G2 NORD upset Witchcraft in the League of Legends EMEA Masters group stage in a 2-1 series victory that saw Witchcraft throw away significant advantages against the G2 and NORD colloborative development team.
The former Los Ratones core won Game 1, but threw significant advantages in Games 2 and 3 to see the series slip through their hands as they attempt to qualify for the EWC 2026 through the EMEA EWC qualifier.
Witchcraft throw leads to hand series to G2 NORD
Game 1 saw Gabriël ‘Bwipo’ Rau dominate on K’Sante in a clean 29-minute victory, which saw Witchcraft effectively exploit their advantages across the Rift.
Game 2 looked again to be a comfortable victory, as Witchcraft comfortably commanded a gold and kill lead. However, they seemed to overestimate their advantage, with Bwipo now being far from the hero, and misjudging several engagements to allow G2 NORD back in the game.
In Game 3, Tim ‘Nemesis’ Lipovšek once again showed his individual superiority in dominating mid against Victor Alexander ‘Toasty’ Chea’s Akali.
The match again seemed poised for a Witchcraft victory, but misjudgements from Veljko ‘Velja’ Čamdžić and Bwipo allowed G2 NORD to power up their more engage-heavy comp with Francesco ‘Shelfmade’ Cardia showing his potential on Aurora to dominate the end game.
What now for Witchcraft?
Luckily for fans of Witchcraft, the match was not for promotion or elimination. As EMEA groups now only have one progressing team from each group, the bracket is effectively double-elimination except for the group finals.
Witchcraft, therefore, moves down to play Baam Esports in the lower bracket, a team they have already defeated 2-0 in the group.
Presuming Witchcraft do not have some sort of mental collapse, they should easily progress to the rematch against G2 NORD in the group finals.
Surely that’s impossible, it’s not like the team had a high-profile, multiple-hour-long debate about a minor aspect of bot prio. Surely, throwing two games won’t lead to any fallout…
If the rematch happens, it will be for all the marbles, acting as a promotion/elimination match to the playoffs despite G2 NORD’s recent victory.
Will Witchcraft grow together quickly enough to make it to the EWC qualifier? You can discuss that, and more, on the Insider Gaming Discord!
For more League of Legends news, see how the search for the 2027 Worlds host city is progressing.
Darragh is an Esports Journalist for Insider Gaming specialising in Counter-Strike. He loves to explore how esports teams work, or why they very often do not.
More from Darragh Harbinson
