League of Legends news » European Regionals: Finals Recap

On the final day of the European Regionals, Counter Logic Gaming Europe/FnaticRaidCall and Moscow Five/SK Gaming played the most important League of Legends matches of their professional gaming careers. With entry to the Season Two Championship as well as the Season Three Pro Series, the teams were playing to change their lives forever.

Third Place Match: CLG.eu vs. FnaticRaidCall

After yesterday’s loss against SK Gaming, CLG.eu started the match for 3rd knowing their chances at a $2 million prize pool this year (and guaranteed salaries next) were nearly escaping them. What started as a fairly close game turned poorly for FnaticRC. CLG.eu’s YellowPete on Kog’Maw snowballed into a powerhouse AD Carry, and Fnatic wasn’t able to respond. They clearly wanted to shut him down, but with tanky teammates, it was nearly impossible for anyone from Fnatic to break through CLG.eu’s offensive line to reach him. YellowPete’s damage output and his positioning won game one for CLG, strengthening their confidence and alleviating some pressure going into game two.

CLG.eu maintained their momentum going into the second game of the match, which only increased as time went on. The second game was a stomp; CLG dominated with an end score of 23/3/55. YellowPete led the way again, with an 11/0/9 performance as Ezreal. This win for CLG.eu secured the last slot to represent Europe at the World Championships in Los Angeles, and also qualified them for the Season Three Championship Series.

In a conversation with Krepo, he was a bit disappointed in the team’s finish, but relieved to know CLG.eu would be financially secure for the 2013 season. “I was most worried about qualifying for Season Three,” he said.

Final Match: Moscow Five vs. SK Gaming

After training secretly for the past 10 days (a secret they managed to hide for the majority of the tournament), Moscow Five and SK Gaming met at the Finals on the last day of the European Regionals with good understanding of each other.

Ocelote hinted throughout the tournament that he had a special trick for M5 up his sleeve, but in game one, Ocelote stuck with Orianna, which he used four out of six times in this tournament to devastating effect. Although he was red hot with the Lady of Clockwork - averaging a KDA of 4.25/1.5/5.75 - throughout this tournament, Diamond and Alex Ich combined to shut him down.

Speaking of Diamond, he was able to successfully shut down SK’s star of the event, Kev1n, which in turn hindered SK’s ability to comeback. With an end score of 15/1/32, game one went to M5.

Going into game two, SK was on the ropes. Ocelote finally debuted his secret weapon during champion select, Twisted Fate, which he hadn’t used against M5 during their scrimmage play. The trick didn’t pan out, and he was never able to get enough space in lane to have a lasting effect on the game’s outcome. Moscow Five again dominated the game and ended the series 2-0, with a combined game score of 41/4/72. After the tournament, Alex Ich said, "Moscow Five comes to these events to take 1st – nothing else."

European Regionals MVP: Diamond

While a few players – including SK Ocelote, SK Kev1n, and Fnatic xpeke - stood out for their teams throughout the weekend, M5’s Diamond earns top honors as our EU Regionals MVP. AP and AD carries usually wow spectators with multi-kills and huge damage numbers, yet expertly played Support and Jungle roles decide games almost as often. Diamond caused so much havoc as Lee Sin against EloHell on the first day of the tournament, he forced every team he faced thereafter to ban a single champion that doesn’t feature prominently in competitive play.

The ban didn’t slow him down, though. In the Final match against SK Gaming, Diamond was practically all over the map, pinning down all three lanes as he dashed around as Udyr. While he had a number of key plays throughout the tournament, his Oracle’s Elixir purchase after a first blood in game one of the Finals allowed him to wreak havoc early on, securing a decisive first win for M5. What’s more, his presence throughout the Final match helped pin down two other MVP candidates, Ocelote and Kev1n. While all of M5 played exceptionally, Diamond was the key difference maker in the tournament.

From Cologne to Los Angeles

The European Regionals came and gone and Moscow Five, SK gaming, and CLG.eu will represent Europe at the World Championship in October. These three teams also were the first three teams to guarantee a spot for the Season Three European Championship Series. Aside these great achievements, Moscow Five displayed a phenomenal performance, winning first place at Regionals and earning $40,000. The three teams will definitely have their hands full against the best teams from the rest of the world in October, but for now they head home with a month of practice time ahead of them – and plenty of time to research their prospective opponents.