Exploring Europe’s worst League of Legends teams and what modern organizations can learn from their failures
Introduction: Europe’s Competitive Legacy
European League of Legends has evolved dramatically from its EU LCS origins to the modern LEC era, producing world-class talent and international contenders while also experiencing some of competitive gaming’s most memorable struggles.
The LEC has consistently produced World Championship contenders and exceptional rookie talent over recent years, but every competitive region endures teams that become cautionary tales for future organizations.
Europe’s competitive legacy includes legendary players like Perkz, Caps, and Rekkles who have defined generations of League of Legends excellence. These competitors have demonstrated what’s possible when talent meets proper organizational structure.
LEC organizations have reached the championship matches of three major international tournaments in four years, with G2 Esports achieving a historic milestone as the first Western team to capture the Mid-Season Invitational trophy in 2019.
However, Europe’s early competitive years featured significant inconsistency in team performances across both domestic and international competitions. The league’s format underwent multiple transformations, cycling through best-of-three, best-of-two, and best-of-one structures throughout its development.
Under the original EU LCS structure, poor performance triggered participation in promotion tournaments where Challenger Series teams competed against the league’s weakest squads for their competitive spots. This created constant roster turnover as organizations faced relegation threats.
The 2019 franchising transition to LEC eliminated relegation concerns, allowing struggling organizations to maintain their positions without immediate competitive consequences. This structural change has enabled teams like Astralis and Excel to continue competing despite consistent playoff absence.
Astralis currently faces significant challenges in the 2022 spring split, starting with an 0-7 record that prompted organizational transparency about their internal struggles and player coordination issues.
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A status on our team and progress:
Read: https://t.co/F2Abm3Y0Lw
— Astralis League of Legends (@AstralisLoL) February 3, 2022
The organization published detailed analysis of their 2022 challenges on February 3, acknowledging player coordination problems and identifying the psychological impact of prolonged underperformance as their primary obstacle.
Both Excel and Astralis continue facing LEC performance issues, with Excel implementing early support role changes in their ongoing effort to break playoff droughts. Understanding historical context helps evaluate how current struggles compare to Europe’s most challenging roster performances.
Origen 2017 Spring: The Winless Wonder
Top: Max ‘Satorius’ Günther
Jungle: Kim ‘Wisdom’ Taewan/Jakub ‘Cinkrof’ Rokicki
Mid: Yoo ‘NaeHyun’ Naehyun
AD Carry: Erik ‘Tabzz’ van Helvert
Support: Aleksi ‘Hiiva’ Kaikkonen, Enrique ‘xPeke’ Cedeño Martínez
League of Legends competitive structure typically allows for unexpected victories due to meta shifts and champion power spikes, creating opportunities for underdog teams to achieve surprising results against stronger opponents.
This competitive dynamic makes complete winless splits exceptionally rare occurrences, which underscores the historical significance of Origen’s 2017 Spring performance as one of European League’s most challenging campaigns.
Origen entered 2017 following a dramatic relegation survival against Misfits that extended to the maximum five games, preserving their EU LCS position through extraordinary effort despite clear organizational weaknesses.
The 2017 roster reconstruction saw complete turnover except for founder xPeke, with the surprising acquisition of NaeHyun generating particular attention due to his ongoing 17-game losing streak from Team KungFu in China.
NaeHyun’s unfortunate streak extended to 32 consecutive losses before experiencing competitive victory, with Origen managing only two individual game wins throughout the entire Spring split without securing any series victories.
This performance established Origen as the singular team in EU LCS history to complete a split without series victories, highlighting the dangers of complete roster overhauls without established team identity or strategic foundation.
Mysterious Monkeys 2017 Summer: Brief and Painful
Top: Park ‘Jisu’ Jincheol/Mateusz ‘Kikis’ Szkudlarek
Jungle: Leon ‘Lamabear’ Krüger/Maurice ‘Amazing’ Stückenschneider
Mid: Sofyan ‘CosQ’ Rechchad
AD Carry: Florent ‘Yuuki60’ Soler
Support: Han ‘Dreams’ Minkook
The 2017 competitive year presented significant challenges across EU LCS, with three organizations finishing with identical 2-11 records during best-of-three formats across both splits. Among these struggling teams, Mysterious Monkeys achieved the lowest individual game win rate at just five victories throughout their summer campaign.
Mysterious Monkeys entered professional League through acquisition of Misfits Academy’s position, representing a German regional organization with multiple failed Challenger Series qualification attempts before purchasing direct EU LCS access.
Their limited success included victories against similarly struggling organizations Ninjas in Pyjamas and Roccat, demonstrating the competitive challenges facing teams entering professional leagues through financial acquisition rather than competitive qualification.
