Rogue have come a long way after finishing dead last during the inaugural League of Legends European Championship (LEC) Spring Season back in 2019. Now, the organisation find themselves in the World Championship group stages with some of the greatest teams from around the globe.
Following their bumpy start to life in the LEC, Rogue quickly decided to change things up by promoting four members of their academy roster. It’s a decision that has worked out extraordinarily well.
That quartet of promoted players still make up the core of the roster today, with toplaner Finn "Finn" Wiestål, jungler Kacper "Inspired" Słoma, midlaner Emil “Larssen” Larsson, and support Oskar “Vander” Bogdan all playing their part in Rogue’s success this year.
With the strong addition of botlaner Steven “Hans sama” Liv earlier this year, there were high hopes for the team but nobody truly expected them to challenge legendary organisations [G2 Esports][1] and Fnatic for the European title – let alone finish the regular Summer Season in first place and become the first team to qualify for Words this year.
Don't doubt 'em
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The talented squad have continued to defy all expectations with a strong showing in the playoffs. As the LEC moved into best-of-five series instead of best-of-ones, some questioned whether Rogue had truly earned their spot at the international competition and doubted they could compete with the best. Those doubters then doubled down once Rogue were embarrassed 3-0 by Fnatic in round one of the playoffs.
But the squad quickly bounced back. In just a couple of weeks, Rogue adapted to the meta and demonstrated their ability with a commanding victory over MAD Lions, who have also qualified for Worlds, before pushing last year’s Worlds finalists G2 to all five games in an incredibly tense series.
After the first victory, the Rogue players instantly took to social media to boast about their triumph and were visibly delighted to have proven so many people wrong. But yet again, with Worlds starting soon, some European fans aren’t confident in Rogue’s chances and the team will have to silence their doubters once more.
Stiff competition
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The team have found themselves in an extremely difficult group with two of the overall tournament favourites, LoL Champions Korea’s (LCK) top seeds DAMWON Gaming and LoL Pro League’s (LPL) second seeds JD Gaming.
DAMWON won 34 games and lost just five during the LCK Summer Season while JD Gaming were LPL Spring champions and now find the meta complements their playstyle perfectly. Finishing above either of those teams won’t be easy, but Rogue certainly have a chance.
Nobody gave Hans sama much hope in 2017 when he and his Misfits Gaming teammates squared off against the most decorated team in LoL history, SK Telecom T1. Yet the European team pushed the three-time World Champions all the way in what is now remembered as a legendary series.
[1]: https://lolesports.com/article/europe-at-worlds-%E2%80%9Cthis-g2-esports-team-has-been-built-with-winning-worlds-in-mind%E2%80%9D/blt2a78d302623f6f27
Hans sama knows a thing or two about surprising teams at Worlds.
“I deal with the pressure of big tournaments well. I had good results the last time I was at Worlds and that was in China too. There aren’t many people that talk about me so I always feel like there’s nothing to lose,” says Hans sama of his previous experience.
And moving forward, he believes he and Rogue can reach the same heights this time around too: “I think we feel pretty confident. Of course, we’re coming in as underdogs and people won’t expect us to win. A lot of things can happen and our team is luckily recognised to be good at best-of-ones so maybe we have a chance. There’s always this nothing to lose feeling that can change the course of groups.”
Going the distance
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The group stages use a best-of-one format where anything can happen. This season, Rogue have shown a lot of good early-game plans which will make them hard to prepare for. Plus, while the meta may benefit JD Gaming, the same can be said for Rogue. Inspired is more than capable of world-class performances from the jungle and he already has superb synergy with Larssen which should prove beneficial.
And if you need more convincing about Rogue’s strength, just ask G2 superstar Rasmus “Caps” Winther. In a recent [interview][1] following G2’s successful LEC title defence, the Dane confirmed that despite losing to G2’s fierce rivals Fnatic a week prior, he was more focussed on Rogue heading into finals week: “they (Rogue) kind of adapted the Fnatic style, but I felt like they did it slightly better actually. I was worried about going up against Rogue.”
Worlds is a special time for LoL fans, and although there are always dominant teams, the tournament usually proves to be unpredictable. In fact, very few fans have ever recorded perfect predictions in the official [Pick-em][2] competition.
Does that mean that Rogue have a shot at the championship? Well, the squad have already shown their immense talent and that they can test the best teams in the world. This is a group of players whose lofty ambitions are matched by their limitless potential. If Rogue can make it out of a group with two of the world’s best teams, they have every chance of working their way into the Worlds final and bringing the Summoner’s Cup back to Europe for the [first time since 2011.][3]
[1]: https://lolesports.com/article/%E2%80%9Ci%E2%80%99m-tired-of-second-place%E2%80%9D-%E2%80%93-g2-caps%E2%80%99-eyes-are-firmly-set-on-worlds-after-defeating-fnatic-in-lec-final/blt80deff161caf9c12
[2]: https://lolesports.com/article/worlds-2020-pick'em,-drops,-watch-rewards,-and-more/blt460a2f7b3dbb11f7
[3]: https://lolesports.com/article/europe-at-worlds-could-2020-be-the-year-europe-reclaims-the-summoner's-cup/bltc1391b3128c52cf0
