Los Ratones’ LEC Versus run is over after the team failed to lock in a playoffs spot on the final day of the regular season, falling short in a tiebreak-heavy finish that went down to the last matches on the schedule.
Los Ratones entered the final weekend with a clear path to the playoffs, and winning both matches would guarantee Caedrel’s team a playoff berth. And the squad made great progress towards this goal by beating SK Gaming on Saturday. On the final day, LR was heavily favored to make it due to the tiebreaker situation on hand.
On the final day of the LEC Versus regular season, Los Ratones faced Team Vitality, whose results were either extremely hot or cold. Unlike the majority of the previous matches, Los Ratones started the game really well, dominating the early game. But League of Legends is a fickle mistress, and a couple of mistakes and great game sense allowed Team Vitality to make a comeback and defeat Nemesis and his teammates.
Still, despite this loss, Los Ratones still had great chances to make playoff, but the results were no longer in the team’s hands. Yet, unfortunately for Caedrel and his boys, every single result went against what they needed. First, Movistar KOI beat powerful NAVI and secured its own spot. Then, Team Heretics upset domineering Karmine Corp, and in the final match of the day, G2 woke up and beat Fnatic, sending both teams through.
Los Ratones finished the split with 5 wins and 6 losses, the same score as Fnatic and Shifters, but lost out to the former on countback due to a head-to-head loss.
The top of the table, meanwhile, belonged to Karmine Corp and NAVI. While KC being good is not a huge surprise, not many expected such a good showing from the newly assembled NAVI roster full of rookie players. The Ukrainian org will be the one to keep an eye on during the playoffs, as the fearless draft exposes many not-so-tactically-astute teams.
LEC Versus final standings:
- 1. Karmine Corp 8-3
- 2. NAVI 7-4
- 3. Team Vitality 7-4
- 4. GIANTX 6-5
- 4. Team Heretics 6-5
- 6. G2 Esports 6-5
- 6. Movistar KOI 6-5
- 8. Fnatic 5-6
- 9. Los Ratones 5-6
- 10. Shifters 5-6
- 11. SK Gaming 3-8
- 12. Karmine Corp Blue 2-9
The first round of playoffs will be held on February 16 and 17. Here are the winners’ side Round 1 matchups:
- NAVI vs. Fnatic
- Team Vitality vs. Movistar KOI
- Team Heretics vs. G2 Esports
- Karmine Corp vs. GiantX
As for Los Ratones, it’s unclear what will happen to the team now. Caedrel has created something special, and the team dominated the viewership numbers and the public discourse, swiftly rising to the level of the league everyone thought the squad would struggle in. Whatever the future holds, hats off to Caedrel, Nemesis, Rekkles, Velja, Crownie, and Baus for making something this special happen.
