Los Ratones

{{Short description|European League of Legends team}}

{{Use British English|date=April 2025}}

{{Infobox sports team

| name = Los Ratones

| logo = Los Ratones logo.png

| logo_size =

| alt =

| caption =

| short_name =

| sport = League of Legends

| founded = {{start date and age|November 15, 2024}}

| current =

| league = EMEA Masters
Northern League of Legends Championship

| conference =

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| history =

| city = United Kingdom

| arena =

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| colors = Black and white

| colours =

| anthem =

| owner =

| ceo =

| coach = Marc "Caedrel" Lamont
(Founder & Owner)

| manager = Kieran Holmes-Darby
Mitsouko Anderson

| gm =

| championships = 2 (EMEA Masters)
2 (NLC)

| division_titles =

| playoff_berths =

| cheerleaders =

| dancers =

| mascot =

| fanclub =

| broadcasters =

| media =

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| sport_label = Sport

| website =

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}}

Los Ratones (LR) is a European professional League of Legends team based in the United Kingdom. The club was founded by former League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC) player and caster Marc "Caedrel" Lamont. The team is known for being the first British-based organisation to win EMEA Masters, the highest tier of professional competition in the EMEA region outside of the LEC. Los Ratones competes in the Northern League of Legends Championship (NLC).

History

During a livestream on his Twitch channel on 1 June 2024, Caedrel first brought up the idea of competing in the Northern League of Legends Championship (NLC) alongside Tim "Nemesis" Lipovšek and Simon "Thebausffs" Hofverberg, commonly known as Baus. Nemesis was a former LEC player who appeared on two editions of the League of Legends World Championship, while Baus was guest caster and analyst during the 2021 LEC season. Months after the said stream, Caedrel announced on 15 November 2024 that he would be starting a professional team called "Los Ratones", with Nemesis and Baus joining the organisation as its midlaner and toplaner, respectively. They would be joined by jungler Veljko "Velja" Čamdžić, ADC Juš "Crownie" Marušič, and support Carl Martin Erik "Rekkles" Larsson, with Caedrel serving as head coach.{{cite web|url=https://esports-news.co.uk/2024/11/14/los-ratones-roster-caedrel-players/|title=Los Ratones roster: Caedrel reveals 2025 player line-up featuring Rekkles, Nemesis and more, with all scrims to be made public and the team eligible to play in the NLC or EBL |first=Dom |last=Sacco|date=November 15, 2024|website=Esports News UK|access-date=November 15, 2024}} Prior to joining the team, Rekkles was part of T1 Esports Academy in the League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) Challengers League for the 2024 competitive season.

= Name origin =

The name, "Los Ratones" first emerged in the "CaedrelPlays" YouTube channel, one of Caedrel's three channels in which he plays games outside of League of Legends, on 17 September 2023 in a first of a series of videos of him playing "Teamfight Manager," an esports manager game available on digital distribution platform Steam, when he typed "Los Ratones" as the name for his team on the game.

Scrim streams

Los Ratones is known for being the first professional League of Legends team to live-stream the majority of their scrims.{{Cite web |date=2025-01-12 |title=Streaming scrims is a good idea? FlyQuest says yes and the first one is today! |url=https://esports.gg/news/league-of-legends/streaming-scrims-is-a-good-idea-flyquest-says-yes-and-the-first-one-is-today/ |access-date=2025-02-04 |website=esports.gg |language=en}} Scrims, or practice matches between professional teams, are typically private in League of Legends to protect strategies for official games. On scrim days, Los Ratones can be expected to receive tens of thousands of concurrent viewers across Caedrel and the players' streams. The fan reception of LR's scrim streams inspired FlyQuest and Cloud9 of the League of Legends Championship of The Americas (LTA) North Conference to also stream their own scrims.{{Cite web |title=LoL – LTA North: FLY-C9 streamed scrims peak at 50k viewers |url=https://www.sheepesports.com/en/articles/lol-fly-c9-streamed-scrims-peak-at-40k-viewers/en |access-date=2025-02-12 |website=sheepesports.com |language=en}}

On 9 March 2025, Los Ratones was originally scheduled to have practice matches against GiantX, a team currently competing in the LEC. However, this was cancelled due to a rule by game developer Riot Games that prevents the scrims to be livestreamed.{{Cite web |last=DeSena |first=Gabby |date=10 March 2025 |title=Canceled by Riot Games? Los Ratones vs GIANTX Scrim Situation Explained |url=https://www.si.com/esports/league-of-legends/los-ratones-vs-giantx-scrim-situation-explained |access-date=24 March 2025 |website=Esports Illustrated |language=en}}

