The
LFL Invitational draw took place on the evening of January 13 on OTP’s channel and studio, conducted by league officials. The twenty teams
were split into four groups of five and drawn at random. As a reminder, the LFL Winter will feature seven LFL teams, five invited teams, and eight teams from the Nexus League.
The five groups will therefore be composed as follows:
- Group A: Joblife, Vitality Rising Bees, Ici Japon Corp, TLN Pirates
- Group B: BK ROG Esports, Zephyr Esports, Skillcamp, Project Conquerors
- Group C: Solary, Team Yumeea, Vitality.Bee, Karmine Corp Blue Stars
- Group D: Galions, Caldya Esports, Esprit Shonen, Lille Esports
- Group E: French Flair, Lausanne Esports, Team ZYB, Galions Sharks
The Group of Death
Team Yumeea, the French women’s and non-binary team founded by Antonella Maria “Aloonea” Tarantino and Camille “Yume” Laisné, was clearly not favored by the draw. They were placed in one of the toughest groups of the tournament, alongside two LFL teams, Solary and Vitality.Bee, as well as Karmine Corp’s second academy roster.
It is also worth noting that French Flair and Team ZYB will face each other as early as the group stage. The two teams, founded by streamer Jean “Trayton” Medzadourian and professional player Yasin “Nisqy” Dinçer respectively, were drawn into the same group, alongside Galions Academy and Swiss side Lausanne Esports.
LFL Spots on the Line
The group stage will kick off on January 21. The top two teams from each group will advance to the Super Group, which will feature ten teams. From there, the top six will qualify for the playoffs. The key takeaway is that the top two non-LFL teams will qualify for the LFL Spring and Summer Splits.
As a result, Nexus League teams (the rebrand of LFL Division 2) as well as the invited teams could find themselves competing for a full season in Europe’s premier Tier 2 league. The number of LFL spots allocated to the EMEA Masters for the Winter split remains unknown.
