MAD Lions

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MAD Lions
Logo of the esports team MAD Lions
DivisionsCounter-Strike: Global Offensive
League of Legends
Founded31 August 2017 (2017-08-31)
LeagueLEC
Based inMadrid, Spain
Championships2× LEC (Spring 2021, Summer 2021)
Parent groupOverActive Media
Websitemadlions.com

MAD Lions[a] is a Spanish esports organisation owned by OverActive Media. Its main League of Legends team, which was rebranded from Splyce, competes in Europe's top-level league for the game, the LEC. Its secondary League of Legends team competes in Spain's SuperLiga, the top three teams of which qualify for the prestigious European Masters tournament.

MAD Lions won their first LEC title on 11 April 2021, after reverse sweeping Rogue in the spring finals.

League of Legends[]

History[]

Before joining the LEC[]

MAD Lions was founded on 31 August 2017 to compete in the Spanish professional League of Legends scene. The team began competing in Spain's SuperLiga Orange (formerly División de Honor) and grew in popularity as they consistently topped the region, qualifying for the prestigious European Masters tournament thrice and winning the tournament in their second appearance in summer 2018. The organisation also began expanding globally, sponsoring several teams in Latin America under the MAD Lions brand.[1]

In May 2019 it was announced that MAD Lions had been acquired by OverActive Media.[2] The company later announced its intentions to dissolve its other esports subsidiary, Splyce, by the end of the year.[3] Splyce's League of Legends team subsequently assumed the MAD Lions brand in November 2019, while MAD Lions' original League of Legends team renamed to MAD Lions Madrid.[citation needed]

2020 season[]

Further information: 2020 LEC season

MAD Lions' inaugural LEC roster for the 2020 Spring Split consisted of four rookies—Orome, Shad0w, Carzzy, and Kaiser—and one former member of Splyce, Humanoid.[4] Despite expectations that the team would only qualify for the losers' bracket of playoffs or not qualify at all, MAD Lions finished fourth in the regular season[5] and secured a spot in the winners' bracket.[6] G2 Esports selected MAD Lions as their opponent for the first round of playoffs, and were expected to win against MAD Lions as favourites to win the spring season. However, MAD Lions were able to defeat G2 Esports in a close-fought series, knocking the latter into the losers' bracket.[7][8] MAD Lions were then themselves knocked down to the losers' bracket after being swept by Fnatic in the second round of the winners' bracket.[9] MAD Lions' inaugural split ended when they lost to a more well-prepared G2 Esports in the final round of the losers' bracket.[10]

MAD Lions retained their entire spring lineup for the 2020 LEC Summer Split. The team finished second in the regular season and began playoffs in the winners' bracket. MAD Lions lost their rematch against G2 Esports in the first round of the winners' bracket, and were forced to climb through the losers' bracket once again.[11] MAD Lions managed to defeat Schalke in the second round of the losers' bracket, but were swept by Rogue in the third round and ended fourth.[12]

MAD Lions' fourth-place finish in the summer split qualified them for the play-in stage of the 2020 World Championship. As a team from a major region, MAD Lions was expected by many analysts to qualify for the main event. However, MAD Lions placed fourth out of five teams in their group and were eliminated from Worlds contention by Turkey's SuperMassive in the knockout stage.[13]

2021 season[]

Further information: 2021 LEC season

Prior to the 2021 LEC Spring Split, Orome and Shad0w were replaced with Armut and Elyoya respectively, both of whom were making their debut in the LEC.[14] Armut was previously the top laner for SuperMassive, the team which eliminated MAD Lions from the 2020 World Championship. MAD Lions finished third in the regular season and began in the winners' bracket once again. MAD Lions defeated Rogue in the first round of the winners' bracket, qualifying for the second round. There, MAD Lions defeated G2 Esports and advanced to their first LEC finals.[15] Despite trailing 0–2, MAD Lions managed to reverse sweep Rogue in a closely fought finals, claiming their first LEC title.[16]

Roster[]

MAD Lions League of Legends roster
Players Coaches
Role Handle Name Nationality
Top  Armut  Tükek, İrfan Berk   Turkey 
Jungle  Elyoya  Prades Batalla, Javier   Spain 
Mid  Reeker  Chen, Steven   Germany 
Bot  UNF0RGIVEN  Nieminen, William   Sweden 
Support  Kaiser  Kaiser, Norman   Germany 
Head coach

James "Mac" MacCormack

Assistant coach(es)
  • Christophe "Kaas" van Oudheusden
  • Patrick "Pad" Suckow-Breum
  • Kiss "Vizicsacsi" Tamás
Legend
  • (I) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • Substitute player Substitute
  • Injured Injury / Illness

Roster updated 9 August 2021.

