Season VII of the Intel Extreme Masters ventured into previously unexplored territory in the world of esports. The tournament reached to three different continents and four separate countries. Fans from Sao Paulo to Singapore caught their first glimpse of an international League of Legends tournament; their passion almost tangible to the spectators at home. After 12 months of fierce competition 12 teams from around the world emerged from the fray to compete in one final stand off for the much sought after championship.

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Group A

The Intel Extreme Master’s is Gambit Gaming’s tournament to lose. They are not only the reigning World Champions but they have also won every single IEM and ESL event they have ever attended. A little over a year ago Gambit made one of the most climactic entrances the competitive scene have ever witnessed. Having recently been acquired by Moscow 5 the team came into IEM Kiev with an innovative counter-jungling strategy which left everyone dumbfounded. They only dropped one game to TSM and took the tournament inexorably.

Recently at Katowice, Gambit scraped through the group stages, advancing on a time tiebreaker. They recovered from their abysmal group stage performance spectacularly and went on to consecutively 2-0 Azubu Frost and Blaze respectively. They will no doubt be the target of scrupulous research, with every team determined to knock the Russian giants off of their pedestal.

If Gambit’s tournament history is not imposing enough, they are also currently in the lead in the European LCS. They rocketed into first place after taking super week in their stride and winning all five of their games. With their momentum from super week, Gambit are definitely prepared to take the World Championship by storm. They are extremely strong contenders for the championship, but they will have to fight tooth and claw to extend their current reign for another year.

Incredible Miracle are a lesser known Korean team, often overshadowed by mammoth names such as Najin Sword and CJ Entus. Their tournament performance in Korea is quite consistent, with the team usually finishing around fifth place. Although this may seem like mediocre results, with the aforementioned teams, can anyone expect more?

Once removed from the hyper-competitive atmosphere the Asian scene fosters, IM was really allowed to shine. Admittedly the aptitude of the teams attending Sao Paulo wasn’t the highest, yet IM won the tournament convincingly, only dropping two games over the weekend. Perhaps it says something about the skill level of the Koreans, that a team who normally has average showings at tournaments can go to an IEM and take first place.

The prospect is bleak for Incredible Miracle who would have to defeat Gambit, Blaze and Fnatic to make it out of group A. It will be interesting to see where IM falls in terms of skill level to the European teams, and whether being an average Korean team translates to a top-tier European team. IM will be desperate to emulate the results of their highly successful SC2 team, however those results would need nothing short of a miracle.

paiN Gaming are currently the number one ranked 5v5 team in Brazil and have competed in all of the tournaments their country has had to offer. They took third in Riot’s Season 2 Brazilian Championship, beaten by both Vince Te Ipsum’s teams. As VTI has since disbanded paiN is, by default, the best team in Brazil.  Individually their team members possess huge amounts of skill. Their mid laner, Kami, was ranked number one in season 2 on the Brazilian servers. They focus a lot of their team strategies on ex-Counter-Strike player BrTT, who is considered to be one of the best Draven players in the world.

The Brazilian League of Legends scene was almost completely insulated until IEM Sao Paulo where paiN would finally see how they compared to other teams. Unfortunately they shattered under the pressure of the likes of IM and MYM and did not make it out of their group stage. However, the disbandment of Absolute Legends NA left paiN with a qualification to the World Championship. Every game paiN will play in group A could be described as a David and Goliath match up. Their odds of taking a game in their group, let alone making it out, seem impossibly stacked against them.

Once Eclypsia released their esports team, they quickly formed a new team with an amalgamation of former Eclypsia and Curse EU players. The consolidation of both teams seemed to make sense; both teams were highly skilled and as scrim partners extremely close. However, although a logical move from both parties the results were less than satisfactory.

Along with Fnatic, Millenium was a team everyone was certain would qualify for the EU LCS. After a positive start, winning their group 2-0, things fell apart for the team. Their LCS dreams were crushed when they convincingly lost their sets against the Copenhagen Wolves and MYM. After they failed to qualify discord quickly arose in the team. Haydal left the team and he was extremely public about who he felt was to blame with the shortcomings of their team.

