Get ready for the EU Spring Championships this weekend where the top eight teams of the region battle for prestige. With more established organisations entering the scene each season will we be seeing one of these European giants knock Team Secret off their pedestal, or could one of the rising grassroots teams cause a major upset? This will be 3 days of non-stop action, so be sure to tune in from 1pm CET June 10th on the Vainglory Twitch channel to keep up!

Before jumping into the preview of the teams, you can take a look at the latest brackets from SEMC here.

(8) 4Justice

4Justice enter the Vainglory championships as an underdog and have had a relatively impressive showing so far however a lot of their success has hinged upon the narrow hero pool of Yakub. 4Justice are a relative unknown so far, but whether they can make this work to their advantage is yet to be seen. Similarly to Team Clytia, 4Justice won’t have their ‘A’ roster in attendance as starting roamer Fiirsik is replaced with Sems and CharLesVane. Ottomans_CCC’s deeper hero pool may be something they can work with, but they will either need to show some outstanding Blackfeather (slightly weaker in update 1.18) play or they will see a swift exit from the competition.Their morale may not be completely dampened though, as they did manage to take Gankstars Cerberus to a game 3 before being knocked out. However, with the tournament favourites in their first round even surprise, skill and luck may not be enough, as better teams have tried and failed to take down Team Secret.

Team Overview

2nd for top kills/min

7th for top assists/min

8th for top gold/min

Average match time: 19:30

Points Q1: 0

Points Q2: 30

Player Overview

Yakub (lane): Blackfeather (x6), Ringo; 4th for top kills/min, 6th for top gold/min

(lane): Blackfeather (x6), Ringo; 4th for top kills/min, 6th for top gold/min OTTOMANS_CCC (jungle): Adagio (x3), Fortress, Joule, Taka

(jungle): Adagio (x3), Fortress, Joule, Taka Sems (roam): N/A (did not play in Q2)

(roam): N/A (did not play in Q2) CharLesVane (sub): N/A (did not play in Q2)

(7) SNOW TSUNAMI

SNOW Tsunami are the lowest seed of Europe’s more established top tier. They have been around the block and know exactly what to expect from these events, however this will be the first time they will be without their sister team SNOW Avalanche in the brackets as well. The competition is certainly getting tougher at the top and SNOW Tsunami will need to show us a reason to prove that they can still make it as they have been flying under the radar recently. With lookatme having planned to take a more of a managerial role but stepping in last minute for PTLam, some well laid plans may be ruined but experience should prevail here. We also can’t forget that this team finished second at the Winter Live Championships and are the only roster to ever take a series from the reigning champions Team Secret in live events so far.

Team Overview

10th for top kills/min

9th for top assists/min

8th for top CS/min

7th for top gold/min

Average match time: 15:14

Points Q1: 20

Points Q2: 30

Player Overview

nol1fe (lane/jungle): Glaive, Skye (x2), Krul (x3)

(lane/jungle): Glaive, Skye (x2), Krul (x3) Sosiska (roam): Fortress (x5), Ardan

(roam): Fortress (x5), Ardan lookatme (jungle/lane): N/A (did not play in Q2)

(6) TEAM CLYTIA

Having secured their spot at the live championships purely from qualifier two, Team Clytia were awarded a wealth of competitive experience on their journey. They made it through to the Semi finals and eventually lost in the match for third place. Through this journey they had successive games against G2 Kinguin, Team Secret, and finally SK Gaming. Considering these three teams make up the top half of the roster in Team Clytia’s way to victory, they’ve certainly gained some valuable insight and experience as underdogs and should use this experience and game footage to analyse how their performance differs from these more established teams. The loss of Aidslip and Justman00 from the roster may prove detrimental however they have been given a golden opportunity to start the championships with a huge upset as Gankstars Cerberus are also missing their star player, L3on. Riding a steep learning curve up to live play and establishing some synergy quickly are the keys to this team making it far in this championship.

Team Overview

10th for top CS/min

10th for top gold/min

Average match time: 18:17

Points Q1: 0

Points Q2: 55

Player Overview

DarkEnergy (lane): Skye, Blackfeather, Ringo (x2)

(lane): Skye, Blackfeather, Ringo (x2) Asater (roam): N/A (did not play in Q2)

(roam): N/A (did not play in Q2) XxJohnxX (jungle): N/A (did not play in Q2)

(5) MOUSESPORTS

Fresh from their mousesports bootcamp this team certainly seem to be taking things seriously this season and will be looking for concrete results given the in-game performances they can produce. What mouse really need to do is convert those single successes into a consistent tournament run to get all the way to the top and there is no doubt that they have the potential to accomplish that. Their historical weakness though is their emotional nature and it was evident from the Winter Live Championships that this team was not satisfied with their performance. It seems that this attitude has been converted into focused practice and we’ll just have to see if they can hold it together. The interesting dynamic of EU playing on patch 1.18 should favour mousesports as they have always favoured themselves as the most dynamic team who rarely come out on the worse end of a draft.

