Misfits Academy have become the first team ever to win the Forge of Champions trophy, beating Diabolous in a five-game final at LVP's Barcelona studios.
While Misfits' main League of Legends team traveled to Madrid for their EU LCS third-place playoff against Vitality, the Academy squad was on the other side of Spain claiming the biggest share of the tournament's £50,000 prize pool.
Forge of Champions is the first UK League of Legends tournament that Riot Games has hosted itself. Spanish tournament organiser LVP ran the event after ESL had previously handled competitions for the UK scene.
Dominant start, tense finish
Misfits went into the final as heavy favourites after dominating exceL Esports in the semi-finals, and they showed why early on, winning the first two games of the final comfortably, including a 24-minute stomp in game two.
Diabolous fought back to force a deciding fifth game and held a 4-0 kill lead 20 minutes in, though Misfits were playing the map well and held a gold lead despite the kill deficit.
A costly Shockwave and a late recovery
Misfits appeared to throw the game away when Special, the substitute mid-laner for Misfits' main team, thought he had caught out Diabolous player Bolulu, only for his own team to be caught by a three-man Shockwave that handed Diabolous multiple kills and the Baron.
Misfits defended resiliently, found a pick on Diabolous jungler Nji, and used it to secure both the Elder Drake and the Baron, swinging the game back in their favour for good.
The win secures Misfits Academy a place at the European Masters later this month, where they will face the best regional teams from across Europe for a share of the €150,000 (£134,000) prize pool.
