New LoL Roster Launches with Cup Win
Team Norse Thunder's new League of Legends roster are celebrating after lifting the Zaun Cup just days after coming together for the first time.
The event - part of the Clash series - saw teams from across Europe competing with teams split into different levels of the competition depending on their ranks. Thunder's new roster was placed into tier one - the highest available level of the tournament.
The opening round of the competition saw Thunder up against FTW, a diamond average-ranked team. Thunder opted for a team composition of Sivir, Sejuani, Pantheon, Vex and Rakan while FTW went for Zilean, Vayne, Wukong, Yone and Cassiopeia.
Thunder stormed ahead in the early game and never really looked in much trouble of letting the lead slip - though the game did go long. The match ended with Thunder scoring 32/16/83 with a 9k gold lead to the opposition's 16/32/20.
The second round paired Thunder up against Rinnegan Squad, another diamond average ranked team. Thunder selected Vayne, Trundle, Poppy, Lissandra and Lulu in the draft while the opposition went for Lucian, Azir, Sejuani, Zac and Seraphine.
With a place in the final up for grabs for the winner, the opening stages were a more balanced affair. The match went long again with more than 41 minutes on the clock by the end, with the scoreboard sitting at 23/13/58 to 13/23/35 in Thunder's favour.
When Thunder formed its first EU-based League of Legends roster, it went on to win in their debut Clash event, and now, a couple of years later, the newest roster had a chance to equal their feat.
Going into the final, Thunder drafted Jinx, Lillia, Malphite, Galio and Zilean while the opposition - NNO Fanboys - went for Kog'Maw, Azir, Fiora, Zac and Lulu for their team.
NNO got themselves in front in the early game and held onto the lead through the mid-game, but step by step, Thunder reeled them back in. After back-to-back team fights that saw Thunder wipe out the opposition, including one with a quadra kill, the lead changed hands and from there it became a one-sided battle.
With 35 minutes on the clock, Thunder claimed a very well-deserved victory, and with it the Zaun Cup! The game ended 33/21/85 to 21/33/44 and with a 6k gold difference.
Speaking about the new roster, and the Zaun Cup victory, Team Norse Thunder's Dave Scotford said: "Clash has always had a really special place in life at Team Norse Thunder and the weekend was another example of why. The players had come together a few days before as we launched a new roster and they've gone straight into competition and picked up a trophy. It's a great start!
"It feels like a really good group of people and the way they communicate in-game and the synergy they had... it was really nice to watch. The teams we played against were, on paper at least, ranked higher than we are, but it didn't seem to matter. Everyone really played their part and made something cool happen.
"We'll enjoy the victory, but we've got the VAL split coming up so we'll get focused on that as we put the finishing touches to the backroom staff and the roster as a whole. Massive credit has got to go to the players and the staff for what they've done this week... long may it continue!"