History of the Unicorns
The Unicorns of Love have a long and storied history in League of Legends. Starting in the amateur scene in 2014, the team quickly found themselves promoted to the EU LCS for the 2015 season. The European version of UoL was always a contender but never a champion with their best result coming in the Spring of 2017 where they finished second to G2 Esports.
It was announced in late 2018 that in 2019 the EU LCS would be rebranded to the League of Legends European Championship or LEC for short. With this change the league would also enter a franchise model with certain teams gaining lifelong entry into the new league. Unfortunately, UoL did not secure a spot in the new LEC and would have to look elsewhere to continue competing in League of Legends.
The Unicorns then became the Unicorns of Love: Sexy Edition and spent a split in ESL Meisterschaft 2nd Division, the German second division. After one split that did not see them get promoted to the first division, they struck out for a new league. In the Summer of 2019, the Unicorns joined the League of Legends Continental League or LCL for short.
The team took on three members of the very talented Vega Squadron roster in top laner Vladislav “BOSS” Fomin, jungler Kirill "AHaHaCiK" Skvortsov, and mid laner Lev “Nomanz” Yakshin. The Unicorns then added bot laner Ilya “Gadget” Makavchuk and support Aleksandr "SaNTaS" Lifashin to round out the initial roster. UoL have never lost a split in the LCL and have been the regular international representative from the CIS region since ending the league in 2019.
Photo courtesy of the Lolesports FLICKR
A Family Affair
Despite the many changes in regions and players over the years, there is one thing that has remained the same. That is the presence of Fabian “Sheepy” Mallant, who has been the head coach of the team since UOL formed back in 2014 (though there was a brief stint on SK Gaming in 2019). The Unicorns also have his father, Jos “UOLdad” Mallant, as the CEO of the team and his sister, Vivien “vivalaia” Mallant, as the General Manager.
The Mallant family have poured years of hard work into the Unicorns of Love brand. They have endured not being given a franchise slot for the LEC and have fought hard to keep the brand alive while finding a new home for it. Now that they have firmly established themselves in the LCL, they look to take that next step.
The person who deserves a lot of the credit for their dominance in the LCL is the head coach Sheepy. His adaptability as a coach is a big reason why the team has found so much success. He will draft comps that are perhaps a little out there compared to others, but make it work. He is well known for his players really enjoying playing underneath his guidance and getting the most out of them. He will be key to the Unicorns succeeding internationally.
Photo courtesy of the Lolesports FLICKR
Breaking out in International Play
This year the Unicorns are going to look to take the next step in international competition and actually become a threat to the top teams and leagues. The team sees BOSS, AHaHaCiK, Nomanz, and SaNTaS return to Worlds with UoL with bot laner Andrey “Argonavt” Yakovlev being the only new addition since MSI 2021.
So far in international play UoL has gotten 13 wins and 21 losses all time (only the LCL roster), good enough for a 38% win rate. But this stat also includes play-in stages of international play. For main event games that win rate plummets to 13%.
But not all is doom and gloom when looking at the Unicorns in international play. At the most recent MSI, UoL found success converting an early lead into a win, with a 63% win rate when they were ahead in gold at 15 minutes. Domestically they are even better, not dropping a single game when ahead at 15. It may not happen often enough internationally, but if the team can find a way to snowball early they tend to convert it into a victory.
One of the players to highlight and watch out for is midlaner Nomanz. The flexibility and consistency that Nomanz brings to the table allows for much more creative drafting and someone for his team to rally around. During the LCL summer split he played nine different champions and managed to have over a 70% kill participation rate across the entire split. In the playoffs he picked 10 unique champions and managed to have over 70% kill participation again. Expect him to make moves early and often in Worlds 2021 and maybe even bust out some picks no one is expecting. He was the only player in the LCL to play Irelia in the summer playoffs and managed to have a crazy 3.0 KDA on the champion. If Nomanz is popping off, this team will undoubtedly improve on their previous international performances and could very well challenge the top regions.
Photo courtesy of the Lolesports FLICKR
Unicorns to the Moon
The CIS region has seen some international success in the past. The most famous example of course being Albus Nox Luna shocking everyone at Worlds 2016 and making it out of groups over the likes of G2 Esports and Counter Logic Gaming. But now the Unicorns of Love are looking to make their mark on the Worlds stage. They will have to battle it out through the play-in stage and then fight to make it past the group stage. It will be a tough journey, but this pink clad Unicorns roster looks ready.
