A major upset has shaken the
EMEA Masters Winter edition of 2026. Considered one of the tournament’s leading favorites,
has been eliminated in the Group Stage following their defeat this Saturday against
. The roster
built around the former Los Ratones core with the addition of
—who had set its sights on qualifying for the
EWC EMEA Qualifier—has therefore been knocked out prematurely after the opening stage of the competition.
Already defeated by
G2 Esports’ academy team a few days earlier, Witchcraft needed to take revenge to keep their hopes of advancing alive as the team qualified back to the Group D finals through the lower bracket. However, the Prime League’s second seed once again prevailed. Over the course of three long and closely contested games, G2 Nord ultimately emerged victorious, notably thanks to a standout performance from midlaner
on Ryze in the opening game and Azir in the decisive third.
G2N could have closed out the series earlier during Game 2, particularly after a strong showing from top laner
on Gwen. The game was heavily delayed, especially after AD carry
disconnected during the second game. However, Witchcraft ultimately bounced back as G2 NORD failed to close things out, forcing a decisive Game 3.
As he had often done during the Los Ratones era,
once again attempted to carry his team with several impressive individual performances, but to no avail. The lineup ultimately failed to rediscover the same synergy that had propelled these players to two EMEA Masters titles last year. They lost the third game, and with only one team per group advancing to the playoffs, their run at the tournament ended there.
The matchup had also attracted attention due to the duel between the two AD Carries, especially after
had openly teased his counterpart on his Twitch stream following G2N’s first victory earlier in the week. With this defeat, the future of the Witchcraft project now remains uncertain. The players had previously chosen to continue their collaboration after the end of Los Ratones in hopes of qualifying for the EWC, but following this elimination, their next steps remain unclear. At this stage, the roster has not planned to join any ERL for the Spring Split and has no clear path forward to continue existing.
