Could Unicorns of Love be back competing against LEC Teams?

Note: This article is still under development.

The Unicorns may have pulled off another miracle. Initially ineligible for the Prime League Playoffs, the team somehow made it to the EMEA Masters. After starting 0-3 in the Swiss Stage, they went on a remarkable winning streak to qualify all the way to the semifinals. They are now Top 4 at the tournament.

Two weeks ago, Sheep Esports reported that Riot Games plans to introduce a new format for the 2026 season, replacing the Winter Split with a tournament featuring the 10 LEC teams, the most consistent EMEA Masters team throughout 2025, and the winner of the EMEA Masters Summer Split 2025.

The top four at the EMEA Masters have now been decided, with the semifinalists being:

The most consistent team throughout 2025 has already been determined as Los Ratones. However, since two of the three remaining teams are academy rosters, the question remains whether they are eligible. This could make Unicorns of Love the final team to qualify for the new event.

However, there’s a reason for the conditional tone in this article. While the new format was reported as definitive, it was not clear whether academic teams could compete in the new format. Additionally, the leak sparked public backlash from several team owners and fans, who criticized the idea — particularly noting that some organizations paid enormous sums to secure a spot in the LEC and access to international competition, while this format could allow new teams to do so for free.

Sheep Esports has not yet heard of any changes to the reported format, but we remain cautious until Riot officially announces the final details. Some LEC organizations have been told that academy teams will be able to participate, but others remain cautious about whether that is feasible or not.

If LEC teams are eligible to qualify for the new Winter 2026 tournament, Unicorns of Love will need to defeat Los Heretics in the semifinals, and possibly Karmine Corp Blue in the finals, to secure their spot.

Unicorns of Love qualified for the EU LCS in 2014 — and not just as a temporary guest team. They began their journey in 2015 with iconic toplaner Tamás “Vizicsacsi” Kiss and support Zdravets “Hylissang” Iliev Galabov. With their unconventional picks and unpredictable strategies, the pink squad quickly became one of the EU LCS’s most beloved teams.

When franchising began in 2019, the enormous entry fee — estimated at around €8 million according to Jacob Wolf — kept Unicorns of Love out of the LEC. Instead, they moved to the CIS region, where they competed in the LCL from 2019 to 2021 and even qualified for Worlds three times. However, due to the ongoing political situation in Russia, the LCL was forced to shut down, leaving only the organization’s secondary roster, Unicorns of Love Sexy Edition, active in the ERLs through the Prime League.