EUL Playday 4 Key Takeaways: #UKMASSIVE returns, HEROIC stands tall

_{Image via Ubisoft/@itsmeERROR}

EUL Playday 4 has come and gone and left several results in its wake. We're beginning to see where the teams shake out in terms of caliber, and we're beginning to see some serious improvement from some struggling teams. Here are the key takeaways from the fourth EUL playday. 

HEROIC stands tall in the match of the week

G2 took the offseason to completely remake their broken squad. HEROIC retooled theirs, attempting to bring in the one final piece they think will help them qualify for international competitions. 

Both clashed on Thursday, and the match lived up to the hype. It ended 7-5 in favor of HEROIC, knocking G2 out of the top four, and catapulting HEROIC to the number one ranking. 

HEROIC raced out to a 5-1 lead on their defensive half, but a series of strong defenses from G2 brought the match to max regulation. Statistically, Jake “Sloth” Brown once again led HEROIC, while Brazilian import Karl “Alem4o” Zarth led G2. 

G2 is likely to bounce back from this result, though – it isn’t all doom and gloom. Their two losses on the stage come from maximum regulation games, and they both come against solid teams – Outsiders (Virtus.Pro) and HEROIC. Don’t be surprised to see G2 catching fire towards the end of the stage. 

UK MASSIVE returns to the limelight 

The UK EUL players have had some struggles in their games recently, but not today, April 7, 2022. 

To start, Secret went on a stellar run to knock off a solid Outsiders squad that looked like they were going to run away with the game three rounds in. Don’t look now – Secret are in a top-four position close to halfway through the stage with two impressive wins to boot. In the past two playdays they’ve got two regulation wins, and are closing in on eclipsing their best performance in last year’s regional play. 

Right after, NAVI absolutely obliterated PWNZ with a rock-solid defense. Seemingly, NAVI have course-corrected and are on the right track. They also netted a 7-2 win over HEROIC earlier in the week. So far, NAVI looks like they’ve found something, whatever it is, that works for them. The next question for NAVI (and Secret, for that matter): Can they continue this run, or were these results aberrations?

MNM got in on the fun as well with an upset of French juggernaut BDS. It’s MNM’s first win in an official EUL competition, and it’s over one of the region’s historical powers to boot. Well played to the boys. 

All in all, it was a great day for UK fans. All their boys won, and even Rogue peeled a win off LFO. 

Sloth still leads the field statistically

Once again, Sloth ends the week as SiegeGG’s top-rated EUL player. He’s number one in Rating, K/D, and KOST percentage after four playdays. This might be Sloth’s best stage since he was promoted to EUL before the 2021 stage, should he continue at this clip.