Despite various limitations due to the pandemic, the League of Legends: Wild Rift esports scene continues to thrive with its pre-season international esports event, the Horizon Cup 2021. Top teams from across the world flocked to the very first global esports event for Wild Rift with the hopes of clutching the title of World Champions. The Spanish esports team, Team Queso, is one of these participants and is the only European representative in the tournament.
Team Queso strives to be at the top of each esports event they participate in. The team’s run in the Wild Rift Origin Series was immaculate, to say the least. Throughout the group stages of the tournament, the team maintained its 2nd place spot with the exception of the Wild Rift Origin Series: July Group A where they finished 3rd place. However, Team Queso delivered a stellar performance in the Wild Rift Origin Series: Championship by winning the championship title and booking its ticket in the Horizon Cup 2021.
Team Queso’s Wild Rift roster is comprised of Unai "Acolyte" Seoane, Andrés "Andreszed" Liu, Abraham "Ruiz" Ruiz, Ivan "Ibu" Rodriguez, and Tobias Andy "memorized" Orendi. The Spanish team never had any roster changes since it first debuted in March 2021.
Carrying the weight of expectations of all of Europe (EU), Team Queso aims to claim the championship title in the Horizon Cup 2021 and be the first-ever Wild RIft world champion. But how well will they fare against the best of the best from around the world, especially against teams from Southeast Asia and the Chinese region, which are currently the top-performing teams in the tournament?
Team Queso: The pride of the EU region
The team debuted during the Wild Rift Queso Cup 2021, where it became the center of attention. Team Queso gained a lot of attention as it did not lose a single match through the playoffs stage. The team continued its dominant run throughout esports events in the EU region to eventually win the Wild Rift Origin Series and secure its slot in the most prestigious Wild Rift esports event for this year, the Horizon Cup 2021.
Team Queso had a wonderful opening in the tournament after defeating eBRO Gaming with a 2-0 clean sweep victory. However, the team struggled to maintain its momentum against Team Secret, which ended with an upsetting 0-2 loss for Team Queso.
Though the team lost their second match in the group stage of the Horizon Cup 2021, the team remains confident that they can still make it to the playoffs. In a conversation with AFK Gaming, Team Queso’s support specialist, memorized, explained that this is just a minor setback for the team and that Team Secret merely “outdrafted us both games, so we will just move on and see what happens tomorrow.”
Memorized added that if he could go back and change how they approached the Philippines team, they would “either go with a more aggressive support or don’t pick the Draven with Braum.” The team did perform well with its Draven and Braum tandem in the bottom lane but this team composition eventually fell off in the late game against the drafting of Team Secret, putting them in a bad position every team fight.
The team’s initial goal was to be the top team to be seeded in the semifinals. However, according to memorized, the team “needs to analyze the game and the draft” as the its main goal is to reach the grand finals of the Horizon Cup 2021.
After three days of intense competition in the tournament, the team’s support specialist is impressed by how strong the Chinese teams are, especially Da Kun Gaming.
“Their individual skills are the highest I think. Maybe you can contest them in the early games, but when the series reaches the late game they just outmatch you,” stated memorized.
Is Wild Rift underrated in the EU region?
According to memorized, it may be too early to give a final verdict on whether Wild Rift is a big hit in the region as the mobile MOBA title is still in its “first international tournament.” Based on his observations during scrim matches against other teams from various regions “everyone can beat anyone and the stage is obviously different.” This means that a region may not be the only factor for how dominant it is but rather, the teams that can brew the most effective strategies to counter different playstyles from other regions.
However, esports isn’t the only aspect that Riot Games needs to focus on for Wild Rift. According to memorized the game should find ways for “ marketing a lot and try to catch more casual players.”
Only time will tell if Wild Rift’s esports scene will be able to hit the same popularity as it’s PC counterpart.
Team Queso’s Journey in the Horizon Cup 2021 so far
The Spanish team’s journey in the Wild Rift international esports event is far from over. There are still two days worth of action packed matches before the group stage of the Horizon Cup 2021 concludes. With the team’s unwavering team chemistry that was carefully molded since it first debuted, Team Queso will stop at nothing to take their achievements to the next level.
With that said, memorized stated that “we’ll keep trying” and that fans should continue to support them as they continue to fight and secure a slot for the playoffs stage of the Horizon Cup 2021.
