As a new week approaches, the landscape of the UKLC continues to develop. The league crowned their first regular season winner last Thursday as Diabolus Esports successfully retained their tower against a resilient exceL UK.
This result leaves the Demons in sole first place with still one tower left to go, giving them a huge advantage coming into playoffs.
Their head coach iHansen was ecstatic of his team’s performances so far this split.
He said: “It feels fantastic, hard work does pay off! This split was supposed to be and still is a developmental split to get ready for the summer split. Our success doesn’t change that mindset, but I’m proud of our progression and excited for what’s to come with play-offs and EU Masters.”
Many people expected Diabolus to make it into the playoffs this split, with a mixture of veterans and rookies alongside a well-respected coach. Very few doubted their potential. Nevertheless, to finish the regular season on top with one more week to go certainly shocked everybody inside and outside of the organisation.
“Many considered us as a team that would fight for 3rd/4th, but wouldn’t be able to beat the LEC sister teams (Fnatic Rising and exceL UK). In that sense, it’s nice to prove people wrong once again,”
“Beating the strong teams in Fnatic Rising and Excel Uk wasn’t a surprise as I’ve always thought we would be able to challenge them. On the other hand, finishing the regular season on top of the league and securing the EU Masters spot in Week 6 was not an expectation coming into this split haha.”
For some of the staff and players involved with the organisation, going to EU Masters is a common occurrence. Still, nobody in the roster has gone to the tournament as the first seed. This is something that iHansen and Diabolus want to change.
“We will spend our last week of UKLC preparing for playoffs. We will be looking for that UKLC title. Munckizz and I have qualified for EU masters play-ins 3 splits in a row now, but we have not been able to get the title as champions of the UK scene yet. This split we have a great shot at finally reaching that glory!” Said the Norwegian.
Despite the battle for first place having been concluded, there is still much to fight for as the UKLC reaches its finale. With relegation threatening the bottom two sides and one more tower championship left to claim. This coming week is all about momentum. Given Diabolus’ words, they certainly don’t want to be slowing down anytime soon.
Don’t forget to tune into the final UKLC tournament live on Twitch this Wednesday!
By Tom Daniels
Gromp News 