Team Overview

9th for top kills/min

2nd for top CS/min

4th for top gold/min

Average match time: 17:39

Points Q1: 40

Points Q2: 30

Player Overview

GreatkhALI (jungle/lane): Skye (x3), Celeste, Vox (x2)

(jungle/lane): Skye (x3), Celeste, Vox (x2) MrKcool (lane/jungle): Blackeather (x3), Glaive (x2), Adagio

(lane/jungle): Blackeather (x3), Glaive (x2), Adagio Nettetoilette (roam): Fortress (x3), Ardan (x3)

(roam): Fortress (x3), Ardan (x3) UpFyr (sub): N/A (did not play in Q2)

(4) SK GAMING

SK Gaming have been the longest standing organisation in Vainglory thus far, and they are here again for a reason. Their previous weakness lay in trying to maintain two top-tier competitive rosters. Having recognised that, they have condensed their efforts into one team which has secured themselves a seed in the top half of the bracket thanks to a very strong performance in Q2. They’ll be missing lloH4uK in the jungle but true to form, SK have a diverse roster which can help them innovate and work not only to their strengths, but also to target their opponent’s weaknesses. He may not be on the stage these days, but team manager MYQ and first round opponents mosuesports have already started with some rival twitter banter.

Team Overview

5th for top kills/min

2nd for top assists/min

6th for top gold/min

Average match time: 15:13

Points Q1: 20

Points Q2: 85

Player Overview

MEDIC (lane): Skye, Ringo, Glaive, Skaarf; 3rd for top CS/min, 8th for top gold/min

(lane): Skye, Ringo, Glaive, Skaarf; 3rd for top CS/min, 8th for top gold/min Raph (jungle): Glaive (x3), Krul (x3)

(jungle): Glaive (x3), Krul (x3) Cr3am (roam): Ardan, Fortress (x2); 9th for top assists/min

(roam): Ardan, Fortress (x2); 9th for top assists/min Bayu (sub): N/A (did not play in Q2)

(3) G2.KINGUIN

G2. Kinguin suffered an early exit from Q2 at the hands of Team Clytia, but with the recent announcement that they will be at the E3 invitational playing against other top international teams they will certainly be practicing hard. Finishing first in their own region is their first hurdle though and being the only representative from the region at E3, they will want to show the world how much the EU competitive scene has grown. G2 have always had a solid performance in tournaments but never quite made their mark where it counts. They’ve been mixing things up by diversifying their hero pool, particularly Reddix who has tended to stick to Skaarf and Vox. This is a well rounded team with excellent synergy and strong mechanical players that certainly have a good chance of knocking Team Secret off the top spot.

Team Overview

9th for top gold/min

Average match time: 16:21

Points Q1: 80

Points Q2: 30

Player Overview

Reddix (lane): Adagio, Celeste, Taka, Skaarf

(lane): Adagio, Celeste, Taka, Skaarf DarkPotato (jungle): Blackfeather, Glaive (x3)

(jungle): Blackfeather, Glaive (x3) D1ngo (roam): Fortress (x2), Ardan (x2)

(2) GANKSTARS CERBERUS

Gankstars Cerberus have stormed into the EU competitive season in their very first season, placing first in Q1 and second in Q2. However, their star jungler, L3on, will not be in attendance and as a result Gankstars have managed to bring AeOn in as a substitute. Both AeOn and Emirking are roam mains though and this will certainly be an interesting dynamic to work around, but with the skill TetnoJJ brings to the table, they are certainly not lacking in carry role talent. This is a team known for their innovation and fresh approach towards the game and will certainly be considered frontrunners for first place but the big question is can they go the full way without L3on?

Team Overview

7th for top kills/min

6th for top assists/min

6th for top CS/min

5th for top gold/min

Average match time: 16:35

Points Q1: 90

Points Q2: 100

Player Overview

TetnoJJ (lane): Rona, Saw (x4), Skye (x2), Vox (x2), Blackfeather (x2), Ringo (x2); 6th for top CS/min, 5th for top gold/min

(lane): Rona, Saw (x4), Skye (x2), Vox (x2), Blackfeather (x2), Ringo (x2); 6th for top CS/min, 5th for top gold/min Emirking (roam): Fortress (x6), Phinn (x3), Ardan (x4); 6th for top assists/min

(roam): Fortress (x6), Phinn (x3), Ardan (x4); 6th for top assists/min AeOn (jungle): N/A (did not play in Q2)

(1) TEAM SECRET

We know they like to surprise everyone with a few ‘secret’ comps, so lets hope they have a few up their sleeve for update 1.18. Can Mowglie master Lance and show us what this hero is capable of? Or has Palmatoro already claimed him as a carry to pull out of the playbook? Palmatoro did not play a single game during Q2 so may have a rusty start, but his two previous Live Championship appearances should serve him well here. Although Team Secret fans may have been disappointed with their performance at the recent Champions vs Champions showcase there was a last minute roster change and they were still able to put up a fantastic performance. With a lot more on the line here, Team Secret will be looking to defend their European Championship title for an unprecedented third consecutive season in Berlin. Can they keep pushing the bar higher, or will this be the season that new champions are crowned?

Team Overview

3rd for top kills/min

3rd for top assists/min

4th for top CS/min

1st for top gold/min

Average match time: 16:07

Points Q1: 60

Points Q2: Top seed

Player Overview

KValafar (lane): Ardan (x3), Glaive (x3), Skye (x6), Ringo

(lane): Ardan (x3), Glaive (x3), Skye (x6), Ringo Mowglie (roam): Fortress (x2), Phinn (x2), Glaive (x2), Ardan (x7); 3rd for top assists/min

(roam): Fortress (x2), Phinn (x2), Glaive (x2), Ardan (x7); 3rd for top assists/min Palmatoro (jungle): N/A (did not play in Q2)

Matches start at 1pm CET on Friday 10th June. Tickets are still available if you want to attend in person and have the opportunity to pick up some swag and meet the teams and developers of the game. If you can’t go, you can catch the live stream and replays on the Vainglory Twitch channel.