League of Legends official 1v1 tournament, Red Bull Solo Q recently came to an exciting conclusion this weekend, with Mads Mikkelsen AKA “Viggomopsen” defeating Arnas Stepanauskas AKA “arnax” in a confident 4-2 victory.
The Red Bull Solo Q World Final, held at BMW Welt, one of Germany’s most popular tourist attractions, and featuring Eefje “Sjokz” Depoortere as the initiative’s global face, caps off an incredible year for League of Legends Esports.
On Saturday, December 4th, the Red Bull Solo Q World Final began with 19 of the world’s best 1v1 League of Legends players competing in the group stage to determine who advances to the elimination rounds. Players were forced to change up their usual playstyle in the single-lane map Howling Abyss, which featured a sudden death mechanic that forced players to fight in a shrinking Ring of Fire after 7 minutes. The two American players, DarkWings and bradleyyy, were eliminated on the first day, leaving North American fans with only Doxa as a hope. Raphael “Lingwi” Claudé of France, who appeared to be a strong contender heading into the final, could only manage a 1 win 3 loss performance, which saw him eliminated in the group stage.
The Playoffs and elimination matches started on Sunday. Viggomopsen is known as a strongest player in the group stages as he continued his dominance all the way to the final, defeating Hamboly 3-1, Doxa 3-0, and You MERT Bro 3-1 with incredible adaptability, switching up his playstyle based on his opponents’ champion picks. The other side of the bracket, Lithuanian arnax advanced to the final with 3-2 victories over Shakara and Potatis before defeating HULKSMASH 3-1 in a thrilling final game in which HULKSMASH appeared to be on his way to taking First Blood.
Despite the fact that Viggomopsen was the clear favorite going into the final, arnax took an early lead with a win in game one and the calmness and measured approach of Viggomopsen allowed him to reclaim control, winning the next three games in a calm and confident manner.
In a nail-biting game five, arnax came out on top, surviving with only a sliver of health remaining. In a closely contested game 6, however, Viggomopsen remained composed as the Ring of Fire encircled him and he took First Blood and the Red Bull Solo Q World Title.
Viggomopsen said that after he won, he said that he think that he really screwed up a lot, adding that he should have won the matchup quite easily but panicked a couple of times but thankfully the said pick was too strong at the late game, so even though he was really nervous and really stressed out, he still got it.
On Red Bull Solo Q, runner-up arnax said that the experience was great overall and that he just took it one game at a time. He didn’t want to finish last, so finishing second is fantastic for him. It’s been great because he likes all the guys and he’s really good friends with them all right now.
Red Bull Solo Q is the renowned amateur circuit’s show-stopping final act, featuring 1v1 duels in which the player must draw “First Blood,” take down the opponent’s tower, or reach a 100-minion score to win. The tournament, which has been running for several years, has seen a number of heartwarming success stories of amateurs competing in the tournament and then progressing to greater League of Legends success.
