EU Masters | LFL and the Ultraliga Remain for the EU Masters Semifinals

Only two regions will be represented in the EU Masters semifinals. LDLC OL, Karmine Corp and Vitality.bee all won their matches in the first round of playoffs. They will be joined by AGO Rogue, the lone Ultraliga representative who defeated the last NLC hope Bifrost.

Through eight days of play during the Main Event group stage of the EU Masters, we saw the best teams of the European regional leagues decide the top eight teams that would advance to playoffs. The LFL is set for yet another strong year, with three of their four representatives making quarterfinals. They were joined there by two teams from the UK and Nordic region (NLC) and one each from Poland and the Baltics' Ultraliga, the DACH region's Prime League and the Spanish Superliga. Here is what we saw in the quartefinals: 

LDLC OL 3-0 X7 Esports

The opening match on Thursday featured the champions of the two regions that did best in the groups - LDLC OL from the LFL and the big week 1 surprise, X7 Esports from the NLC. The French team came out very strong in the first game and closed it out in under 25 minutes. X7 put up more of a resistance in the second round, exploiting some early mistakes and even getting the mountain soul before getting routed in a teamfight near the elder dragon. Fans who were hoping for another close game were left disappointed as after an even start, the LFL team aced their opponents just 18 minutes in and snowballed hard, ending the series just several minutes later.

Bifrost 0-3 AGO Rogue

The next series saw AGO ROGUE, the last Ultraliga representative, take on the other NLC team Bifrost. The Polish team started strong, amassing a big gold and objective lead in the first game and closed out the game after taking a mountain soul and a Baron. In the second game, the teams stayed close at first, but AGO ROGUE managed to break ahead after punishing their rivals' poor positioning and got the Baron that let them take over the game. Bifrost had a better start to the third game, but the Ultraliga team's better teamfighting helped them stabilize the game and a split call let them secure the win. 

Karmine Corp 3-1 Unicorns of Love Sexy Edition

After two sweeps, it was time for a contested series - and the lone Prime League representative Unicorns of Love Sexy Edition shocked us when they secured the win in a 48-minute slugfest against Karmine Corp, even surviving an elder dragon push. The second game was also close at first, but KCorp pounced on the Unicorns at the Baron and ended the game quickly.  The LFL team increased the pressure, getting huge gold and kill leads in the next two games. While the Unicorns found some skirmishes in both games, it was too little, too late, leading to a 3-1 victory for the LFL team.

Vitality.Bee 3-0 Fnatic TQ

The Sunday series featured the third LFL representative, Vitality.Bee, take on Spain's Fnatic TQ. The French team took over the first game after punishing their opponent's overreach 14 minutes in and never looked back, securing an easy win. Fnatic TQ looked a lot stronger in game 2 and even got an ocean soul, yet it was not enough - Vitality recovered with good mid-game teamfighting and win after a key backdoor. The LFL team kept outsmarting their opponents in game 3 as well to easily complete the sweep and eliminate the last Superliga representative.

Read More:

• MSI Preview | 5 Players You Have to Watch
• EU Masters | LFL and the Ultraliga Remain for the EU Masters Semifinals
• EU Masters | Who Are The Top Teams of the Main Event?
  

The EU Masters continues on Tuesday, May 2nd. Will AGO Rogue continue their playoff run, or are we guaranteed a wholly LFL final? Will Karmine Corp go to the final to defend their title, or would Vitality.bee dethrone their famous rivals? Follow us to find out!