Tournament results[]

Placement Event Final result (W–L)
4th 2020 LEC Spring Split 11–7
3rd 2020 LEC Spring Playoffs 1–3 (against G2 Esports)
2nd 2020 LEC Summer Split 12–6
4th 2020 LEC Summer Playoffs 0–3 (against Rogue)
19th–20th 2020 World Championship 2–3 (against SuperMassive)
3rd 2021 LEC Spring Split 10–8
1st 2021 LEC Spring Playoffs 3–2 (against Rogue)
3rd–4th 2021 Mid-Season Invitational 2–3 (against DWG KIA)
3rd 2021 LEC Summer Split 12–6
1st 2021 LEC Summer Playoffs 3–1 (against Fnatic)

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive[]

Roster[]

MAD Lions CS:GO roster
Players Coaches
Handle Name Nationality
TMB  Bundsbæk, Thomas   Denmark 
tudsoN  Tudev, Filip   Poland 
Woro2k  Veletniuk, Volodymyr   Ukraine 
sausol  Saumell, Pere Solsona   Spain 
jL  Lekavicius, Justinas   Lithuania 
SPELLAN (T)  Nikolov, Teodor   Bulgaria 
Head coach

Jakub "kuben" Gurczyński

Legend
  • (I) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • (T) Trial
  • Substitute player Substitute
  • Injured Injury / Illness

Latest roster transaction: 8 April 2021.

Notes[]

  1. ^ Known as MAD Lions E.C. until November 2019. "MAD" is short for Madrid, but the name "Madrid Lions" has never been used by the organisation.

References[]

  1. ^ "MAD Lions se expande a Colombia". Movistar eSports (in Spanish). Movistar eSports. 16 November 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  2. ^ Hayward, Andrew (29 May 2019). "OverActive Media Acquires Spain's MAD Lions Esports Club". The Esports Observer. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  3. ^ Nicholson, Jonno (23 September 2019). "OverActive Media to close down Splyce office in Rochester". Esports Insider. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  4. ^ Robertson, Scott (29 November 2019). "Splyce officially rebrand LEC team to MAD Lions, announce 2020 starters". Dexerto. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  5. ^ Lupasco, Cristian (28 March 2020). "MAD Lions secure fourth place in LEC Spring Split standings". Dot Esports. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  6. ^ "MAD Lions earn spot in winners bracket on final day". Field Level Media via Reuters. 29 March 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  7. ^ Geracie, Nick (3 April 2020). "League of Legends: [LEC Spring Playoffs] MAD Lions upsets G2 Esports in 5 game epic". Inven Global. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  8. ^ Kolev, Radoslav (3 April 2020). "MAD Lions shock G2 in LEC playoffs thriller". VPEsports. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  9. ^ Moncav, Melany (11 April 2020). "Fnatic beats MAD Lions, qualifies for 2020 LEC Spring Split finals". WIN.gg. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  10. ^ Esguerra, Tyler (18 April 2020). "G2 head to 2020 LEC Spring Finals after taking down MAD Lions in 4 games". Dot Esports. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  11. ^ Porter, Matt. "The defining moments of G2 Esports' LEC 2020 Summer Season". Red Bull. Red Bull Esports. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  12. ^ Lunardi, Lara (30 August 2020). "Rogue defeats the MAD Lions 3-0 in the LEC Summer Playoffs, will face G2 in Semifinals". InvenGlobal. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  13. ^ Wolf, Jacob (29 September 2020). "MAD Lions eliminated from worlds in historic upset by SuperMassive". ESPN. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  14. ^ Wolf, Jacob; Ocal, Arda (15 October 2020). "Sources: MAD Lions nearing deals with Armut, Elyoya". ESPN. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  15. ^ Vukobrat, Petar (5 April 2020). "MAD Lions Knockout G2 to Reach 2021 LEC Spring Finals". Esports Talk. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  16. ^ McIntyre, Isaac (12 April 2021). "MAD Lions pull off Rogue reverse sweep to claim maiden LEC title". Dexerto. Retrieved 16 April 2021.

External links[]

Awards and achievements
Preceded by League of Legends European Championship winner
Spring 2021, Summer 2021 		Succeeded by
incumbent
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