In an epic upset Team Queso surprised tournament favorites Rix.gg to win the Wild Rift Origin Series Stockholm Championship. They are now qualified to Worlds in November.

The Wild Rift Origin Series Stockholm Championship Grand Finals began with tournament favorites Rix.gg taking on Team Queso. Expectations were high from this series as it was an epic battle between the tournament favorites and their challengers. But Team Queso's focus on objectives and some strong drafting helped Spanish roster secure the Championship title. They also won €84,000 and a spot at the Horizon Cup 2021 that takes place in November.

The League of Legends: WIld Rift Origin Series is the official Esports competition for teams in Europe, Middle East, North Africa, Turkey, and CIS. The event had a total prize pool of €300,000. The format consisted of open qualifiers in June, July, and August. From each qualifier, the top 16 teams advanced to compete in the monthly finals to compete for prizes and points. Team Queso, Game-Lord, Rix.GG, Unicorns of Love, and Natus Vincere were the five teams that qualified and competed in the Origin Series Championship in Stockholm, Sweden. 

Not the favorites, but Team Queso surprise fans with their performance

Coming into the championship, Team Queso was known as the third best team in the Origin Series. They finished 2nd in their group in the monthly finals which qualified them for the €150,000 Origin Series Championship. In the group stage of the Origin Series Championship, they finished 2-2 losing to the Russian team, Unicorns of Love and GameLord. However, they advanced to the semi finals taking on the undefeatable GameLord who finished 4-0 in the group stage. After an intense best of 5 match, Queso defeated GameLord 3-2 to advance to the Grand Finals of the Origin Series. 

The favorites, Rix.GG, came into the Origin Series Championship as the winner of their group in the monthly finals. Surprisingly, they finished 1-3 in the championship group stage. Rix.GG advanced to the other side of the semi final bracket where they dominated Unicorns of Love 3-0. Their performance boosted their confidence as they took on Team Queso in the Grand Finals, a best of 7 series.

Team Queso get an Early Start to the Series

Game 1 began with Rix getting a nice dive for the First Blood. But it all went downhill for Rix from there. Queso picked off 3 Rix players and secured the Rift Herald which gave them a quick gold lead. The next big fight was at the Baron where Queso killed 3 Rix players and picked up Baron which led them to winning the first game. 

Game 2, the early game between Rix and Queso started evenly with both teams having relatively similar gold leads. However, Queso was able to get slightly ahead as the game went on, taking down the tier 1 top and bottom turrets. With the lead, Queso baited Rix near the Baron pit where Queso took out their opponent's jungler. It led to Queso taking an easy Baron. In the next team fight, Queso wiped out the whole Rix team which led them going up 2-0 in the Grand Finals. 

Rix cleaned up their early game and got First Blood in Game 3. They followed it up with an easy Rift Herald and took out 2 Queso players, the ocean drake, and the first tower. They early objectives allowed them to take the middle tier 1 and tier 2 towers which gave them a sizeable 7k gold lead. In the next team fight, Rix wiped out all the Queso players and ended the game. Fans got a glimpse of Rix's strength and it seemed the championship favorites might make a comeback into the series.

Queso get Zigs in Game 4 and take the W

In game 4, Queso picked up Zigs as it was not banned, which gave them a serious advantage in the draft. As a result, the game began with a lane swap with the top and bottom lanes. Rix was able to dominate the early game by picking up the ocean drake and killing 5 members of Queso.

The next team fight, Rix again was able to win the trade which led them to having a 3k gold lead. When things were looking great for Rix, it drastically changed at the fight for the elder inferno drake where Queso took out 4 Rix players. It led to them taking the elder inferno drake and Baron. Rix could never really come back from this objective setback allwoing Queso to take a 3-1 lead in the series.

Game 5 was a crucial game for Rix if they wanted to stay in this series. In the first 2 minutes of the game, it began with a skirmish for the river scuttle crab which gave Queso the kill lead 3 to 2. Then Queso played out of their minds ganking multiple players of Rix and taking turrets. After a sizable lead, Team Queso took the Baron easily focusing on objectives to secure an advantage. Soon after, they ended the game to become the first ever Wild Rift Origin Series Champions! 

Team Queso will be advancing to play in the Wild Rift Horizon Cup representing Europe. The Wild Rift Horizon Cup feature the 10 best teams from around the world in November. It is the first global tournament for Wild Rift and will feature ten teams competing in an 8-day International championship in Singapore.

What is the Prize Money Distribution at the Stockholm Championship?

Here's how the prize money was distributed amongst the teams at the Stockholm Championship:

  • 1st: Team Queso - €84,000
  • 2nd: Rix.GG - €32,000
  • 3rd: GameLord - €15,000
  • 4th: Unicorns of Love - €15,000
  • 5th: Natus Vincere - €7,500

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