As the League of Legends European Championship (LEC) 2021 Summer Season drew to a close, it didn't come as a shock to fans that the first team to qualify for the League of Legends World Championship 2021 was not European legends G2 Esports or Fnatic, nor was it Spring champions MAD Lions, but that it was none other than Rogue. World-class quality has come to be expected of Rogue, and the certainty of their spot at Worlds speaks to their meteoric rise to the top.
**World Debut**
For a team that only entered the European LoL scene during the inception of the LEC in 2019, their rise to its upper echelons has been remarkable. After finishing last in their first LEC split, it was fantastic to see Rogue catch up with their peers in the last year. In 2020, Rogue added botlaner Steven "Hans sama" Liv to the lineup, who has previous experience at Worlds, having famously made it to the quarterfinals with Misfits in 2017, as well as toplaner Finn "Finn" Wiestål and support Oskar "Vander" Bogdan. This new roster, completed by jungler Kacper "Inspired" Słoma and Emil "Larssen" Larsson proved to be much more effective, as the team quickly rose up the ranks to Summer's number one team.
Rogue achieved just one victory in last year's Worlds tournament, against PSG Talon.
After a respectable Summer Playoffs run that saw them defeat MAD Lions but get knocked out in the semifinals by G2, Rogue confirmed their first-ever spot at an international tournament, last year. Soaring out of the gate, Rogue clipped PSG Talon's wings with a stunning win in their debut Worlds game, immediately setting a high bar for themselves. Even more impressive was the fact that Rogue accomplished this win without suffering a single death – a feat few have managed to pull off against the Pacific Championship Series (PCS) team.
Rogue did lose a tower and dragon, but by this point, their gold lead was so vast that they had no problem sailing forward to victory. Inspired was undoubtedly the stand-out player here, putting in a masterclass on Evelynn. With this champion no longer dominant in the meta, Inspired will likely be hoping to show his prowess on Viego this year.
**Tough Competition**
Despite this strong opener, Rogue's next match would prove a much tougher challenge, when the teamfaced Group B's most formidable challenger – DAMWON Gaming (now known as DWG KIA).
The boys in blue found out quickly why Group B had been nicknamed the Group of Death. While the kills stayed even for a time, it wasn't long before DWG had a significant gold lead thanks to their domination of lane control and neutral objectives. With a squad that were largely inexperienced at international events facing a different playstyle than they had seen in Europe, Rogue floundered, overwhelmed by the power of their South Korean opponents. Before long, it became clear that Rogue's second international game would end in defeat.
Hans sama will get another chance to shine on the Worlds stage this year.
Rogue's next match against Chinese org JD Gaming was always going to be tough, but with their confidence knocked, things looked even more stacked against the European representatives. But despite this, Rogue held their own, with toplaner Finn emerging as a key talent. Unfortunately, Larssen failed to live up to his damage-dealing capabilities shown in previous games, losing Rogue a key team fight. From here, JDG snowballed, leaving Rogue in the dust.
Having now suffered two defeats, Rogue were unable to progress any further at Worlds 2020. Still, Rogue went into their final match of the tournament with their heads held high, determined to show their quality with another go at DWG. In their second bout against DWG, Rogue opted for a bold move – a lane swap with the goal of taking down toplaner Jang "Nuguri" Ha-gwon. Unfortunately, Nuguri came back strong, utilising his teleport to hop back into the fray and score a kill of his own while his team scaled at other points of the map. With Rogue's campaign officially ended, all Rogue could do was watch as their rivals in G2 proceeded on to the semifinals.
**Roles Reversed**
But this year's competition finds our EU squads in a vastly different position. This time it is G2 who have been left behind, while Rogue, Fnatic, and MAD Lions fight for a place in esports history. And while they were initially scheduled to face the Play-Ins after their third-place in the 2021 Summer Playoffs, Rogue have now been automatically promoted to the Main Event following the withdrawal of the Vietnam Championship Series (VCS) from the tournament, meaning all three European teams have an equal shot at the title this year.
Much like MAD, there's no doubt that Rogue are looking stronger this year than ever before. While they didn't manage to snatch any silverware, they've reached the playoffs twice this year, and their roster is looking more organised and deadly. Of particular note is the pairing of Hans sama and support Adrian "Trymbi" Trybus, who synced up to cause carnage throughout the Spring and Summer Splits.
Will Odoamne help Rogue make it out of groups this year?
Then there's jungler Inspired and midlaner Larssen, both of whom have been on fine form this year and will no doubt be looking to right the wrongs of 2020 when they get another shot at Worlds glory. Meanwhile, veteran player Andrei "Odoamne" Pascu will be bringing his wealth of international experience to the squad in the top lane role that was previously occupied by Finn. Odoamne has been a reliable source of damage-dealing for Rogue throughout the year, and he shined especially brightly in Spring, where he achieved an impressive KDA of 7.2.
But doubts about Rogue's consistency remain. Although they've performed to a high standard throughout the regular seasons, Rogue seem to have trouble sealing the deal in their most high-stakes matches. Unlike MAD Lions who seem to thrive under the most extreme pressure, Rogue play reliably well but can falter when met with unforeseen challenges.
With that said, Rogue got particularly unlucky with their group last year, having been paired up with the eventual champions of the tournament at such an early stage. Hopefully, the boys in blue will get a better chance to show what they are capable of this time around – while they might not have quite the same momentum behind them as MAD Lions, they are certainly the dark horse of this tournament.
