Istanbul Wildcats defeat Unicorns of Love to claim EMEA Masters 2023 Spring title

The eleventh edition of Europe’s premier semi-professional League of Legends tournament has concluded. EMEA Masters or formerly known as EU Masters is the first edition of the competition after the addition of the Turkish TCL, CIS, and MENA regions under the EMEA banner. With the best teams representing the 13 accredited League of Legends European Regional Leagues (ERL), this is the highest honor a squad can earn in the tier-two scene. In their first year participating, the Istanbul Wildcats managed to defeat Unicorns of Love to claim the EMEA Masters 2023 Spring title.

2023 EMEA Spring Masters Recap

Over the course of April, the circuit ran across two phases composed of two stages each. 16 teams were split into 4 groups in the group stage from the Play-In phase. All teams were slotted in a double round-robin format, with best-of-one matches deciding who advances. The top two teams from each group advanced to the knockout stage in the Play-In phase. Those 8 teams would then match up in a best-of-three series to decide which 4 teams would advance to the main event. 

Geekay Esports and Aegis came out of group A. Anorthosis Famagusta Esports Papara SuperMasive came out of group B. eSuba and WLGaming Esports advanced from group C. While Partizan Esports and Verdant dominated Group D. Of those only Geekay Esports, eSuba, Aegis, and Anorthosis Famagusta advanced to the Main Event. 

2023 EMEA Spring Masters Main Event

These 4 teams joined the 12 already qualified teams, which were the number 1 and 2 seeds from the major leagues. The LFL, LVP, Ultraliga, Prime League, and TCL all had 2 representatives. At the same time, the NLC and PG Nationals, two leagues that are not accredited anymore by Riot Games, had only 1 seed.  These 16 teams were pooled into 4 groups, where one group couldn’t have more than 1 representative from a single region. Placed into a Double Round Robin format with best of one series, the top two teams would advance to the knockout stage of the main event.

DenizBank Istanbul Wildcats and Los Heretics qualified from Group A. Macko Esports and Moviestar Riders advanced from Group B. Unicorns of Love and LDLC were the representatives from Group C. While Team GO and SK Gaming Prime dominated Group C. These 8 teams were then placed in a single elimination bracket. Every match would be a best-of-five series. And here’s how that worked out.

2023 EMEA Spring Masters Main Event Knockout Stage

For the sake of clarity, we will cover how the two teams in the Grand Finals got there. The knockout stage kicked of with Unicorns of Love facing off against Moviestar Riders. This one went the distance, with Silver Scrapes and Game 5 deciding the outcome. We didn’t see much macro or a solid game plan. Most of the series was just fighting, we had a nexus throw and UOL even tried to gift game 5 back. It was still one of the most exciting series to watch, but Unicorns of Love managed to come out on top with a 3-2 score.

Their next opponent was Los Heretics. They had just 3-0 Team Go, and with former LEC players in Flakked and Bluerzor on their roster, they were a force to be reckoned with. But the reigning EU Master champions stood no chance against Unicorns of Love. Bot laner Fun K3y continued his stellar play despite questionable decisions while top laner Venour turned heads. From an Irelia OTP to playing in the EMEA Masters Grand Finals in less than a year. He managed to expand his champion pool and showed glimpses of a playstyle common only for Korean and Chinese Top laners.  Unicorns of Love took the series with a score of 3-1 and advanced to the Grand Finals.

Istanbul Wildcats road to EMEA Masters Grand Finals

On the other side of the bracket, the Istanbul Wildcats took on the LFL’s first seed, LDLC OL. The French team took game one, but what followed suit was a display of dominance. IW took the next 3 games by force, winning with a 3-1 score. With this, the last French team after Team GO fell, ending the chances of an LFL team receiving the title. Both Korean imports on Istanbul Wildcats played great but what stood out the most was the performance of Turkish mid laner Kofte. 

Their next bout was with SK Gaming Prime, who had a few LEC veterans on their roster. Top laner Jenax and mid laner Febiven weren’t enough to push the German team to the Grand Finals. Instead, it was Korean bot laner Bao, a prodigy from the DRX Challengers roster, that led the Istanbul Wildcats to a 3-1 win over SK Prime. He was aided by his Korean partner in the top lane called Destroy, who destroyed the hopes of SK Gaming Prime. Mid laner Kofte continued his impressive play, showing that he can play nearly every champion in the game at a high level. With these results, the stage was set for the Grand Finals.

2023 EMEA Masters Grand Finals breakdown

Game one kicked off with Istanbul Wildcats creating a sizable lead. 5000 gold was the difference 20 minutes into the game, but then Unicorn of Love top laner Venour took over. His K’sante could not die, as IW struggled to find consistent damage. The Rumble and Lissandra picks got outscaled, and even though they had a lead, Istanbul Wildcats just couldn’t close the game out. Unicorns of Love took game one.

The German team didn’t stop pushing in game two. The early aggression opened up a 5000 gold lead and once Venour got ahead on his signature Irelia pick, the game was over in 29 minutes. 

The script got flipped in game three. This time around, it was the Istanbul Wildcats bringing the aggression. They killed UOL’s bot lane 5 times in the first ten minutes. And apart from the jungle proximity, most of it was bot laner WAO on his Xayah. Unicorns of Love did their best to make it close, forcing fights, collecting shutdowns and playing for objectives. But the Gragas and Blitzcrank picks for Istanbul Wildcats gave them too much paly making potential, which they used masterfully. Istanbul Wildcats took game three but were still losing 1-2. 

Istanbul Wildcats complete the reverse sweep

Game four was similar to game two, but in favor of the Istanbul Wildcats. Wao once again got his hands on Xayah and Kofte played Tristana for the second straight game. This time around, the early game aggression was focused around the mid lane, resulting in Kofte having 3 kills in 13 minutes. The Gragas was replaced by Sejuani, offering the same play making potential and the perfect synergy with the Tristana. The two ADC’s for Istanbul Wildcats completely took over, evening the series at 2-2 and forcing the deciding game 5.

The Istanbul Wildcats completely flipped the script in game, putting Kofte on Aatrox in the mid lane. Korean top laner Destroy kept solo killing his opponent Venour while the bot lane was also no short of action. Wao picked up 3 kills in 12 minutes, accelerating his Zeri to her item spikes. The game was fairly even at 25 minutes but then UOL’s Fiora, Jinx and Braum picks just coudlnt provide enough utility against the engage the Istanbul Wildcats threw at them. Maokai into Rumble into Rell ultimates fell on top fo the German team until their nexus exploded in 29 minutes. With it, the Istanbul Wildcats completed the reverse sweep, claiming the EMEA Masters 2023 Spring title.