Que boa notícia! GIANTX’s André “Guilhoto” Pereira Guilhoto will be in charge of the Portuguese national team for the Esports Nations Cup (ENC). He will be assisted by two other coaches currently working in the League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC): ’ Rodrigo “Rodrigo” Domingues Oliveira and his assistant at GIANTX, Rúben Alexandre “Rhuckz” Barbosa Neves.

Guilhoto and Rhuckz will therefore continue working together at the national level, having already been part of the same organization, GIANTX, since the start of the year. Guilhoto takes charge of the squad with over ten years of coaching experience and has been leading GIANTX for more than a year now.

Rhuckz, on the other hand, has a much more recent coaching career, with less than a year of experience within the Spanish organization. He will also be supported by Rodrigo, G2’s analyst since 2022, with whom he has experienced both European success and appearances on the biggest international stages. Portugal will benefit from a high-level coaching staff capable of guiding players who are less accustomed to Tier 1 competition.

Portugal currently does not have any players competing in Tier 1 League of Legends, but the country still benefits from a strong domestic scene through the Liga Portuguesa de League of Legends (LPLOL), filled with national talent spread across the ERLs. In the toplane, Antero Trindade “” Baldaia and the young Alexandre “” Brito Freitas could both emerge as solid contenders.

In the jungle, Pedro “” Simões, LPLOL Winter champion, could make a case for himself, but it is Tiago “” Almeida, jungler for Movistar KOI Fénix, who received the most votes in the Esports Nations Cup roster polls on Sheep Esports. In the midlane, João Miguel “” Novais Bigas topped the voting.

In the botlane, two players who won their respective leagues in Winter stand out: João “” Martins, LPLOL champion with Otter Side, and Rodrigo “” de Oliveira, Road of Legends champion with Frites Esports Club.

Finally, in the support role, LPLOL champion José “” Martins is a strong option, although national veteran Amadeu Jesus “” Dias de Carvalho could also be called up. While Portugal may lack Tier 1 representation, it certainly does not lack talent at the Tier 2 level.

Scheduled from November 2 to 29 for its first edition in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, the nation-based competition, the largest in esports history, is expected to bring together thousands of players from around a hundred countries, competing across nearly 16 games. Alongside the League of Legends tournament, set to take place from November 21 to 29, there will also be nation-based competitions in VALORANT, Counter-Strike, Rocket League, and Rainbow Six: Siege. For Riot Games’ MOBA title, around 32 teams, each representing a nation, will compete on site.

Before that, the participants still need to be decided. The Esports Foundation, which oversees the ENC and the Esports World Cup (two separate events), has decided that 16 teams out of the 32 will qualify directly for the final tournament, based on the results of their representatives in Riot Games’ official competitive circuits. The other participants will have to go through seven regional qualifiers, each offering two spots. The remaining two slots will reportedly be allocated by the ENC in the form of wildcards, likely at the discretion of the event organizers.