Spain against France, the final of the Emea Masters is undoubtedly a challenge between the two giants of European League of Legends esports. A final that finally, after more than five years (the last time was in Katowice in the spring of 2018 in the first edition), returns live and does so in style. In fact, this time the two finalist teams of the League of Legends Champions challenge each other on the same stage that will host, in the coming days, the LEC finals in which Fnatic, Mad Lions and G2 Esports will participate. The event is on Friday, September 8 at 5 p.m. with the opening ceremony of the EMEA Masters final: live, as always, also on Pg Esports.
Karmine Corp, the French institution
The two EMEA Masters finalists, Karmine Corp and Movistar Riders, are undoubtedly among the most representative organizations in their countries. Karmine Corp, winner of the French LFL championship, has an audience on social networks that is the envy of even the Lec teams: it has also won this competition three consecutive times, a historic feat considering that no other team has achieved win it either twice. There are three French players on the team: veteran Cabochard, now the team’s flagship, midlaner Saken, sole survivor of all three Emea Masters wins, and young prodigy Caliste. They close in the jungle the Polish Cinkrof and as a support the Belgian Targamas, already winner of a Lec title with G2 Esports in 2022.
Movistar Riders for Spain
The Movistar Riders, on the other hand, are in their first final, presenting themselves as current champions of Spain. Just a year ago it was a Spanish team that won the trophy in the summer of 2022: those Heretics that we would later meet again at the beginning of this year, although with a different squad, in Lec. Movistar Riders reaches the final with a squad made up of three Spaniards, Marky, Supa and Álvaro, the Frenchman Isma and the midlaner Freeskowy, with a past in Italy with the Racoons. He is the player to watch out for in this final, perhaps finally coming of age after a long, perhaps even too long, learning journey.
The road to the final
The two teams reach this final after a tortuous path that did not see them leading, despite expectations, in the Group Phase. Qualified directly to the Main Event groups thanks to winning the national title, both unexpectedly finished in second place. The Movistar riders finished with three wins and three losses, tied with the Unicornios del Amor but favorites in the matchup. Particularly surprising were the two defeats against Nasr’s Turks. Karmine Corp finished with the same result, defeated twice by the Italians Macko and forced to play the play-off against the Irish Nativz, who won with difficulty.
almost mako
In short, both were at great risk of not reaching the Top 8. A result that for them should have been the minimum wage and that in the end became something more. In the draw, Karmine Corp had a tough draw, facing the defending champions Istanbul Wildcats. However, the clear 3-0 victory launched them mentally, also taking victory in the semi-final against Gamers Origin in the French derby, won 3-2. And now they are ready to play for the title in front of their fans in Montpellier. For their part, the Movistar Riders have not yet lost a single game, surprisingly they beat the French Bk Rogue 3-0 and then, somewhat less surprisingly, they beat our Mackos with the same score.