After an intense group stage, the top 8 teams will be facing each other in the Knockout Stage of the EMEA Masters Summer 2023. With the finalists clashing at the Sud de France arena in Montpellier, it will be a golden opportunity for them to showcase their talent.
Image Credits | Riot Games
EMEA Masters Summer 2023 – 8 eliminated, 8 still in contention
The EMEA Masters 2023 Summer is the twelfth edition of Europe’s competition that includes the 13 LoL European Regional Leagues (ERLs), and it’s the best competition below the LEC. Previously known as EU Masters, this is the second edition of the tournament that sees TR, CIS, and MENA added as ERLs, thus becoming EMEA.
Following the play-in stage and the group stage, the eight teams left are:
- DenizBank Istanbul Wildcats – Group A 1st place
- GTZ Esports – Group A 2nd place
- BK ROG Esports – Group B 1st place
- SK Gaming Prime – Group B 2nd place
- Macko Esports – Group C 1st place
- Karmine Corp – Group C 2nd place
- Team GO – Group D 1st place
- Movistar Riders – Group D 2nd place
What happened in the Group Stage?
Everything went more or less according to the expectations, with the top teams from the major ERLs going through. BK ROG, SK Gaming Prime, Team GO, and DenizBank Istanbul Wildcats were among the favorites and they all went through safely.
The biggest upset was in Group C, with Karmine Corp barely making it through the group stage. Macko Esports ended up dominating the group, going undefeated in an impressive manner. If the first win against KCorp might have been lucky, beating them twice may be a signal that the Italian representative is ready to fight this time around.
Moreover, they were able to get “lucky” with the quarterfinal draw, getting probably the weakest of the 2nd seeds, GTZ Esports from the Portuguese ERL. Both should be happy with the result, and both teams will likely be happy to get a potential top-four finish in this EMEA Masters.
The upper bracket, though, is where the big matches lie. Team GO will go up against SK Gaming Prime while Istanbul Wildcats will play KarmineCorp in what can be considered a match worthy of a final. While the LFL representative didn’t look as impressive, the Bo5 series are known to be different, and being the first seed, they will have the pride on the line.
But aside from these teams, I’m curious to see how BK ROG Esports behaves going forward. With the roster they have, they have the potential to make it to the finals if they keep up the level shown in groups.
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Schedule and Predictions
Quarterfinals
- BKR vs MRS – Monday, August 28, 17:00 CET
- MCK vs GTZ – Monday, August 28, 17:00 CET
- GO vs SKP – Monday, August 29, 17:00 CET
- IW vs KC – Monday, August 29, 17:00 CET
Based on the impressions we got from the group stage, I feel like BK ROG are favored to win against Movistar Riders, and the same can be said about MACKO Esports going against GTZ Esports. If the Italian team wins, it would be the organization’s first-ever top-4 finish in EMEA Masters, improving the top 8 result from the last split.
For the remaining matches, instead, it will be much closer, especially the series between SK Gaming Prime and Team GO. I feel like both teams have good chances of winning, with SK being slightly ahead.
KCorp and IW is a hit-or-miss: it can go either way and it will all depend on how each shows up on the day. Right now, I would probably prefer IW by a slight margin due to their higher consistency.
Where to watch EMEA Masters Summer 2023
The entire EMEA Masters Summer will be broadcasted on various different channels in multiple languages:
- For the Play-Ins, the English streams will be provided by EUniverse and ESLOL, but the matches will be also broadcast in other languages, including:
- French,
- Turkish,
- Polish,
- Italian,
- Czech,
- Portuguese,
- Greek,
- Serbian,
- Arabian,
- Hungarian.
- The Main Event will also have national coverage in all the languages mentioned above and there will also be the official EMEA Masters Twitch channel, with some of the best and rising casting talents of the EMEA and ERL circuit.
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