Los Ratones Are Your EM Winter Champions

This Sunday, Los Ratones defied all expectations by winning the EMEA Masters Winter Grand Final against Ici Japon Corp in the perfect fashion (3-0). Baus win EM for his first professional split, Crownie and Nemesis win together again 7 years later, and Rekkles become the only player in history to win the trophy on two different roles. This is also the first ever EM trophy for NLC. It’s Los Ratones region, we’re just living in it.

The Rats took down the Octopus. And on paper, the metaphor looked very accurate. Even though Los Ratones have a very strong and experienced roster, Ici Japon Corp looked like the heavy favorite after stomping the team that 2-0’d LR earlier in the group D (KCB). However, it seems like LR was just the main character all Winter, and no team in ERL could beat that narrative. On Saturday, Marc “Caedrel” Lamont’s team clean swept the miraculous Team Phantasma, and this Sunday they repeated the feat against a much more expected IJC in front of a EM record breaking audience of 470k peak viewers – according to Esports Charts. As the org founder – inspired by Faker’s statement before Worlds 2024’s grand final –  said: the 1st one is for the Rats.

THERE IT IS

IN OUR FIRST SPLIT EU MASTERS WINNNEERRRRRSSSS

MONTHS OF HARD WORK AND UPS AND DOWNS PAID OUT – SHOUT OUT TO THE LR SUPPORTERS THE FIRST IS FOR THE RATSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

BIG PACEEEEEEE

— Caedrel (@Caedrel) March 23, 2025

In game 1, Ici Japon Corp was in a very good spot early on, with a 6k gold advantage at 30 minutes. But the Rats lived up to their names, by playing on the edge every situation and always managing to get out with their lives. Especially for the Soul fight, Los Ratones secured it without losing a single member. Then it simply came down to Velja outsmiting the opposite jungler at the Elder fight, and Crownie opening the Curtain Call to snipe all IJC members.

The game 2 was much bloodier and back and forth in the early stages, with more than one kill per minute by the end of the game. Los Ratones was moving faster than the Octopus on the map, and they first made them pay for that on the Atakhan. Then IJC desperately tried a quick Baron Nashor play that sealed the match for LR after the French team had been aced and the objective stolen.

The last game was looking like a mixed version of the first two, with Ici Japon Corp securing a 2k gold advantage in the early game and throwing it again by trying to start the Atakhan in the worst possible conditions. The Rats then made the play that IJC couldn’t throughout the series, like a symbol of their dominance, and secured a fast Baron Nashor in mid-game that eventually proved fatal for the LFL runner-up.

The Rats won by decision making

It has to be said that LR played very well around Drakes control in early game all series long –  and all playoffs long to a larger extent. Even though they lost all of their bot 2v2 this Sunday against IJC, the Rats always found a way to play for the dragons since they secured both early buffs in game 1 and 2. In game 3, Velja managed to stach one despite very poor botside conditions thanks to Baus proxying to the third toplane tower… As for IJC, I get the impression that they crumbled under the pressure of facing the most mediatized team in the ERL in such a high stakes match.

REMEMBER HIS NAME, @Velja_LOL IS YOUR FINALS MVP! 👑 pic.twitter.com/bWfQSiUEj5

— EMEA Masters (@EMEAmasters) March 23, 2025

In games 1 and 3, they were in the best possible conditions from the start, but made some bizarre decisions like leaving drakes for free when they had the winning botlane, or trying to sneak Nashors and Atakhans at suspicious timings. Like if they were desperate to extend their lead when it was unnecessary. These kinds of mistakes are fatal when faced with the calm and experience of some Los Ratones players. Despite their early game difficulties, LR was able to capitalize on their opponents’ poor decision-making by reacting in an uncompromising and concise manner. Velja was deservedly elected MVP of the final, but it could’ve gone either to him or Nemesis in my opinion. The midlaner was the main carry of every game – especially 2 and 3 – while the jungler had countless clutch moments throughout the series.