Misfits Premier played against SK Gaming Prime in the League of Legends EU Masters Spring 2019 finals. While many predicted the match would be fairly close, Misfits instead beat their German counterparts rather decisively.
The victory brings a fairy-tale ending to the miracle run that started in the La Ligue Française after Misfits just barely made playoffs. They went on to place second in the LFL, qualify for Masters through play-ins, and advance to the knockout stage after again placing second. There, they defeated BIG in three games and swept the favored MAD Lions to advance to the finals.
This is the first Masters trophy for a French organization, as the previous Masters tournaments were both won by Spanish teams. Without further ado, let’s take a look at how the games went.
Game 1
The finals started off explosively with a lot of action in the early game. Kills were traded across the board as Misfits’ bottom lane dominated their opponents. Furthermore, their lead transitioned into other lanes as they helped their teammates get ahead as well. Misfits had a hefty gold lead around the 20th minute, which led to them securing baron. SK simply didn’t have a chance, with Matúš “Neon” Jakubčík’s Sivir proving too much of a problem. Misfits finished the game calmly, being the clearly better team at the beginning of the series.
Game 2
Similarly to the first game, most early action in game 2 took place in the bottom lane. While Misfits were again able to secure first blood, SK managed to get a kill back. This time, it was the SK bottom lane that managed some solo kills on their opposing bot lane. It led to SK winning the early fights, as Tim “Keduii” Willers’ Kai’Sa put out massive amounts of damage due to his gold lead.
Unfortunately, SK weren’t able to snowball their advantage due to Misfits picking them off many times as the game progressed. Teamfights were really back and forth for the remainder of the game, but Misfits still won most of them. A huge won fight in the middle lane around the 30th minute meant Misfits were able to close the game out and move to match point!
Game 3
With Misfits up 2-0, SK had to win the next game to keep their hopes alive. Unfortunately for them, the wild rabbits had other plans. In typical Misfits fashion, Adam “LIDER” Ilyasov secured first blood on the Irelia after cleverly predicting his opponent’s flag and drag.
Once again, bottom lane was where the action happened. Both teams fought hard, trading objectives, kills, and summoner spells in intense fights. LIDER again showed his prowess in a fight around dragon, resulting in infernal and three kills for Misfits. He continued to use his Gatorade-fueled powers, completely destroying SK in fights and bringing his team to the 2019 EU Masters championship!
Even though the finals MVP wasn’t awarded on the official broadcast, we give it to none other than Neon! His damage numbers, positioning in fights and the impact he had on the games made us choose him over LIDER. However, LIDER deserves an honorable mention for his outstanding performance in game 3 on the Irelia.
