MAD Lions and Rogue's performances showcase that the G2 and Fnatic era in League of Legends' LEC is over

MAD Lions and Rogue are two of the top teams from the European scene of League of Legends.

The two teams have grown significantly over the past year and a half and have solidified themselves as the new dominant forces within the LEC scene. Traditionally, Fnatic and G2 Esports are the teams that have been regarded as the best that LEC had to offer. In 2019, G2 made it to the League of Legends World Championship finals.

In 2018, it was Fnatic who faced Invictus Gaming in the finals of the prestigious world stage. However, they both lost 3-0 against their opponents even after being the best teams from the region.

The 2021 #LEC Summer Playoffs Bracket for Round 2! pic.twitter.com/WGOFgUjNqE

— LEC (@LEC) August 15, 2021

Both of those teams have fallen from the top, and MAD Lions and Rogue have taken over the spot recently. It seems that no matter how much these two teams try, people do not respect them enough, where the problem arises.

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MAD Lions and Rogue have shown that they can play high-quality League of Legends

MAD Lions made it to MSI during the spring of 2021 and made the current world champions DWG sweat in a best-of-five match. They took it all the way to match five, which clearly showed that MAD has the quality to match the very best. Even though people complained that their bot lane let them down, MAD Lions did have quite a good show at MSI.

MAD Lions thrashed G2 in the first round of the Playoffs (Image via League of Legends)

Rogue managed to gain the top seed and qualified for the Worlds after winning against Misfits in the playoffs. MAD Lions had a rough start, and yet they gained a second-place finish tied with G2 esports. However, MAD Lions dominated G2 in the playoffs and won the series 3-1 with stellar performances.

pic.twitter.com/PJcpjbyptU

— James MacCormack (@MacCLol) August 14, 2021

G2 and Fnatic have been the traditional stars within League of Legends known for their performances on the big stage. As a result, fans of LEC have already started to make comments that the state of Europe at the World Championships looks grim.

This is because, currently, Rogue and MAD Lions have already qualified. However, only G2 or Fnatic will make it as they are in the lower bracket. So people have already lost hope, feeling that MAD Lions and Rogue are just not cut out for the international tournament.

Rogue became the first LEC team to make it into Worlds (Image via League of Legends)

While it is true that when compared to LPL and LCK, the European teams definitely look weaker, MAD and Rogue have achieved more than enough to deserve some trust. G2 Esports has been struggling to qualify, and the same goes for Fnatic.

Apart from that, when it comes to team-fights which is the current meta within League of Legends, MAD Lions is probably one of the best teams in the world. If any team can counter the playstyle of LPL teams and give them a proper fight, that will be them.

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MAD Lions and Rogue have invested smartly in their teams

In fact, whenever people speak about G2 or Fnatic, there is a bias that these teams are superior. In reality, though, they have fallen quite massively from their lofty towers of success. Even after proving it, again and again, MAD Lions and Rogue are doubted, showing nothing but the bias of critics.

In a recent interview, LEC’s top-tier shoutcaster “Quickshot” mentioned that MAD and Rogue had invested quite smartly, which is why they are succeeding compared to others within League of Legends.

Armut is probably the best top-laner in the EU right now (Image via League of Legends)

He said that,

"Truthfully, MAD Lions and Rogue have to be celebrated immensely. They invested in support structures, they invested in local talent, they invested in the players they brought in. They were complimentary, they worked.”

One of the best players within the MAD Lions roster has to be Armut. He is one of the best top-laners in League of Legends' LEC, and he has dominated almost every other player within the league. Not only can he win lanes, but he also provides a huge boost to the team fights. Armut’s Wukong is feared all across Europe, with a 91% win rate on the champion.

MAD Lions’ team fighting depends a lot on the success of Armut, and he delivers every time. Generally speaking, when it comes to drafts, landing, and team-fights, MAD and Rogue have performed better than G2 and Fnatic in the current iteration of LEC.

Fnatic barely managed to win against a weak Vitality side in the lower bracket (Image via League of Legends)

Rogue and MAD Lions have been extremely consistent and clear about what they want to achieve within League of Legends. Other teams, which include both G2 and Fnatic, have gone up and down. This shows that not trusting MAD and Rogue is disrespectful. It is definitely possible that neither of these teams will make it to the finals and might get thrown out of the group stages at Worlds.

League of Legends' LPL teams are mechanically perfect. Therefore, even LCK teams struggle against them. However, both MAD and Rogue made it to the League of Legends World Championships fairly. They definitely deserve more love and respect from the fans.

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This article reflects the opinions of the writer.