EU Challenger Series Playoffs Preview

This article was originally published on GameSpot's sister site onGamers.com, which was dedicated to esports coverage.

With the Challenger Series playoffs nearing, we take a look at the four teams competing for their chance to go into the EU LCS Summer Split Qualifiers. The Qualifier is being played on the newest patch so the games look very promising, as surprises and innovations are never out of the question.

Ninjas in Pyjamas vs. Reason Gaming

Playing against each other in the Challenger Series playoffs, they battle for a spot in the spring relegations to have a shot at getting into the EU LCS Summer Split. However, the loser of this match can still go into relegation if he wins the next match against the loser of Cloud9 HyperX Eclipse vs. Denial eSports.

Ninjas in Pyjamas

With Ninjas in Pyjamas, we have a team whose name is known, as they have already competed in the Season 3 EU LCS Summer Split. The previous NiP line-up had a rather unsuccessful road through the competition as they eventually found themselves in relegation. This made them undergo a big overhaul in their roster, nukeduck, mithy and Zorozero were brought in. Their Jungler, Hulberto was brought in recently to replace Amin, he also had a brief moment on stage when Gambit Gaming was in need of replacements. Freeze on the other hand has been with NiP for quite some time. With all of the players having prior experience in various teams, they are definitely not an easy one to face.

As mentioned, All of them have prior experience in the LCS. They fought for a spot in the EU LCS Spring Split but despite losing to Team ROCCAT, they got a spot for the first European Challenger Series where they finished second. They have been going strong in the second edition so far and are one of the favored teams.

Key player in this game will be Nukeduck, who is known for his assassins, which are always prominent in the midlane, as well as mithy on support. Another player to watch closely is Hulberto, who is rather new and favoures junglers such as Kha'Zix, Elise and Eve, the latter one benefiting a lot from the Season 4 Ward changes.

Reason Gaming

On the other side of the rift we have Reason Gaming, a fairly unknown team that got disqualified from the first Challenger Series due to a DDOS attack on their Jungler Trashy. The team was founded in December 2013 and has had the same roster since, which consists of Trashy in the jungle, BarneyD as Support with Krislund as his ADCarry, Sencux in the Midlane and beansu as the Toplaner.

With the team having 6 wins and 2 losses so far in the Second Challenger Series, they have earned their way into the Semi-Finals. Relying heavily on their Midlaner and Jungler, this is a team that can keep up with the Ninjas and has the potential to claim victory over them.

Players to watch here are Sencux and Trashy, both players on who their team heavily relies. Notable here is the fact that both of them are still too young to compete in the European League Championship Series. Reason Gaming would therefore need to recruit two new players for said positions.

What to expect?

As mentioned above, this game isn't all or nothing just yet, but the winner gets a secured spot in the Qualifiers for the EU LCS Summer Split, which would lift a huge burden off of their shoulders. The key matchup to watch here is the midlane, with both players favoring assassins. Another interesting pair of players to look at are the junglers for both teams. Both junglers might bring out some new picks with the recent changes of patch 4.5 and the introduction of the new jungle item Feral Flare. Looking at how NiP is considered one of the best challenger teams at the moment, the match might go their way but you never know, Reason Gaming wouldn't be in the semifinals if they didn't have their strengths as well. Safe to say we'll be looking at at least 2 very interesting games.

Cloud 9 Eclipse versus Denial eSports

The next clash is between the second Challenger scene dominator, Cloud 9 Eclipse and Polish threat Denial eSports. Both had their fair share of success within the small tournament scene and have even met before with C9 edging out a narrow victory. Let us see how both teams got here and what we can expect from this match.

Denial eSports

The mantle of the "ever existent Polish threat" within eSports is now taken by Denial. Although they joined the organization two weeks ago, the squad has had its share of experience under the Departed tag. There, the guys were a high-level competitor in most online cups and Challenger scene tournaments. Taking a look at the roster we can immediately identify players such as niQ, Kikis and Woolite, young Polish talent that has been part of the high-level scene, albeit not the elite tier, ever since Season 2. Being a part of WCG participant Gameburg, legendary Team Sypher and later on Team H2k, jungler Kikis is undoubtedly the most experienced member within the line-up.

Following example, niQ(who is also known as simply 760) is another veteran of the scene despite being 19. The mid laner has been an integral part of Team Acer Poland, a team which has given us current LCS participants Overpow, Celaver and Xaxus. Despite being a top laner for the team, the youngster switched to jungler when he and the aforementioned trio transferred to Anexis where they had a relatively successful period together. Finally, Woolite, the AD Carry of the team was a member of two inceptions of KMT before going to GF-Gaming.

The squad has quickly made a name for themselves, achieving good results in both scrims and tournaments, namely their runner-up finish at the 2014 Black Monster Cup. The team also attended big events such as Dreamhack Bucharest under the Pulse eSports organisation, but finished 5/8th. Relying on their vast amount of both domestic and international experience, the Poles will make Cloud 9's day a living hell should they underestimate them. Demolishing the opposition during the second edition of the European Challenger Series (which included a sound 2-0 victory over C9E), Denial have earned their potential shot at an LCS spot.

Cloud 9 Eclipse

On 4th of January 2014, it was announced that a new Challenger titan was created - Cloud 9 Eclipse. Lead and formed by former Gambit Gaming support Voidle, the team featured hot talent from all across Europe - from Estonia, through Romania, Netherlands and all the way up to Sweden and Norway.

With such a star-packed line-up, the team quickly started racking up wins and established themselves as the only true competition to NiP at the time. Unsurprisingly, those two were in the finals of the first edition of the EU Challenger series, where C9 made quick work of their famed opponent. Although people initially recognized only k0u and Voidle, the other three have proved their worth and exhibited skill, composure and hunger for victory.

Febiven has been feared for his Riven and Kassadin play across Europe and in an interview, Gambit mid laner Alex Ich has stated that he often discusses different aspects of the game with the gifted Dutch player. The top laner from Romania, Odoamne, has now shown us time and time again that his play style and success versus big names compensates the overall lack of experience and exposure within the scene. Getting stronger by the day, Odoamne is more than capable of holding his own on top. Finally, Hjärnan is the last addition to the already talented line-up. The Swedish AD Carry made a name for himself for his exemplary Lucian play and together with Voidle, they are yet to fall down from the top 15 Solo Queue Challenger players this season.

What to expect?

While many of you would easily point Cloud 9 as potential winners, this is not really the case. The head-to-head record truly favours them, as both teams have met time and time again in the Challenger Series or during online cups and smaller tournaments in general. As we all know, the big stage is a totally different environment which can affect players in different ways.

On paper, Cloud 9 is the stronger line-up, not only because of the star names, but the quality of the whole package of players. On the other hand, Denial's on stage experience dwarfs that of C9. This is a key factor as we have seen big teams choke under the limelight not once or twice. Both teams have proven that the one who brings his A-game that day will walk away victorious. The potential featured match-up here is on mid lane where Febiven will have to face niQ, a player with vast amounts of experience. One thing is for certain, never underestimate the Polish team.

The EU Challenger series playoffs begin on the 10th of April. Tune in to our coverage center to witness the best of the best in Europe's Challenger scene display their skills and fight for the precious LCS spot.