With Renegades Banditos, ManaLight, Terra Cotta Army (TCA) and Marshmallows and Molotovs (MnM) securing the four promotions slots into the ESL UK Premiership, we ask each team to reflect on their performances and reveal their aims for the season ahead.
Were they happy with their promotions results? And what are their next steps? The teams look at how they will shape up before the Premiership gets underway on Wednesday February 17th.
Renegades Banditos
“We finished first in Qualifiers and in the Promotion Tournament, which is just what we expected. So, you can say I’m satisfied we’ve accomplished the goal we’ve set for ourselves. We have looked sloppy in some games, which is a little due to the fact that we took a break after the CS qualifiers, so we haven’t had that much practice; and we also wanted to provide entertainment for the viewers.
“Of course our aim is to get into the Challenger Series, but that was not why we signed up to ESL UK. Truth is, we were going to play it anyway, as we are primarily a UK team and there’s no place like home!”
RNB Alicus
ManaLight
“I have mixed feelings. How our last game went against GLB – a near perfect game – was how we expected or at least wanted all of our games to go against everyone (except Renegades). GLB put up a good fight in game one. The fact that we ‘struggled’ shows that we have a few weaknesses, but I think they are mainly when we don’t focus.
“As for Renegades, we are satisfied; we got heavily out-drafted in our first game against them and didn’t have any idea how to play versus their comp. In game two, we almost beat them and could’ve closed it out but didn’t. It was an experience issue and in a sense, confidence, but that will iron out in time.
“Our ambitions are aimed at the Challenger Series. But looking a bit sooner, a top two UK finish would be satisfactory because I would be disappointed with third place, but so long as we know we can beat whoever is in first place, that’s acceptable. Saying this, we will aim for first place as that is a more efficient way into CS.”
ML Frozen Dawn
TCA
“We’re happy that we re-qualified – there’s no doubt about that, however we know that our performance has not been great. We’ve had a collective of around three to five games together before we played GLB and NUEL, so the results reflected that.
“Our line-up was supposed to have been finalised by mid-January, however we have had issues and eventually locked down our roster roughly two days before ESL started. Our long-standing ADC Jakamaka also had issues connecting to the server which prompted a really difficult decision that had to be made. We either scrim and get the little bit of practice we had collectively with a new ADC or we basically don’t practice at all and risk further our chances of getting into the season! Either decision was a risk that had to be taken and was not one to be taken lightly.
“Our picks and bans can only go as far as the information we got and since we haven’t played much together, it’s difficult to know what we’re comfortable in playing against etc.
“We’re aiming to become a number one UK team. We’re not blindly ignorant to the rest of the teams though, we understand the competition and road to achieving this is very challenging as there are some really strong teams in the UK scene this year – however, it is a goal we’re aiming to achieve.”
TCA Luna
MnM:
“Renegades: I think that while the game was pretty one sided, we actually came out ahead in pick and ban and we definitely had the tools to win the game. However I really struggled to find a point where the team could group and push without Alphari and Caedral splitting down towers. I think the main reason we lost this game was down to the shotcalling differences of both teams and I blame myself 100% for the loss.
“xL: I think our early game was alright, however we faltered in the mid game, due to being unable to answer Keys’ split push with Zz’rot. Once we actually got our Zz’rot portal I felt we actually could start being proactive again.
“GLB: Our first big mistake was not respecting the Tristana’s pushing power. Our mid game was fairly clean in terms of stalling and we eventually forced GLB into a risky baron, which got us an inhibitor.
“However as a team which has only been together with this roster for about a fortnight, and as a player who is very new to shotcalling, I think the weaknesses we have are simply areas in which we can become stronger. So overall I think we are generally fairly happy with the games we played, because we all realise that we are nowhere near as strong a team as we can be.
“In terms of the standings, top four is obviously a goal of every team competing, however with the strength of the eight teams competing this season it’s going to be very challenging to secure those spots. A realistic goal from this season would just be to up our level of play so that we can maintain our spot in the UK premiership over multiple seasons.
“However, I know everyone on the team is motivated and will be aiming to get a top 4 finish so we can go to the LAN finals.”
MnM Prosfair
