Four teams entered the European League Championship Series studio today knowing that only two would leave to play in the LCS. And when the dust settled, only Gamers2 and Gambit Gaming were left standing.
The first series of the day promised a clash of the titans betweens European LCS veterans SK Gaming and Gamers2, led by former SK captain Carlos “Ocelote” Rodriguez. The challengers climbed to an early 2-0 lead. But then SK took the third game—the threat of an infamous reverse sweep loomed.
SK edged out the victory in a tight game four. In game five yet another appearance from silver scrapes was on the cards. What could have been a disaster for Gamers2 was averted with an outstanding team performance. Gamers2 walked away with a 3-2 victory.
For Mateusz “Kikis” Szkudlarek and Jesse “Jesse” Le this is a return to the LCS, the former turned out for Unicorns of Love for the previous two splits while Le featured in the SK Gaming lineup that went to the World Championship in 2014. Lennart “SmittyJ” Warkus, Luka “PerkZ” Perkovic, and Glenn “Hybrid” Doornenbal are all entering the LCS for the first time.
In the second match, Gambit came in as heavy favourites against Mousesports, with many experts and analysts claiming that, had AD Carry Konstantinos “Forg1ven” Tzortziou not been banned for four matches, the team wouldn’t even be facing relegation.
That certainly seemed true as Gambit Gaming stormed to victory in three straight games. There had been some worry about former AD Carry player Kristoffer “P1noy” Pedersen stepping in for the talented Tzortziou. But the games never looked in any doubt even without their star player.
Gamers2 and Gambit round off the list of competitors in next season’s European LCS. Team Dignitas EU is the other team joining from the Challenger Series after they won automatic promotion to replace the outgoing Copenhagen Wolves.
The North American promotion tournament goes live tomorrow when Enemy Esports face off against Team Coast in the first game, with Enemy bringing in relegation specialist Joey “Youngbuck” Steltenpool as coach. Afterwards, Team8 and Team Imagine go head to decide the final contestant of the NA LCS 2016 Spring Split.
