Origen, Splyce and Schalke will have another chance to make it to Worlds but which team will emerge victorious? xPeke, Deficio, Trick, Drakos and Quickshot are here to preview the LEC Regional Qualifiers.
G2 Esports have already secured their spot at Worlds as Europe's No 1 seed after winning the LEC Summer Split. But it's not the end of the road for teams like Origen, Splyce and Schalke as they'll have one more chance to make it to Worlds as either the second or third seed by winning the LEC Regional Qualifiers.
Fnatic have also secured a place at Worlds but the qualifiers will determine whether they'll advance as the second seed, where they'll avoid play-ins or the third seed - where they'll have a much harder route into the group stages.
The LEC Regional Qualifiers will be a Gauntlet format, where the King of the Hill elimination bracket will have seeding based on Championship Points meaning as it stands, Origen will take on Splyce first. The winner will then face Schalke and the winner of that will have to play Fnatic to determine the final seedings.
Ahead of the all-important qualifiers, we spoke to Origen's xPeke and Deficio, Schalke's jungler Trick as well as LEC casters Drakos and Quickshot for a quick preview of the Gauntlet.
Origen have had the longest breaks out of all the teams involved in the qualifiers, they were the only team out of the four that didn't make it to playoffs which means they've had ample time to prepare for their match against Splyce.
Co-founder and owner Erique 'xPeke' Cedeno Martinez said: "I think Splyce will probably look at us and think we're a free win because we played really poorly towards the end of the season and they might be expecting us to play like we did then.
"I think we are well prepared and if we manage to come out strong and get that first win, we have a good chance to beat them."
Origen's General Manager Martin 'Deficio' Lynge added: "I think that if I'm Splyce right now, I'd be more concerned about whether this will be the return of the Spring Split Origen? Is this the team that's managed to really figure it out now they've had a break? So I think that'll give us bit of an edge.
"You have to remember that Splyce spent playoffs being 3-0ed, that wasn't really a positive experience. I think it's an advantage for us now that no one knows what we've been doing for the last weeks."
While xPeke and Deficio are confident in their players, Origen revealed that their jungler Jonas 'Kold' Anderson won't be able to play in the qualifiers due to health issues and has been replaced by Nikolay 'Zanzarah' Akatov.
Deficio said on Twitter: "We are all super sad to see Kold unable to play. Jonas has been one of the leaders on the team all year and to see him miss the Regional Qualifier is terrible. I know that he loves to play these important matches.
"Having a great, in-form jungler like Zanzarah ready to step in is crucial. I have a lot of respect for him as a player and he has shown at Origen BCN that he has the level to compete with the best."
Unlike Origen who struggled in the Summer Split, Splyce enjoyed plenty of success - they finished third with a 12-6 record and seemed destined to make it to the playoff finals.
However, their formed dipped in the playoffs as they were stunned 3-0 by Rogue in their first best of five this summer.
Despite falling short, Splyce will arguably be one of the teams to watch in the LEC Regional Qualifiers - something that both Daniel 'Drakos' Drakos and Trevor 'Quickshot' Henry agree with.
Drakos said: "Splyce would be my pick right now out of the three teams that'll be participating before they face Fnatic. I think it's likely that they will go to Worlds as our third seed."
Quickshot added: "For me, our third seed will either be Splyce or Origen. One thing is for sure - whoever our third seed with be will have a significantly harder run at Worlds."
Schalke are the team that progressed the furthest out of the three organisations at the LEC Regional Qualifiers but they're not necessarily the most confident.
They looked convincing during their 3-1 victories over Team Vitality and Rogue but there was trouble in paradise when they came up against Fnatic.
After their 3-0 defeat in Athens last weekend, their jungler Kim 'Trick' Gang-yun said: "We don't have that much time to practice but I think if we focus as a team, we can play well.
"In my opinion, there is an 80 per cent chance for us to make it to Worlds. As we showed against Fnatic, we struggled when we fell behind in early game so I think, at Gauntlet, if we don't fall behind we have a good chance."
Drakos also weighed in. He added: "Schalke are a very good team but I also think because they have such a short turnaround time, I just don't think it'll be comfortable for them."
The LEC Regional Qualifiers will take place in Berlin from September 13-15.