= Impact in Tier 1 leagues =

In response to the popularity of streaming scrims popularised by Los Ratones, LEC Commissioner Artem Bykov announced on 13 March 2025 that a trial phase until 23 March would be in place to allow LEC team to publicly stream their practice matches under particular conditions.{{Cite web |last=DeSena |first=Gabby |date=14 March 2025 |title=Los Ratones Can Stream LEC Scrims After New Rule Change |url=https://www.si.com/esports/league-of-legends/los-ratones-can-stream-lec-scrims |access-date=24 March 2025 |website=Esports Illustrated |language=en}} LTA Commissioner Mark Zimmerman also made a similar announcement on 21 March 2025 that teams in the league may scrim teams from Tier 2 leagues, so long as the team schedules are not in conflict.{{cite web |title=LTA Format Changes |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4F36E-p97Lg |website=youtube.com |publisher=League of Legends Championship of The Americas |format=video |date=21 March 2025}}

Events and Competitions

= NNO Cup =

Los Ratones entered its first tournament as an organisation in November 2024 when they joined the second season of the NNO Cup, a tournament organised by German team No Need Orga. In the tournament, the team went undefeated in the winning bracket with a 12–2 win-loss game record, winning all their best-of-five series en route to its first title. Notably, Caedrel was the team's support player as Rekkles was unable to join the team.

= Red Bull League of Its Own =

On 29 November 2024, the team announced via its X (formerly Twitter) account that the second edition of Red Bull League of Its Own would be the live debut of Los Ratones, where they would face 2024 World Champions T1 in a showmatch at the Accor Arena in Paris, France.{{Cite web |last=Jadhav |first=Ganesh |date=29 November 2024 |title=Los Ratones to face T1 at Red Bull League of Its Own |url=https://www.strafe.com/news/read/los-ratones-to-face-t1-at-red-bull-event-league-of-its-own/ |access-date=24 March 2025 |website=Strafe Esports |language=en}}{{cite web |url=https://x.com/LosRatoneslol/status/1862451668865945963|publisher=Los Ratones|title=LOS RATONES VS T1 |date=29 November 2024|via=X (formerly Twitter)}} In the event, Los Ratones emerged victorious against T1, which featured Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok and Park "Untara" Ui-jin, who was Ryu "Keria" Min-seok's replacement in the event.

= NLC =

On 2 January 2025, Los Ratones announced that it would be competing in the Northern League of Legends Championship (NLC) for the 2025 competitive season.{{cite web |url=https://x.com/LosRatoneslol/status/1874836796066222259|publisher=Los Ratones|title=WE'RE GOING TO BE COMPETING IN THE @NLClol |date=2 January 2025|via=X (formerly Twitter)}}{{cite web|url=https://esports-news.co.uk/2025/01/02/los-ratones-join-nlc-caedrel-confirm/|title=Confirmed: Los Ratones join NLC as organisers prepare for UK and Nordic ERL's 'biggest year' |first=Dom |last=Sacco|date=January 2, 2025|website=Esports News UK|access-date=January 2, 2025}}

In the Winter Split, the team went undefeated in the group stage, 4-0, and also went undefeated in the playoffs wih a 4-0 series record, en route to its first domestic championship after scoring a 3–0 sweep against NORD Esports in the finals in Nottingham.{{Cite web |last=Goyal |first=Arsh |date=2 March 2025 |title=LoL – NLC: Caedrel's Los Ratones claim Winter trophy in 3–0 victory against NORD Esports |url=https://www.sheepesports.com/en/articles/caedrels-los-ratones-claim-nlc-winter-trophy-in-3-0-victory-against-nord-esports/en |access-date=24 March 2025 |website=Sheep Esports |language=en}} Los Ratones would then have an undefeated 4-0 record in the Spring Seeding phase. Despite losing to NORD Esports in the upper bracket semifinals in the bracket stage, the team would have an 14-2 game record in the same phase en route to winning its second consecutive NLC title in Copenhagen, with a 3-0 win over NORD.{{Cite web |last=Chocat |first=Clément |date=2025-06-01 |title=LoL: Los Ratones pulls off first-ever back-to-back in NLC, sweeping NORD 3-0 |url=https://www.sheepesports.com/en/articles/lol-los-ratones-pulls-off-first-ever-back-to-back-in-nlc-sweeping-nord-3-0/en |access-date=2025-06-02 |website=Sheep Esports |language=en}}