With their new support, FatMamma, Millenium hope to once again be a prominent European team.  If their recent performance at Sao Paulo is anything to go by it seems improbable that Millenium will cause any upsets. Yet upsets aren’t meant to be probable and so we will see how they fare at the World Championship.

There will always be high expectations for the best Korean teams at international events; anything other than a top three finish would be considered a humiliating defeat. CJ Entus Blaze is no exception. This being said, Blaze’s performance at tournaments tends to fluctuate far more than their unflappable sister team Frost. Notably they took fourth in OLYMPUS Winters Champions in a huge upset, KT Rolster B taking third with a clean 3-0.

Their first European tournament took place, in the now historic battleground of Katowice. Both Frost and Blaze looked unstoppable, taking their respective groups with complete ease. Blaze was thwarted to the victory by the Russian titans, Gambit Gaming. This was the second time Gambit has taken a set off Blaze, their previous conflict at IPL5.

Blaze will incontestably be out to vindicate their loss at Katowice. With their status as a top three Korean team being heavily challenged, a lot rests on this tournament. It seems highly likely they will make it out of group stages, but with such formidable opponents on their path, they are definitely in for some strenuous match ups.

Fnatic’s win at Riot’s Season 1 World Championship had adverse effects on the team. Instead of bringing them to international acclaim they merely faded into irrelevance. They seemed unable to adapt to the changes between seasons and their results certainly reflected this. It wouldn’t be until Paris Games Week in the winter of 2012 when Fnatic would make their huge resurgence back into the scene. The team made cautious roster changes, and after Dreamhack Winter the team most certainly re-established their dominant role within the European scene.

They currently stand in second place in the European LCS just behind Gambit Gaming. They have exhibited innovative compositions and formidable team play in the LCS so far, re-affirming their status as a top-tier team. Fnatic’s disposition to depart from the pre-established meta makes them a team which is always captivating to watch. It also makes them extremely trecharous opponents. With compositions such as Blitzcrank top, they can very easily catch their adversary off guard.

Alongside Gambit Gaming and CJ Entus Blaze, Fnatic will most likely make it out of group A. The last time they faced off against Korean opposition was in Katowice where they lost their semi-final match to Azubu Frost. The games however were mostly back and forth and thus Fnatic have proven they can battle it out against the feared Koreans.

Group B

Meet Your Makers very much made their breakthrough performance in the Intel Extreme Masters this season. They attended four out of the four stops, notably taking first at Singapore. IEM became the Polish team’s tournament; their name getting further ingrained into the scene and their story unfolding over the progression of Season VII.

Despite their consistent attendance at these tournaments, their persistently good play was often unexpected. Here lies MYM’s hamartia: their play, although dependable, can only be described as ‘good.’ Nevertheless they have taken games off of Evil Geniuses and Curse on their path to CeBIT, just not in a convincing or spectacular fashion.

Recently their ‘good’ proved to be not good enough when they missed out on the last qualification to Riot’s Season 3 LCS. Their loss against the less established DragonBorns was no doubt a bitter defeat. Their chance of redemption, however, is neatly packaged in the form of the Intel Extreme Masters World Championship. MYM would certainly be fitting winners; the tournament and the team so deeply entwined. Whether they can take first, however, is a big ask. Their group is filled with powerhouses such as CJ Entus Frost and EG. It remains to be seen whether their mighty opponents will indeed meet their makers.

SK Telecom T1 is another team thrust into global recognition by an IEM. Their debut and breakthrough tournament was IEM Cologne. The team was formed less than a month before Cologne, thus no one expected spectacular results from them. However, despite being the newest team there and a significant lack of LAN experience for the majority of the players, they managed to reign victorious.

Their only other tournament thus far has been their participation in the GIGABYTE StarsWar League in January. SKT’s results were far removed from those of Cologne losing all their matches 0-2. However their last tournament appearance came at the end of January and unlike LCS participants they will be nigh on impossible to research. They will have had plenty of time to pick themselves up after these disappointing defeats, and their ability to hide team compositions and strategies will definitely play to their favor.

