Favorites, Outsiders, and Dark Horses: Every Team Qualified for EMEA Masters Winter 2026 | RFT.GG
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Favorites, Outsiders, and Dark Horses: Every Team Qualified for EMEA Masters Winter 2026
Photos Credits: Riot Games
With the recent announcements linking the EMEA Masters to the EWC, the winter edition of the competition bringing together the best ERL teams has taken a new turn. From a 2025 edition featuring 16 teams won by Los Ratones, the 2026 EMEA Masters Winter will see 36 teams compete. Who are the favorites to claim the two spots at the EWC Online Qualifiers?
From March 9 to 15, the best ERL teams clash in the first phase of the 2026 EMEA Masters Winter. The previous edition, which crowned Los Ratones for the first time roughly a year ago, featured just 16 teams competing over a single week in what was widely considered the least important EMEA Masters of 2025.
But this year, with EWC qualification on the line, the stakes are different for the 36 teams involved. So who are the favorites, and who could spring a surprise?
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France & Germany lead the charge
The eternal French king of ERLs reclaimed its throne last summer through Karmine Corp Blue. The LFL enters, as is tradition, as the defending champions, and all four of its representatives are to be feared. Invited to participate in EMEA Masters after their LEC split — much like Witchcraft — KCB will look to repeat a title defense Blue Wall fans have already witnessed in the past. Although only prodigy Yukino remains from the 2025 roster, the promise shown in the European elite is enough to make them one of the tournament favorites.
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Another expected favorite since the start of the year is French Flair, a roster that almost feels like an anomaly in the ERL ecosystem, yet one that disappointed in the LFL with a modest third-place finish widely perceived as underperformance. But emperor Saken is back in his favorite competition, and his solo lane duo with Adam is a threat to every team. The same goes for the bot lane of Harpoon and Zoelys, captains of the Galions ship that ran aground in the LFL final but has more than enough resources in its extended roster to threaten the best ERL teams and improve on their quarterfinal exit last summer.
Photo Credit: Riot Games
Ultimately, it was the Solary collective that dominated the LFL, embodied by an exceptional Zicssi — league MVP — who delivered the title to an organization that had gone from failure to failure and had been waiting for this moment since 2019. The "team of friends" will play their very first EMEA Masters as French champions, a status that inevitably draws every ERL's attention. That's good news, as SLY have been ravenous since the start of the year, and they still don't seem to be satisfied...
Germany, meanwhile, appears better armed than in previous years. Numerous veterans have returned, and the Prime League has also welcomed a new academy team: G2NORD. Led by Shelfmade, Markoon, and Rin, the academy fell in the final to the other German favorite, BIG, who assembled top-tier Prime League talent including RKR, Irrelevant, Kaiser, and Fun K3y.
Seeds three and four are no slouches either, with UOL Sexy Edition — last summer's semifinalists who retained three players for 2026 — and Eintracht Spandau, Spring 2024 champions still led by PowerOfEvil alongside JNX and Keduii. A collection of strong names for an ERL that appeared to be in decline last year and really needs a strong performance in 2026.
The Spanish question mark
It is hard to say whether Spain will produce any real contenders this winter, given that the LES — the Spanish league's new name following a change of ownership — has had inconsistent EMEA Masters results. Evaluating the strength of the four Spanish teams is particularly difficult, as their Winter Split was played over a single offline weekend event in Madrid.
Photo Credit: LES
There, Movistar KOI Fénix came out on top, powered by their French bot lane 13/Myrtus and 18-year-old Ukrainian prodigy NightSlayer. The academy produced another qualifier in Team Heretics Academy, pre-event favorites who will need to bounce back to match the ambitions of their roster — particularly Mihile and Daglas, both of whom have LEC aspirations.
Joining them, Spain sends UCAM Esports, who changed just one player from their 2025 roster — an extremely rare occurrence in ERLs — and Barça Esports, who field an all-Spanish roster, a historic first for an EMEA Masters main event.
Witchcraft, the NLC's savior once again?
Among the four major ERL regions, the NLC would have almost looked like an intruder without a recent announcement, as the teams that qualified through the league are riding the wave left behind by Los Ratones in 2025.
Neither champions Verdant, nor the Finnish Arctic Pandas, nor the young DMG Esports roster appear truly equipped to compete for the top spots. But the fourth seed could save the day: Witchcraft, built from the former Los Ratones core, enter as one of the strongest teams in the field. After two titles last year, a stint in the LEC, and the addition of Bwipo in the top lane for his return to Europe, WT will undoubtedly be one of the tournament's most feared teams.
TCL flying under the radar?
Only two leagues will send three representatives to these EMEA Masters, marking the line between the minor regions with two teams and the supposed favorites who send four. While the Arabian League — in a rebuilding phase following the departure of flagship team Geekay Esport — does not appear to be a major threat through FN Esport, Baam Esports, and 3BL Esports, the TCL looks like a different story altogether.
Perhaps not in quantity: Bushido Wildcats, the third seed led by Elramir, and S2G Esports, the second seed featuring Scorth and Mersa, do not seem equipped to trouble the top favorites. But in quality, MISA Esports carry real ambitions as dominant TCL champions, having lost just a single game all season in a BO5 they still won 3-1 against S2G.
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MISA arrive at EMEA Masters undefeated in series, and for good reason: the Korean duo Hype and Way steamrolled the Turkish competition. The problem is their performances attracted LEC attention, and Team Heretics ultimately secured a support swap, sending Stend to replace Way on MISA's bot lane. While the Frenchman may struggle to adapt in such a short timeframe, MISA can count on another major asset: SlowQ, the reigning EMEA Masters champion who has been in excellent form recently.
Minor ERLs: cannon fodder or dark horses?
Among the weaker ERLs, who each send two representatives, the ambitions remain the same as always: gain experience and pull off a few well-timed upsets against the tournament favorites.
Some teams that dominated their league arrive with that exact mentality, such as Wooloo's Frites Esport Club with their star players Wolorz and FlickeR — who did not drop a single game in the Road of Legends Benelux — or Partizan Sangal with Koreans Chan and Ruby, who will look to surprise top ERL teams as they did last summer.
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But given the format, for the majority of minor ERL teams, the EMEA adventure is unlikely to last long — whether for the Portuguese sides Otter Side and Vantex Esports, the Dutch team The Bandits, the Czech squads Nightbirds and BRUTE, the Serbian Lupus Esport, or the Italian teams Colossal Gaming and HMBLE.
The last ERLs with two representatives, the Polish and Greek leagues, may have a better hand to play. The Rift Legends placed two teams in playoffs at Spring 2025 and one at Summer — a baseline that Bomba Team, successors to Fajnie Mieć Skład, and Barcząca Esports with veterans Agresivoo, Woolite, and Jactroll will aim to build upon.
For the HLL, Team Phantasma set the bar even higher by reaching the EMEA Masters Winter semifinals — the best result in Greek LoL history — and will attempt to replicate the feat with Booshi, last year's LFL champion, in their ranks. But WLGaming Esports defeated them in the HLL and enter as Greek champions, led by former EMEA Masters winner iBo.
Je mets une pièce sur misa et solary.
Et KCB alors ?