The LEC’s Madrid Roadtrip was a resounding success, scratching the arena itch, using fixtures of Spanish-based teams to enhance the atmosphere, and ultimately showing the league at its best. Assuming another success is to come in the Paris leg, then the eventual Spring finals in Riot’s Berlin studio will look very underwhelming in comparison.
Image credit: Riot Games
LEC Teams embraced by the Spanish fans
As far as the crowd goes, the atmosphere on display in the Madrid Arena was — by some distance — the best I’ve experienced in person. It came as no surprise to see the immense reception for home favourites and hosts Movistar KOI. ‘Ultra’ groups formed drum-led parades from the walkway towards the arena, right through the stadium itself.
What followers of the LEC outside of Spain may find more surprising is the support of GIANTX. Though not one of the powerhouse orgs in EMEA’s tier one competition, they’ve carried over a large number of hardcore supporters from the Giants/Superliga era who were as loud, if not louder, than their KOI counterparts. Their section of fans included trumpet and tuba players, as well as their drummer, taking fan chants many levels above the “let’s go G2” usually sung on repeat in the LEC studio.
G2 themselves also earned welcome receptions by supporters despite having visibly fewer fans in attendance, at least in terms of jerseys, with the Spanish crowd likely having a soft spot for the side who had prominent Spanish figures like ocelote and Mithy part of the org down the years. It also helps that they’ve won a million titles.
Finally, Fnatic appeared to have much more of a dedicated fan presence at the event, at least in comparison to G2, with Oscarinin and Razork currently on the roster. However, Fnatic’s Upset was the sole attendee whose walkout received any negativity. Following a mild confrontation with MKOI’s Supa earlier this year, the German’s entrance received some boos and whistles from areas of the arena, following by chants of Supa’s name. That said, the atmosphere felt much more WWE/pantomime villain than serious hostility.
Paris, Berlin?
The decision to run the event as MKOI-hosted allowed the LEC to take advantage of the passionate home crowd/football ultra vibe that the organisation had already created through its own events in the past. Finally the league has figured out the formula to take the massive following of the organisation — and owner Ibai — and harness that to genuinely improve the product, rather than just using their co-streaming to boost viewership figures.
With Karmine Corp set to host the Paris LEC Roadtrip later this month, it’s all but guaranteed that the league will see another successful event. Like MKOI, KC have also shown their proficiency in hosting stadium games many times before and boasts an equally passionate fanbase.
The one backwards part of these roadshows is that they’re still only covering regular season games. While the spectacle is vastly bigger, there’s no material difference between the Roadtrip fixtures and the usual studio matches. MKOI’s Spanish derby win against GX in front of thousands of screaming viewers was no more important than Team Heretics and Team Vitality’s studio wins in front of ~200 audience members the very next day. There’s also something to be said for the competitive integrity in having ‘home’ games for teams at the events and not for others.
At the end of the day, the Madrid and Paris events, for all their hype, are only playing an early role in building towards the Spring playoffs and final. When the final takes place in the Berlin studio on June 8th, the event will look — and most likely feel — considerably less important for all involved.
LEC Summer Finals return to Madrid
The icing on the cake for the Spanish crowd was the weekend’s news that the LEC will return to Madrid again this year with the Caja Mágica, home to tennis’ Madrid Open, set to host the LEC Summer Finals. The 12,000 capacity venue will see three days of competition, while the Plaza de España will host the LEC XPO.
Image credit: Riot Games
The obvious immediate reaction, both from those at the Roadtrip and those who watched online, was to assume that the passion on display this weekend will be repeated for the Summer Finals. While the Spanish crowd did do themselves justice in showing that they can foster a great atmosphere, the crucial home-team aspect that riled up those spectators isn’t guaranteed for the finals.
If none of these sides with large Spanish followings reach that weekend, particularly the final, then there’s a good chance that the atmosphere does not reach the levels seen during the Roadtrip.
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