EU LCS Players Poised to Shine in Week 5

While not every team gets to make the big plays, these are the players that often make the moves that help their teams immensly in the European League of Legends Championship Series.

sOAZ

Paul “sOAZ” Boyer is the current top laner for Fnatic, and is one of the most decorated veterans in the EU LCS. Having been a strong player since Season 1, sOAZ has been in the EU LCS since its inception in 2013 where he was part of the original powerhouse Fnatic. After several successful splits with Fnatic, sOAZ moved to join a new team made up of former Fnatic comrades, and Origen was born. This new team took the EU Challenger scene by storm, and easily qualified for the 2015 EU LCS Summer split. A strong showing there allowed Origen to qualify for the 2015 World Championship, where they would ultimately be knocked out in the semi-finals by SK Telecom T1, who would go on to win the tournament. While 2015 was a success for Origen, 2016 was not so good. Origen managed to place second in the spring split, but barely managed to avoid being relegated in the summer, and as a result nearly all the players left the organization. sOAZ would re-join Fnatic in late 2016, and has been the stalwart top laner ever since, becoming something of a marker stone for new players to compare themselves to.

Memento

Jonas “Memento” Elmarghichi is the current jungler for Team Roccat. Despite playing LoL since season 1, Memento has only really participated in the EU Challenger and LCS since mid-2016. A talented jungler, Memento has a knack for playing champions with high mobility, allowing him to move around the map to help teammates and secure objectives. Having bounced between the Challenger scene and the LCS, Memento is well versed in how his opponents like to play and has had a wide variety of different playstyles to observe, a fact that has benefited his team with the ability to predict when and where his enemy will strike.

Nukeduck

Erlend "Nukeduck" Våtevik Holm is the current mid laner for FC Schalke 04. Having been around the scene for a while, Nukeduck was a member of the much lauded Lemondogs team in 2013, where they took first place in the EU Summer regular split, and qualified to represent the EU at the 2013 World Championship. After the tournament however, the Lemondogs roster left to join other teams, and Nukeduck joined Ninja’s in Pyjamas. Unable to hold their LCS spot, NiP would go on to play in the EU Challenger scene, however Nukeduck was suspended from all official Riot Games tournaments, due to his toxic in game behaviour. When he was allowed to play again, Nukeduck joined Team Roccat for the 2015 season, before leaving Roccat to join Team Vitality in 2016. After two years with the Vitality squad, Nukeduck joined FC Schalke 04, where he has been the starting mid laner ever since. An aggressive mid laner, Nukeduck has the ability to exert pressure on his opponents, forcing them to devote resources simply to avoid being left behind. With his ability to outplay his lane opponents a constant threat, Nukeduck allows his team to flourish as he draws enemy attention, and in the rare cases where he does not receive extra attention from the enemy, he is fully capable of destroying his opponents and winning games by himself.

Minitroupax

Amadeu “Minitroupax” Carvalho is the current AD Carry for Team Vitality. Minitroupax joined Giants in 2017 when their rosters were merged to better allow them to compete in the EU Challenger scene. After a successful season, Minitroupax, along with Giants, was able to qualify for the 2018 EU LCS Spring split. Minitroupax would go back to play for the Giants sister team, Giants Only The Brave, for the remainder of the 2017 season, before leaving to join Team Vitality for the 2018 season. A valued member of Vitality, Minitroupax has played a key role in their ability to remain the number one team in the EU LCS right now, including a bold teleport backdoor against Roccat to secure an unlikely victory. Showing his ability to play unconventional champions in his role, such as Ziggs, Minitroupax has shown he is more than capable of stepping up to the plate where necessary, in order to help his team achieve victory.

KaSing

Raymond “KaSing” Tsang is the current support for Splyce. A highly sought after player, KaSing has played for numerous teams in both the EU Challenger and EU LCS, while also making a brief appearance on North American LCS team TSM during their IEM San Jose campaign. A mastery of the support role allows KaSing to pick and play any champions that are currently in the Meta. A fondness for playmaking supports, KaSing does his best to ensure that his bot lane partner is able to get ahead and stay that way, while also providing much needed engagement tools for his team in the late game.

For more information on the EU LCS, check out our recaps of Week 4, day 1 and day 2. To see when these players, and their teams, will be playing next, check out the official schedule page.