Riot Games Image Courtesy Riot Games.
It’s the last week of the EU LCS regular season. With all playoff seeds locked in some of the teams have been experimenting. In Roccat’s 2-0 win over Misfits we got to see Master Yi, Kayle, Heimerdinger and Draven. That was only in game one; in game two we got to see Malphite, Yasuo, Vayne and Lux. Roccat also picked a very interesting Nasus & Karthus combination that seemed like legitimate experimentation. A proper recap of this series is more than it deserves but I should at least try.
Are You Not Entertained?
So this was one of the first of a few inconsequential matches in Week 10. While the bans started fairly seriously after the Fiddlesticks ban I think everyone knew what they were in for. I honestly liked the raise your dongers graphic that was prepared for Heimerdinger. Other than that I don’t think game one had any redeeming qualities. I think the best phrase to describe these two games is a clown fiesta. For those out of the loop, those words can be taken literally, these games were a party of clowns. I did take a perverse joy in seeing Malphite & Yasuo being used in tandem again, Yasuo sees extremely little professional play across every region.
That’s not a highlight from this series, honestly there are no real highlights from these games. Now I do need to give Roccat some actual credit for picking Nasus & Karthus. After the most recent changes to Nasus his E ability has percent armor shred. Karthus has magic resistance shred on his W ability; so it stands to reason that if those two Champions could be combined together they could deal a great deal of damage. Despite Roccat’s success in this series I’m still on the fence about this combination in professional play. The EU LCS finishes today but I think theres more pressing matters than another recap of another day of clown fiestas.
Riot, We Have a Problem
Honestly the first sign of trouble for the EU LCS was Riot’s announcement of franchising for the NA LCS. This announcement was coupled with relative silence about the state of the EU LCS. Since then Riot has released a statement about the future of the EU LCS but it did little to ease European teams concerns. Granted franchising in sports is a very American idea but EU teams crave the same stability (and investment) that franchising could provide. Four European teams went on to apply for charter membership in the NALCS. The fact that G2 Esports and Fnatic would apply for the NA LCS despite their historic (and financial) ties to Europe says volumes about the state of the EU LCS.
European fans have already been through the wringer, but this is an entirely different situation. Both Misfits and Splyce have connections to North America and I presume that each of the four teams can pay the 13 million required to join. We have to presume that Riot will announce something new for Europe soon, EU cannot afford to lose four of it’s most popular and successful franchises. While some have made suggestions no one really know’s what Riot’s got planned for Europe. I just hope this time it actually makes someone other than Riot happy.