So where do SK Telecom T1 stand coming into Hanover? It is hard to say, with such conflicting results from their only two tournament appearances. No doubt, it will be a mammoth task to defeat such accomplished teams. Perhaps another Korean giant will emerge from the bloodstained battlefields of the World Championship.

SK Gaming is an organization which is deeply entrenched in the history of esports and League of Legends. Although one of the oldest teams, their roster is arguably one of the newest in the tournament. A staggering 20 players have had their ephemeral histories with SK, some stints lasting a mere 11 days. However their participation in the European LCS has finally forced them to reach some semblance of stability. Indeed, this is the longest period of time SK have ever gone without altering their team.

Their capricious roster is a befitting reflection of their play style. The team is known for being heavily guided by emotion, hence their level of play is incredibly unreliable. In the past they have been known to ride a victory to the finals of a tournament or wallow in their losses. The weekly LCS matches may have done something to repair the highly temperamental nature of SK Gaming. At the end of week four they currently stand in an agreeable third place.

SK faces some formidable opponents to get out of their group, however it is highly feasible they will. Their track record against EG sways slightly in their favor, and this may be all they need to make it to the playoffs. SK’s showing at tournaments with international representation leaves something to be desired. At the Season 2 World Championship they failed to make it out of their group and who can forget their crushing defeat against Fnatic at Katowice?  SK are certainly looking better than ever but we shall see how they face off against the supreme Koreans.

Anexis esports is definitely the long shot in group B. They qualified for the World Championship by taking second at IEM Sao Paulo. Whilst no one would argue that the atmosphere at Sao Paulo was unrivaled in terms of effervesce the caliber of teams certainly did not compare to that of Katowice or Cologne. When pitted against teams with slightly more tournament experience at the EU LCS qualifiers Anexis disintegrated; their LCS hopes swiftly vanquished by a 2-0.

This leaves Anexis in a less than favorable position. Obviously upsets happen within competitive League of Legends, however it seems highly unlikely Anexis will be able to make it out of their group. Notwithstanding, writing with a slight disposition to root for the underdog, it is possible that the second Polish team will be able to take a game or two in groups.

Evil Geniuses are one of the most composed and levelheaded teams within League of Legends. They are possibly the only team to maintain an active voice within the community whilst still being so ubiquitously liked (contrary to the organization’s prior reputation). EG’s level headed nature and their consistent roster since late 2011 all contribute to their excellent team synergy.

It would be fallacious to say that the team’s performance is perpetually at a high level, however like any team they ride the roller coaster which is competitive LoL. Just after their strong finish at Riot’s Season 2 World Championship the team stagnated for a short period. They failed to make it out of their group at IEM Cologne after being substantially favored to win the entire tournament. The team recently dropped two places in the EU LCS standings after going 1-4 in super week. It is of paramount importance that EG recuperate from their losses coming into Hanover.

Hopefully EG will recover from their misfortune and bring us the prolonged and theatrical games we have come to expect from them. The group will see a rematch of the finals of Azubu the Champions Summer with EG pitted against Frost. Disregarding upsets, Evil Geniuses are set to make it out of their group, but the onslaught which will ensue will be ruthless.

CJ Entus Frost completes group B’s already stacked line up. It has long been the standard that beating a top-tier Korean team has been the divider of good teams from the best teams. Therefore Frost will unequivocally be the team to beat in this group. This will be there first international tournament under their new team banner and they will, without a doubt, be eager to bring acclaim to CJ Entus.

Frost’s participation in international tournaments has been select to say the least. So far the only two tournaments they have attended on foreign soil have been the Season 2 World Championship and IEM Katowice. Their second place finish at the World Championship further established their status as one of the best teams in the world. Their third to fourth finish at Katowice however seems out of place in their cluster of top two finishes.

Most people expect Frost to take first in their group, however the likes of EG and SK will most certainly not relinquish the coveted bye to the semifinals easily. Frost is definitely a strong candidate for IEM World Champions however as they emerge from the group they will likely face sister team Blaze and their Russian rivals Gambit. After the group stages, the struggle only deepens.

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Schedule