The organization attempted mid-split improvements through veteran additions Kikis and Amazing, but these experienced players couldn’t reverse the team’s trajectory, resulting in relegation against Giants Gaming and highlighting the limitations of late-season roster changes without foundational team structure.
H2K Gaming 2018 Summer: The Final Chapter
Top: Lennart ‘SmittyJ’ Warkus
Jungle: Ilyas ‘Shook’ Hartsema/Marc ‘Caedrel’ Lamont
Mid: Marcin ‘Selfie’ Wolski/Emil ‘Larssen’ Larsson
AD Carry: Patrik ‘Sheriff’ Jírů (now known as Patrik)
Support: Hampus ‘promisq’ Ambrahamsson
H2K’s 2018 Summer performance represented both organizational historical low and unexpected conclusion to their European competitive presence, creating a dramatic contrast from their Spring split quarterfinal achievement.
The roster’s dramatic collapse saw no victories until week seven despite extensive role experimentation, including jungler Shook competing as both AD Carry and mid laner during various stages of the split.
H2K’s temporary acquisition of rookie mid laner Larssen represented a desperate improvement attempt that proved unsuccessful, culminating in 2-16 final record and highlighting the challenges of integrating young talent into struggling team environments.
The organization’s exclusion from LEC franchising following their 2018 collapse demonstrated the competitive consequences of dramatic performance decline, serving as cautionary example for teams navigating league structural transitions.
Rogue 2019 Spring: Franchise Salvation
Top: Kim ‘Profit’ Junhyung/Finn ‘Finn’ Wiestål
Jungle: Mateusz ‘Kikis’ Szkudlarek
Mid: Chres ‘Sencux’ Laursen
AD Carry: Martin ‘HeaQ’ Kordmaa
Support: Kim ‘Wadid’ Baein/Oskar ‘Vander’ Bogdan
Rogue’s challenging LEC introduction paralleled H2K’s departure, with both new franchise entries Excel and Rogue struggling during the 2019 Spring split while Rogue secured the distinction of tenth-place finish.
The organization followed the common pattern of struggling teams by implementing multiple roster changes throughout the split, though these adjustments proved insufficient for competitive improvement during their initial season.
The new franchise system provided crucial protection against relegation despite their 2-16 performance, allowing continued development that eventually transformed Rogue into consistent LEC contender and demonstrating franchising’s potential benefits for long-term organizational growth.
This organizational trajectory highlights how structural changes can enable team development that might have been impossible under previous relegation systems, providing valuable perspective on current struggling teams’ potential recovery paths.
Vitality 2020 Spring: Rookie Roster Collapse
Top: Lucas ‘Cabochard’ Simon-Meslet
Jungle: Duncan ‘Skeanz’ Marquet
Mid: Lucas ‘Saken’ Fayard/Marcin ‘Selfie’ Wolski
AD Carry: Markos ‘Comp’ Stamkopoulos
Support: Jakub ‘Jactroll’ Skurzyński/ Pierre ‘Steeelback’ Medjaldi
Vitality’s 2020 roster represented dramatic departure from their current superteam construction, highlighting how organizational strategies can evolve from development-focused approaches to championship contention models.
The organization’s offseason saw franchise mid laner Jizuke depart, prompting investment in rookie talent across multiple positions including mid lane, jungle, and support roles as part of rebuilding strategy.
Visa complications combined with global health crisis disruptions prevented starting mid laner Milica from competing, forcing academy substitute Saken into starting role and establishing pattern of reactive roster changes throughout the split.
Additional substitutions including academy support Steeelback and mid laner Selfie failed to produce competitive improvements, resulting in organizational worst 2-16 record and demonstrating challenges of building around rookie cores during disruptive external circumstances.
Lessons for Modern Organizations
Analyzing Europe’s most challenging team performances reveals consistent patterns that modern organizations should recognize and avoid when building competitive rosters and organizational structures.
Excessive mid-split roster changes consistently demonstrated limited effectiveness across multiple organizations, with teams like Mysterious Monkeys, H2K, and Vitality all attempting veteran substitutions or role swaps that failed to reverse performance trends.
The franchising system provides current organizations like Astralis and Excel with developmental opportunities unavailable to previous struggling teams, though this protection requires careful balance to avoid complacency and ensure continuous competitive improvement.
Successful team building typically involves establishing clear strategic identity before making roster investments, rather than reacting to poor performance with constant personnel changes that disrupt team cohesion and development.
Modern organizations can learn from these historical examples by focusing on long-term development strategies, careful rookie integration, and maintaining consistent organizational identity despite short-term competitive challenges.
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