As the NLC Winter Split playoffs kick off, two of the league’s most-watched teams have delivered surprises. Los Ratones dominated their opponent with a swift 2-0 victory and remains undefeated, while The Ruddy Sack suffered a 1-2 upset right from the start. Now forced into the lower bracket, they’ll need to regroup and learn from their mistakes to remain contenders at the top and live up to their reputation.

LR Leads the Way, RS Falls Short

Los Ratones made quick work of DMG Esports, living up to their reputation as the team to beat in the league. The first game was wrapped up in just 23 minutes—a near-perfect game if not for Simon "Baus" Hofverberg diving into the enemy fountain with his Gragas at the last second. Though seemingly more competitive on paper, the second game saw Juš "Crownie" Marušič and Martin "Rekkles" Larsson shine. At the same time, Baus’s Sion, despite a poor KDA (ending with six deaths), once again created a massive gold advantage over his opponent, finishing with a +4.4k lead. Their victory propels them directly to the third round of the playoffs, and we won’t see them play again until February 13, when they face Bulldog Esports—the team that eliminated The Ruddy Sack.

The first major upset of the league has already happened, as the team composed of LEC veterans was knocked out in the first round of the playoffs. The difference seemed to be a matter of team synergy. While Luka "Perkz" Perković made several positioning mistakes, the bot lane duo of Humzh "Humzh" Aborati and Morgan "Hustlin" Granberg struggled against the young Mario "Exofeng" Emilov and his 31-year-old support, Raymond "Kasing" Tsang, who proved that experience matters more than age when paired with a talented ADC. Despite a dominant win in Game 2 and a strong overall performance from Marcin "Jankos" Jankowski across the series, they fell hard in Game 3. The match ended with 38 kills for the Bulldogs, nearly half of which were secured by Armin "Kaymin" Kaymer's Ahri.

This result is concerning for fans of Jakob "YamatoCannon" Mebdi's squad, as the Bulldogs were not seen as a serious threat, having finished with a 1-3 record in the seeding phase. Now, The Ruddy Sack drops to the NLC lower bracket, where they must redeem themselves on February 6 against the winner of DMG Esports vs. Lundqvist Lightside.