The second night of the EMEA Masters Spring Playoffs proved to be swift and one-sided. The expected outcomes prevailed in both intra-regional matchups between representatives of the NLC and TCL. Reigning Northern League champion and winner of the Winter EMEA Masters, Los Ratones made quick work of NORD Esports, defeating them by the same scoreline as in the NLC Spring Grand Final: 3-0. Similarly, BoostGate Esports (TCL #1) dispatched fellow Turkish squad ULF Esports (TCL #3) with an identical 3-0 score.

For Los Ratones, Tim "Nemesis" Lipovšek was particularly instrumental. Posting a 6/1/8 scoreline on Syndra in Game 1, he continued to pressure NORD with Twisted Fate in Game 2, and especially with Vladimir in Game 3. Nearly unkillable, the former Fnatic midlaner consistently played at the edge, pushing his opponents to their mental limits. This was exemplified by several ill-fated attempts from Nihat "Innaxe" Aliev’s Zeri to secure a kill, dashing in vain. Nemesis capitalized on the space created by Simon "Thebausffs" Hofverberg, whose trademark split-push playstyle was once again on display. Game 2 also stood out for an unorthodox draft phase, featuring ten bans targeting the toplane.

A Quarterfinal Too Close to Call

As for BoostGate, singling out an individual performance is challenging, given the collective dominance displayed across the series. Enes "XnS" Hansu and Kang "Jool" Dong-soo each finished the BO with a KDA of 25, dying only twice across all three games. Lim "ToongE" Ho-seon died just once and achieved a staggering KDA of 42. The TCL champions cleanly snowballed Games 1 and 3, and granted their opponents only a brief glimmer of hope during the early game of Game 2. In that match, Tunahan "Kireas" Kevioğlu’s Wukong led a promising early game, allowing ULF to build a modest 2k gold lead. However, the momentum abruptly shifted following a teamfight after the fourth drake, where Jool secured two kills.

The two victors will now face off in what promises to be a closely contested and high-octane quarterfinal. The clash between Los Ratones and BoostGate is scheduled for June 16 at 17:00 CET. Before that, the remaining Round of 16 matches must still be resolved. On Friday, Karmine Corp (LFL #2) will take on Zero Tenacity (RL #1), while CGN Esports (PRM #1) will face their first significant challenge against Los Heretics (SL #3). After two days of one-sided series, the CGN vs. LH match-up may finally deliver a balanced and engaging best-of-five. Both series are set to begin simultaneously at 17:00 CET.