After a successful European Masters Spring 2020 event, the next tournament in the series, the European Masters 2020, will start on August 17.
Back in the Spring, when the Covid-19 pandemic was first taking hold across the world, Riot Games announced that they would be taking over control of the European Masters League of Legends Spring 2020 event from the ESL.
The return of the tournament was altered to an online-only competition due to the pandemic, but the format remained largely the same, with the best teams from the different League of Legends leagues around Europe qualifying for the tournament. While not at the level of teams competing in the LEC, the European Masters is an opportunity for teams and individuals striving to reach the elite level to showcase their talent.
The Masters has been likened to a “Champions League” style format, with the top teams from the European Regional Leagues (ERL’s) getting the chance to showcase their talent. It has proven to be a lucrative pathway for a number of LEC professionals, with 22 of the current crop of pros in the LEC earning their place through their performances in the ERL’s.
Tournament Schedule
Sponsored by the Warner Music Group and Secretlab, the €150,000 tournament begins on August 17 with the Play-ins which will decide the teams that qualify for the Group Stages. These will then be played from August 24 through to September 12.
The teams that make it through the Group Stage will then compete in the quarterfinals (15th & 16th September) and then the semifinals and final, which will be played on September 19 and 20.
A total of 12 of the 28 teams that will begin the event have received a seed into the group stage of the tournament and this includes the following (some decider matches still to be played to award one qualification spot – these are listed in italics).
- FC Schalke 04 Evolution
- Mousesports
- Movistar Riders
- Vodafone Giants
- AGO Rogue
- 7more7 Pompa Team or K1ck
- Samsung Morning Stars
- Cr4zy or Suppup eSports
- We Love Gaming
In addition to those nine teams, there will the qualifiers from the NLC Summer and two LFL qualifiers to add to that list.
13 of the 16 teams involved in the Play In are already known:
- Team GamerLegion
- G2 Arctic
- 7more7 Pompa Team/ K1ck
- Racoon
- Cr4zy or Suppup eSports
- Intrepid Fox Gaming
- Sector One
- PSV Esports or LowLand Lions
- eSuba
- SINNERS Esports
- Elektronik Generation
- SAMCLAN Esports Club
- Five Kings
In addition to the head to head games still to be played in some qualifiers, the qualifiers from the NLC Summer, Baltic Masters and LFL qualifier are to be added to this list.
Fitting Successor
Riot will hope that the Summer 2020 event will be a fitting successor to the EU Masters Spring 2020, which took place in April and May this year. LDLC OL were the winners of this event taking home the €40,000 top prize, defeating K1ck eSports Club in the final by a comprehensive 3-0 scoreline.
Featured Image Credits: LoL Esports
