The recently demoted TCL sent it’s best team to compete, but will they be enough to beat the reigning champions?
April 11th marks the beginning of the 2023 EMEA Masters Main Event! The Play-Ins have concluded last Friday, with Greek Legends League runner-ups Anorthosis Famagusta, LFL 3rd place team Aegis, Hitpoint Masters 2nd place eSuba and Arabian League Champions Geekay Esports advancing to the main event. But the bigger players are on the field as well, such as Los Heretics, who won the last EU Masters tournament in 2022 Summer, and TCL winners DenizBank Istanbul Wildcats, who were competing at the World Championship last year.
Los Heretics – Istanbul Wildcats Preview
Los Heretics
Subicz “bluerzor” Dániel and co. might have “lost” Jakob “Jackspektra” Gullvag Kepple to the LEC squad of Team Heretics, they are still going strong. Alongside the Hungarian jungler, Artur “Zwyroo” Trojan and Marcin “iBo” Lebuda stayed with the team from last year, while they managed to snag Igor “marlon” Tomczyk from German team BIG, and Victor “Flakked” Lirola after G2 Esports decided that they no longer want to work with the young Spanish ADC.
While the new Heretics Academy didn’t manage to win the LVP SuperLiga this spring, they were one of the strongest team of the Spanish ERL, finishing 13-5 in the Regular Split and getting to the Finals in playoffs. Bluerzor is on the top of his games metawise, iBo and Zwyroo are still Champion-materials from last year, and the Flakked – marlon botlane has grown to be one of the strongest in the ERL, with the Spaniard busting out Kalista 3 times, even though the Spirit of Vengeance haven’t been meta for some time now.
Istanbul Wildcats
However, they have a bigger fish (or cat) to fry on the first day of the Main Event of this year’s first EMEA Masters. The whole Turkish Championship, the TCL have been demoted to the ERL’s at the end of the last season, meaning that they now have to compete in the EMEA Masters instead of the Mid-Season Invitational and the World Championship. While some teams and fans didn’t take the news too well, other adapted fairly well, with the main candidate being the Wildcats.
Continuing their legacy, they managed to win the first TCL which was not part of the international League of Legends circuit with flying colours. They had a 12-2 scoreline in the Regular Season, and while FUT Esports knocked them down a peg in the Playoffs, they came back stronger than before, beating them in the TCL Finals.
Los Heretics vs Istanbul Wildcats Predictions
While in the Los Heretics vs Istanbul Wildcats match, Wildcats have some interesting picks, mainly thanks to their Korean toplaner and botlaner. Yoong “Destroy” Jeong-min is an avid Fiora and Gwen player, so the Spanish team has to keep an eye out for those, or outright ban them if they hope to beat the Turkish Champions. While Jeong “BAO” Hyeon-woo is a lot more conservative, Flakked has to be on the top of his game if Heretics want to win the 2v2 down the botlane. But if they can shut down Wildcats in as soon as they start the pick-ban phase, last year’s Champions should be able to secure the victory.
The Main Event of the 2023 EMEA Masters Spring is only beginning, so follow ESTNN for the latest Previews and Precidtions!
