European Masters Summer 2021: What You Need To Know About The Tournament?

The group stage of the European Masters Summer 2021 starts on August 30, and the tournament itself will last until September 19. The best teams from the national leagues of Europe will take part in it.

Regions and teams

In total, 16 teams participate in the main tournament, 4 of which have passed the Play-In stage. Each of them represents its own championship, which is attached to any country of the European Union or directly to the European region.

BIG, Penta 1860 and mousesports were selected from Germany this time. The latter made it to the main stage of the tournament through the aforementioned Play-In. BIG and mouz have already played at this tournament and showed a good result in the spring, reaching the playoffs. For the Penta 1860, this will be the first international event in the history of the organization. Thanks to a midseason substitution, they managed to achieve serious success in their championship, finishing 1st in the group stage, but they lost to BIG in the final 0-3.
For mousesports, the situation is a little more complicated: in the middle of the summer split, Gadget was diagnosed with Covid-19 and the team had to play with a replacement for most of the split, but now the Belarusian legionnaire is already in the ranks and is ready to show his class.

The French LFL championship traditionally brings the favorites of this tournament. Karmine Corp, who won this spring, were able to go straight ahead without any problems, finishing second in the summer split. In the LFL final, they lost to the Misfits Premier, who in the last EU Masters managed to reach the quarterfinals, losing to BT Excel in a tight fight.
Despite the fact that Adam moved from Karmine Corp to Fnatic, many analysts believe that this team is the main contender for victory in the summer, and fans expect a solid performance from the Misfits Premier as well.

Just like France, Spain is a real forge of talent. LVP is one of the most competitive championships and the best players in the second division. This time, UCAM Esports Club, Vodafone Giants and Movistar Riders made it to the main stage. It is impossible to say something separately about any team from Spain at the moment, so it's just worth noting that this region, on a par with France, claims the title of EU Masters.

Events in the Polish championship took an unexpected turn: AGO Rogue failed to defend the champion's title and PDW became the winners. The second place was taken by Illuminar Gaming, and AGO Rogue made their way through the Play-In.
The representatives of the Polish championship have a large pool of champions and can surprise other teams with unusual picks, which is why it is very difficult to play against them.

The Northern European Region will be represented by Fnatic Risnig and Tricked Esport. The second roster of Fnatic consistently shows good results at the events of the EU Masters series, but recently, due to increased competition, it has become very difficult to do this. Let's see if they manage to get to the top again.
For Tricked Esports, this will be the first performance at international events in the history of the organization, but this does not negate the fact that in the summer split they managed to defeat all their opponents and, at the same time, beat Fnatic Rising twice. It will be extremely interesting to see this line-up.

Italy will be represented by Macko Esports again. The international squad has no problems for the whole season occupying the first line in its region and is not going to give it up, but so far they have not yet managed to reach the EU Masters playoffs. We hope that this time the players of the Italian organization will pleasantly surprise us.

The Balkan region will be represented by Zero Tenacity. Last time they did not manage to overcome the group stage sieve and they were eliminated from the tournament, taking only 17-20th place.

Anorthosis Esports will defend the Greek flag. Although they did not manage to leave the group in the spring, they were able to make a noise, thanks to which they gained fans even outside their country. It is quite possible that this time they will be able to overcome the barrier of the group stage.

Tournament format

16 teams are divided into 4 groups. The group stage takes place in a round robin system and will run from August 30 to September 7. Each team will play each one twice. In case of equal results, there will be replays. The top two teams in each group advance to the playoffs.

The playoffs will begin on September 9th and end with a grand final on September 19th. Single-Elimination bracket for 8 teams. All matches are in BO5 format.

Reasons to watch European Masters Summer 2021

Many viewers in the main regions do not like or recognize other championships and are especially "squeamish" about the second divisions, but we think that EU Masters is worth watching:

• It is worth saying that each regional league has its own meta, so you should always expect unusual picks and blanks from all teams.
• Regional leagues are much more spectacular than LEC, LPL, LCK or LCS. Yes, not always the strongest players play there, but this creates constant action on the map.
• EU Masters is a great opportunity for young talent to make a name for themselves. Scouts from European clubs will be watching this championship very closely in search of potential players for the main squads. Szygenda, LIDER, Adam and many others started their journey from this very tournament, and now they play at the highest level.
  

We hope this article has piqued your interest in the tournament. You can find the predictions for all European Masters Summer 2021 matches in the "Predictions" tab. Follow the news of the tournament on its page.