Photo: LDLC OL
The Karmine Corp. is not there, and without the triple defending champion, France could have been afraid to revise their ambitions downwards. But, the LFL can still count on quality representatives: LDLC OL, BDS Academy, Vitality.Bee and GameWard. We don’t want to go too far and look at them, but all these competitors can aim very high.
Obviously, it is complicated to accurately assess the level of competition. But after the phase of Play-In expedited and mastered from start to finish by Vitality.Bee and GameWard, we approach the Main Event in a serene way. Case by case, what are the ambitions of the LFL teams ?
LDLC OL, KELAWIN?
This year is the Karmine Corp. which looked like the French superteam, with players like Rekkles, Cabochard and Saken in its roster. But things didn’t go as planned and for these EUMs, it’s LDLC OL which looks like a giant. The Foxes have won two French championship titles and narrowly missed winning the EUM in the spring, going all the way to the final. While their executioner is absent this summer, the opportunity is perfect to take his revenge by achieving a historic season, punctuated by success.
LDLC OL are aiming to win, but they will still have to be serious in the group stage. Snape AGO and X7 are teams to respect. Anorthosis Famagusta Esports seems a little below, but the Greek-Cypriot team remains on a good dynamic after a good phase of Play-In.
BDS Academy, another contender for victory?
BDS completely shook up its League of Legends rosters mid-season. In the LEC, the results were disappointing and the mayonnaise did not take. On the other hand, in LFL, even if the preparation was a bit long, the players enjoyed themselves! We think in particular of Adam, which has regained its aggressiveness and its success. Probably frustrated with his situation at the start of the summer, Crownie also managed to digest his non-promotion and we found the precise and decisive ADC that we love to see evolve. At present, it is the only team that we see individually and collectively capable of shaking up LDLC OL. This conviction is based in part on a feeling that is difficult to explain. For us, BDS Academy has yet to show the extent of its potential. She hasn’t caught up yet and maybe it was a little too tight to take the No. 1 spot in the LFL. But for the EUM, the team should have arrived at its peak of form.
Group C is rather raised with Team Heretics, SK Gaming Premium and Valliance. But we will quickly have confirmation on the state of form of BDS Academy. We may be fooling ourselves, but we can see the team doing very big EUMs and fighting for the crown.
Vitality.Bee, a square team
The bees are undefeated after rolling on the Play-In. The competition wasn’t up to par and there aren’t really any lessons to be learned from this healthy walk. On the other hand, the Main Event will be an opportunity to prove its worth. The team has often disappointed on the European scene, and apart from the semi-final of Spring 2022, the supporters have not had the right to happiness, relative happiness given that Vitality.Bee took a dirty backhand sweep. For this summer, the main objective is to reconnect the last square to confirm. A final perhaps hoped for and on a contest of circumstances, the Bees could even hang the cup. But that would be a surprise. For the moment, we tend to place players a notch below LDLC OL and BDS Academy.
Reaching the last four would already be a great performance. We must not put the cart before the oxen and the group A is rather complicated. Giants, Unicorns of Love Sexy Edition and Zero Tenacity… Qualification is largely possible, but first place is far from certain.
GameWard, only bonus after the chickens
GameWard is currently experiencing its first European Masters and for the moment, everything is going well, apart from a small slip against the Portuguese team of White Dragons. But if the structure does not have a lot of experience, this is not the case for its players: Czecholad has already won the competition where Melonik, Akabane, Innaxe and Kamilius have already tasted the European scene. Experience is therefore not a real handicap and the team can aim for a qualification for the playoffs. On the other hand, beyond a quarter-final, it is only a bonus for GameWard. Even if we underestimated this team for too long during the year, we don’t know if on a Bo5 they would be able to take out the big fish from the competition.
The team will also have to wrestle with a hen D very complicated. Dusty, Schalke 04 and to a lesser extent Macko Esport are competitors that may surprise.