The German team Eintracht Spandau wants to shake up the professional scene of League of Legends. Is that going to work? No, not at all. However, the team is still making waves. This is mainly thanks to the founder and YouTuber HandOfBlood, who is making a sincere effort.
What kind of team is this? At the end of 2021, HandOfBlood founded Eintracht Spandau. The goal back then was to directly join the highest German league and win trophies in Europe, and later even the world.
The team consists of many young and some “older” players, at least for LoL standards. Some of them have considerable experience in e-sports. The team had several highs and lows in the past year:
- Eintracht Spandau lost the first four matches quite clearly, before it slowly started to improve.
- After the first victory, there was a huge victory party in the regular pub, just like one usually knows from football.
- After further defeats, the team relied on a consistent strategy and eventually dominated the league.
- In the Prime League, Eintracht Spandau was already eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, but HandOfBlood still allowed himself to be celebrated.
More information about Eintracht Spandau can be seen in the video:
This is the crisis: HandOfBlood seems to put everything into solidifying the status of Eintracht Spandau as a real sports club.
All of this is accompanied by videos. The YouTuber himself always takes on the role of team manager Mr. Knabe, who has set himself the big goal of winning the European Cup.
In his role, Mr. Knabe berates his team and the players’ inability, demands better performance, and never sees himself as part of the problem. In response to criticism, the only answer is an indignant “Oh, come on! Without me, nothing would work here!” Later, President Knabe gets worked up:
I want to drink from this cup – And woe to you if you are the reason I cannot drink from this damn cup at the end.
Mr. Knabe, President of Eintracht Spandau
With this, the president draws the wrath upon himself. The “fans” think this has gone too far, as can be seen from their reactions – because they see Mr. Knabe as the problem.
“Knabe out! Knabe out!”
HandOfBlood gives real press conferences as Mr. Knabe in front of hundreds of live fans in large halls, such as at gamescom 2022 – the first general assembly of the club. The discontent of the fans about the defeats can be heard well there. They see the boss as a misfit, chant: “Knabe out!” and boo him.
President Knabe warns: “Anyone who boos here will be immediately thrown out of Hall 6!” However, this does not prevent the fans from expressing their anger, which in turn leads to an outburst from the boss: “You should shut up!”
To restore his reputation, HandOfBlood, a.k.a. Mr. Knabe, appears at the sports fair SPOBIS. He gives the interview very seriously, but annoys the moderator so much that he has to break off.
The whole video of the annual review with the staged drama, victories and defeats, a janitor with a double life as a LoL pro for the competition, scuffles on stage, and a lot of shouting can be seen here:
The production quality of the videos is enormous. For the latest video, HandOfBlood has hired the speaker from Galileo, Nina Breiter. The former Rocket Beans employee Nastassja Strobel now works as a press spokesperson for Eintracht Spandau, and there was even a trip to Korea to the headquarters of Riot – there HandOfBlood was, however, as his alter ego “Sparkassen-Hänno” (via YouTube).
HandOfBlood has even organized a travel bus for Eintracht Spandau and made a YouTube video about it.
This is the reception: The response is overwhelmingly positive. A user praises on YouTube:
After such a successful first year, making a video parody about the supposed crisis and casting a speaker from Galileo for it, that can only be done by you. Here, attention to detail is truly real.
Eiwei on YouTube
Under many of the videos, one reads similarly positive comments and praise. Everyone feels entertained by the ideas and appreciates the effort that goes into the productions.
Even the enraged fans in Hall 6 at gamescom were not resentful – especially since everyone was just booing in their role as “angry ultras”. The general assembly ended with the club anthem of Eintracht Spandau. The whole hall sang along, many proudly with their hand on their heart.
For Eintracht Spandau, things are looking fairly good. In the Super Prime Cup, referred to in the video as the “Winter Cup”, the LoL team won the first 3 games in Group H without a loss.
While Eintracht Spandau can score with a lot of entertainment and new victories, the situation looks less rosy for other pros in Germany:
