CIS representatives Unicorns of Love qualified for this year’s League of Legends World Championship and are looking to crush their opposition after a dominant year locally. After losing only two games during the Spring and Summer Splits, expectations are high for the German organization.
With three returning players from last year’s Worlds and arguably a better bottom lane than its previous iteration, UOL have a good chance to make it out of the play-in stage and advance to group play. But their strength will be tested by the fourth seeds from the LEC and LPL, MAD Lions and LGD Gaming. If UOL can prove that they have what it takes to beat these two teams, they could cement themselves as one of the best minor region squads at Worlds 2020.Many League fans remember the match between TSM and UOL in 2015 at IEM San Jose.
UOL were sent to the tournament thanks to receiving fan votes and they delivered. They pulled off a jungle Twisted Fate and a stunning Syndra performance to take down TSM, who were one of the favorites to win the tournament. Even though they lost in the finals to North American representatives Cloud9, fans and members of the community likely still remember how PowerOfEvil, a freshly-qualified rookie, destroyed NA’s golden mid laner, Bjergsen.
Over the years, that remained UOL’s sole defining moment, with the team failing to win a single EU LCS split or even qualifying for Worlds. They were often close to qualifying for Worlds due to accruing enough Championship Points to participate in the Regional Qualifier but always lost to other teams such as Origen, H2K Gaming, and Splyce.
After the EU LCS rebranded to the LEC for the 2019 Spring Split, UOL failed to secure a spot in the newly franchised region. The organization looked to remain in the professional League scene by participating in other leagues. After being missing from the scene for six months, UOL finally acquired an LCL team spot on May 22 for the Summer Split.
UOL entered the CIS region with a bang, finishing the regular season standings in second place and winning the playoff race in a close best-of-five series against VEGA Squadron. This win propelled them to the play-in stage of the World Championship, where they received the opportunity to show themselves to the entire world.
The play-in stage was fierce and UOL landed in a group with NA’s third seed Clutch Gaming and Oceania’s first seed MAMMOTH. The games were close with all three teams finishing their group stage with a 2-2 record. UOL won the tiebreaker to advance over MAMMOTH and qualified for the next stage where they’d face EU’s third seed Splyce in a best-of-five series. The winner would move on to the main event while the loser would go home.
The series between the two EU teams was close. Both teams pulled out secret picks and tactics and the series went down to the last game. Splyce ultimately came out ahead, though, and sent the Unicorns home.
