It's the final week of the EU Masters Summer 2022, and there are still three games to go before the champions are crowned. Team Heretics, LDLC OL, Team BDS Academy and GameWard are the final four teams. None of them have won the EU Masters tournament yet, which means we'll have a new champion at the end of the tournament.
The semi-finals include three French teams, with only Heretics fighting against them as a Spanish representative. Last three tournaments were won by French Karmine Corp: we will see if France can keep the domination going this week. Semi-finals will be played on Wednesday and Thursday, and the grand final will take place on Sunday.
Team BDS Academy vs GameWard
It's the battle between two French teams: BDS.A vs GW. Team BDS Academy finished the LFL in second place, right behind LDLC OL, who dominated France. GameWard finished fourth behind Vitality.Bee and made it to the main event through the play-in.
Team BDS Academy's group consisted of Team Heretics, SK Gaming Prime and Valiance. Thanks to their amazingly good performance, BDS.A finished the group in first place with a 6-0 record, defeating Heretics twice. In the quarter-finals, they defeated Vitality.Bee to secure themselves a semi-finals ticket.
While GameWard had a tough LFL season, their EU Masters run was as easy as BDS. They finished at the top of their group 6-0, defeating Dusty, Schalke 04 and Macko Esports. Their next opponent was X7 Esports, who finished second in the group (after LDLC OL). With a quick 3-0 win, they secured their ticket to the semi-finals.
BDS.A looks incredibly strong and looking at their performances during EUM and LFL, they're the favourite. But GameWard also improved at the EU Masters and will be a tough opponent for BDS. It wouldn't be surprising if they win..
Wednesday, September 21
Team BDS Academy (1.60) vs GameWard (2.20) - 17:00 CEST
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Team Heretics vs LDLC OL
Heretics carries the Spanish flag in the semi-final against LDLC OL. The last time a Spanish representative won the EU Masters was in 2018 with MAD Lions. One can easily imagine how difficult this task is for Heretics.
After dominating Spain, Heretics made it to the EU Masters main event and faced Team BDS Academy, SK Gaming Prime and Valiance in the group stage. Heretics had a tough time against the French BDS.A, but managed to beat the others and secure second place. Unicorns of Love: Sexy Edition then made life difficult for Heretics, but a 3-2 win was enough to take them through to the semi-finals.
Until the semi-finals, LDLC OL had a very comfortable year. They prevailed against AGO ROGUE and Anorthosis Famagusta. LDLC OL only struggled against X7 Esports, but managed to win the tiebreaker. Dusty, however, made them sweat more than they should have. The quarter-finals ended 3-2, and it made us question the LFL champions.
So this series against Heretics is just as important for LDLC OL. Defeating Heretics with a strong result would be the best outcome for the team. However, Heretics has also proved that they're capable of staying in the game even if it goes to five games. LDLC might face something they didn't consider at the beginning of the EU Masters: getting eliminated before the final.
Thursday, September 22
Team Heretics vs LDLC OL - 17:00 CEST
LDLC OL is still the favourite, but Heretics could take it to five games and play mind games with LDLC OL to gain the advantage. I'm not sure if LDLC OL can survive another close best-of-five after coming into the tournament as the favourite and being expected to dominate everything.
