Giants Gaming relegated from EU LCS

After a disappointing 2017 EU LCS Spring Split was followed by a miserable promotion tournament, Giants Gaming has been relegated to the Challenger Series. The final blow came Friday against Fnatic Academy, who swept Giants 3-0 in relatively easy fashion.

With Giants’ relegation, the EU LCS will now have two new teams this summer. Origen was relegated Thursday. Those teams’ spots are currently held by Fnatic Academy and Misfits Academy, but organizations are not allowed to have two spots in the same league, so those will almost certainly be for sale.

Just last year, Giants was one of the feel-good stories of the EU LCS. After years at the bottom of the EU LCS standings, including a 10th-place finish in Spring 2016, Giants put together a surprise run to finish third in the Summer 2016 regular season, before being knocked out in the quarterfinals of the playoffs.

One of the original EU LCS teams, Giants has been relegated once before — after the very first LCS split in 2013. The team re-qualified for the LCS with a new roster in 2015, and had been in the league ever since. In six EU LCS splits, Giants made two playoffs and four promotion tournaments.