LoR Masters Europe - Chronicles of Shurima: The 16 countries competing for ascension

May 28, 2021

The return of LoR Masters Europe is imminent. Over the past two weeks, players across Europe have been fighting tooth and nail to qualify and represent their country in the upcoming battle for the ascension!

Over the course of the qualification phase, we’ve witnessed one of the most competitive periods ever on the European ranked ladder. Players have been blade-dancing and self-slaying their way to LP heights previously thought unattainable in such a short period.

As the qualification period comes to an end, sixteen countries have punched their ticket to the main event. Each country will be represented by three players who will work together to find the optimal strategy for the first weekend of group stage matches coming up on May 29th and 30th.

Let’s take a look at what countries and players came out on top once the dust settled and the final ladder snapshot was finalized.

The Ascended Ones

As soon as the new competitive season began, many European nations embarked on a perilous journey across the unforgiving Shuriman desert, but only a few were expected to reach the desert’s core with their caravan still intact.

The top sixteen players on the European ladder representing a unique country earned themselves the title of “Team Captain” and secured their country a spot in the LoR Master Europe: Chronicles of Shurima main event. They’re joined by the second and third highest ranked representatives of each qualified country to complete the team.

The 48 qualified players and their final placement on the ladder are as follows:

DE	Teddy314	UA	FirstPinkBeaver
	Nawatix		QuickWell
	Ghosterdriver		evildeaad
GB	jimmylihui	LV	Akarey
	Fizzical		Drobene
	CasterGems		The Aliter
ES	Sergi2Vamos	FI	Keppada
	Cdsfaul		Sepios
	Cosimo		Xauros
BE	Ultraman1996	PT	pespscola
	ShuKee		pipamachado
	IrvineArtifact		Bool Asha
CZ	Ye Xiu 叶修	RU	ragnarosich
	pokrovac		kono jorno da
	BaJAtak		Pettish
SE	SaltySimonSE	TR	GRANRODEO
	lm So Humble		Uçan Protein
	PyRoKz		Fight4RevengeLoR
PL	Alanzq	LB	Sorry
	ShogoPASS		Reaper9972
	Szychu		Champion Unknown
FR	PCS Flaxeau	IT	Bülat
	PCS Elyx		Meliador0
	Haze		Exonarf

Although the battle for qualification was intense and a last-minute win or loss could have sealed the fate of many countries and competitors, you can rest assured that the upcoming LoR Masters Europe will deliver one of the most high-quality competitive experiences we have seen to date. From powerhouse countries like Germany or Spain with proven tournament competitors to dark horse nations with a single player putting in a heroic effort to qualify their country, we expect incredible storylines to continue developing as we move along through the group stage phase of the tournament throughout the next month.

The Group Stage

Once the final ladder snapshot was taken and the pertinent calculations were made, the final four groups for the upcoming LoR Masters Europe: Chronicles of Shurima tournament were finalized and can be seen below.

For this second iteration of the LoR Masters Europe some key changes were made in regards to the seeding and the process of finalizing the four groups prior to the start of the tournament:

a) Countries qualified to the tournament based on their highest LP player, referred to as the captain, but this time around the seeding of the countries was decided via an average calculation of LP among the country’s top three players. If the third qualified player for a country was not in Masters, he will be assigned an LP value of “0”.

b) Once LP averages are calculated for each country and a more accurate assessment of strength is made, countries will be placed in one of four groups depending on their seeding following a “snake-type system”. An example can be seen below:

Following the ladder qualification phase, the final 48 players will come together to form their national teams and start their preparation for the upcoming group stage that will begin on May 29th. In regards to the format of the event, there are some key differences when comparing to the first version of LoR Masters Europe that was held last November:

1. Teams must bring seven decks for each separate weekend of the event, reduced from the previous nine.
2. Due to the reduction in the number of decks, the number of bans made during the pick and ban phase has also been reduced from three to two.

Throughout the pick and ban phase before the start of each match, teams will reveal the champions of each deck and will take turns making bans. Teams can bring a specific champion in up to two separate decks, but they must take into account that if that champion is banned, two of their seven decks will be banned in the process. This will make it so teams will have anywhere from three to five decks available to choose from for their best-of-three matches in the group stage phase of the tournament.

For a more detailed look at the complete tournament ruleset, check out this document.

The Tournament Schedule

The innovative 3v3 tournament series follows a unique multi-weekend approach, with players expected to battle it out throughout the end of May and the entirety of June. Due to scheduling challenges imposed by the addition of next month’s Seasonal tournament, this second version of LoR Masters Europe will have a slightly altered format:

Group Stage Week 1: Saturday, May 29th and Sunday, May 30th

Group Stage Week 2: Saturday, June 5th and Sunday, June 6th

Group Stage Week 3: Saturday, June 12th and Sunday, June 13th.

Quarterfinals: Sunday, June 20th.

Semi-Finals, Third Place Playoffs, and Grand Final: Sunday, June 27th.

As a quick reminder, following the group stage phase, the top two teams in each group will advance to the quarterfinals. The championship bracket will be a single-elimination tournament with 8 teams, with all matches being best-of-three except for the grand final, which will instead be a best-of-five showdown to crown the Champions of LoR Masters Europe: Chronicles of Shurima.

All the action will be starting this upcoming weekend and we hope you’ll tune in and experience the best competitive play the European region has to offer.

You’ll be able to find the tournament English broadcast on the aforementioned dates starting at roughly 14:00 CEST on Twitch and Youtube. More information about regional broadcasts will be shared on our social media channels and the official LoR Masters Europe website.

If you have any remaining questions or doubts about the tournament, you can find out more about the tournament here or join the tournament’s official Discord server.