
Eintracht Spandau faltered in the first match, sets a record in round 2
What were the matches like? The playoffs are held in a Best of 5 format. The team that wins three rounds first secures the overall victory and advances to the next round. The loser from the upper bracket gets another chance in the lower bracket. However, those who lose in the lower bracket are completely out.
Eintracht Spandau and GamerLegion played as the 1st and 2nd place teams in the league for direct entry into the finals. However, the loser can achieve a rematch if they defeat the team in 3rd place in the lower bracket.
How did the first match go? The first match was a back-and-forth affair. Both teams met on even terms, and the lead in gold and map dominance shifted repeatedly.
By the 17th minute, Gamer Legion actually had the game under control. On both sides, one tower had fallen, and both teams had a dragon. However, Legion had 2,000 gold more, thanks to Jinjo’s excellent farming on the bot lane.
But a lost teamfight led to the second dragon and the second mid lane tower for Eintracht Spandau. A second won teamfight at Baron at the 22nd minute resulted in a Baron and a gold lead for Spandau. Particularly Special in the mid lane for Spandau showed a strong performance.
- After that, Eintracht Spandau unfortunately got caught off guard twice and lost control again.
- At the 30th minute, Gamer Legion lost a teamfight, resulting in the second Baron for HandOfBlood’s team. The gold was previously almost equal, but then clearly shifted towards Spandau.
- At the 36th minute, however, Eintracht Spandau lost another teamfight, and Gamer Legion came back. They secured their first Baron but lost the dragon soul to Spandau. At this point, both teams had 69,000 gold.
A final teamfight at the 42nd minute sealed the victory for Spandau.
How did the second match go? The second duel between the two giants was dominated by Eintracht Spandau from the start. Already at the 8th minute, a teamfight occurred in which GamerLegion lost 4 players and shortly before that the dragon. They never recovered from that.
Eintracht Spandau even set a record. They finished the match in 22:04 minutes, which was also the shortest match of the entire season. They beat the previous fastest match by almost 40 seconds.
How did the third match go? It started off strong for GamerLegion, who secured the first blood before the 2nd minute. Obsess, the jungler for Spandau, had been too aggressive in an invade at the Bluebuff.
However, Obsess recovered well on Udyr. Already at the 4th minute, he executed a gank on the bot lane, which significantly advanced his carry Kynatic.
But GamerLegion stayed on them and kept landing good pokes. At the 14th minute, the team secured 3 kills, and shortly after, AD-carry Jinjo achieved a double kill. By the 22nd minute, GamerLegion was leading with 13:8 kills but had less than 1,000 gold advantage and was behind in towers and dragons.
A good teamfight at the 27th minute, especially with Kynetic performing well on Aphelios, secured important kills and the first Baron for Eintracht Spandau. They utilized this Baron immediately to take down the entire enemy base and won the series against GamerLegion 3:0.
You can watch the complete matches again on YouTube:
Eintracht Spandau is the favorite of the DACH region, soon to face international top teams
What does the victory mean for Spandau? HandOfBlood’s team is guaranteed a spot in the European Masters in spring. In this tournament, the best teams from various regions in Europe compete against each other.
The Strauss Prime League is the highest league from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. However, there are other leagues like the LFL, which is the highest French league. There, AD-carry Rekkles, who has been in the LEC for years, plays for the team Karmine Corp. They are currently in 1st place in the league.
Meanwhile, in the Spanish LVP, the second team from Fnatic is currently dominating. Both Karmine Corp and Fnatic TQ were the teams that battled for the European Masters final in summer 2021. The German team BiG managed to achieve 3rd/4th place at that time.
Whether Eintracht Spandau can go on to win the European Cup remains to be seen. However, after their strong performance against GamerLegion, they are currently the great hope from Germany. The only German team that has previously won the EU Masters was BiG in summer 2019.
In the highest European league, the LEC, the regular spring split has also recently concluded. And last year’s champion could not reach the playoffs:
LoL: Money does get kills – The assembled super team kicks the champion out