= EMEA Masters =

{{Main|EMEA Masters}}

Los Ratones has qualified two EMEA Masters splits so far in 2025.{{Cite web |date=31 May 2025 |title=Rekkles et Los Ratones valident leur qualification pour les EMEA Masters Spring 2025 |url=https://www.team-aaa.com/fr/actualite/rekkles-et-los-ratones-valident-leur-qualification-pour-les-emea-masters-spring-2025_134011 |access-date=31 May 2025 |website=Against All Authority |language=fr}} In the Spring Split team was seeded in a four-team double elimination bracket group alongside Karmine Corp Blue, Nightbirds, and E wie einfach Esports, where they would qualify alongside KCB to the quarterfinals. In the playoffs, Los Ratones would secure a 3–2 victory over Papara SuperMassive of Turkey in the quarterfinals, before winning against Team Phantasma of Greece in the semifinals, 3–0, to qualify for its first EMEA Masters Finals. Winning in another 3–0 sweep against Ici Japon Corp of France in the final, Los Ratones secured its first EMEA Masters title, becoming the first organisation based in the United Kingdom to do so.{{Cite web |last=DeSena |first=Gabby |date=24 March 2025 |title=Los Ratones Dominate EMEA Masters: Grand Finals Recap |url=https://www.si.com/esports/news/los-ratones-dominate-emea-masters-recap-league-of-legends |access-date=24 March 2025 |website=Esports Illustrated |language=en}}

In the Spring Split, Los Ratones went 2-1 in the group stage, qualifying for the playoffs. The team would beat NORD Esports in the round of 16, 3–0, in a rematch of the NLC Spring Finals, before getting past BoostGate Esports in a 3–2 win in the quarterfinals. The team would go on a 6-0 game record across semifinals (vs. BK ROG Esports) and finals (vs. Barça eSports) to win their second EMEA Masters championship, becoming the first team since Karmine Corp to win the tournament more than once.

Roster

{{LoL roster header

| team = Los Ratones

| role = yes

| bg1 = #000000

| color1 = #FFFFFF

| bg2 = #000000

| color2 = #FFFFFF

}}

{{LoL player

| handle = Baus

| name = Simon Hofverberg

| role = Top

| nat = SE

}}

{{LoL player

| handle = Velja

| name = Veljko Čamdžić

| role = Jungle

| nat = RS

}}

{{LoL player

| handle = Nemesis

| name = Tim Lipovšek

| role = Mid

| nat = SI

}}

{{LoL player

| handle = Crownie

| name = Juš Marušič

| role = ADC

| nat = SI

}}

{{LoL player

| handle = Rekkles

| name = Carl Martin Erik Larsson

| role = Support

| nat = SE

}}

{{Esports roster footer

| head_coach =

| asst_coach =*Andrei "Odoamne" Pascu

| otherlegend =

| roster_url = https://lolesports.com/teams/los-ratones

| transaction_date = 15 November 2024

}}

Professional standings

= Major League =

class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%; text-align:center;"

! rowspan="2" |Year

! colspan="4" |Domestic

!Ref.

League

!Winter

!Spring

!Summer

!

rowspan="2" |2025

|NLC

|{{won|style=font-weight:bold|place=1st|Winners}}

|{{won|style=font-weight:bold|place=1st|Winners}}

|TBD

|

EMEA Masters

|{{won|style=font-weight:bold|place=1st|Winners}}

|{{won|style=font-weight:bold|place=1st|Winners}}

|TBD

|

= Tournaments results =

class="wikitable"

!Date

!Tournament

!Place

!Result

!Prize

!Ref.

21 June 2025

|EMEA Masters Spring Split 2025

|style="background:gold;text-align:center;"| 1st

|3:0 Final

|

|

1 June 2025

|NLC Spring Split 2025

|style="background:gold;text-align:center;"| 1st

|3:0 Final

|

|

11 April 2025

|NLC 2025 Spring Seeding - Group A

|style="background:gold;text-align:center;"| 1st

|4:0 Group

|

|

23 March 2025

|EMEA Masters Winter Split 2025

|style="background:gold;text-align:center;"| 1st

|3:0 Final

|{{Euro|16000}}

|

2 March 2025

|NLC Winter Split 2025

|style="background:gold;text-align:center;"| 1st

|3:0 Final

|

|

24 January 2025

|NLC 2025 Winter Seeding - Group A

|style="background:gold;text-align:center;"| 1st

|4:0 Group

|

|{{Cite web |date=24 January 2025 |title=NLC official announcement on seeding standing |url=https://x.com/NLClol/status/1882549383675183271 |website=X (formerly Twitter)}}

8 December 2024

|NNO Cup Season 2

|style="background:gold;text-align:center;"| 1st

|3:1 Final

|{{Euro|10000}}

|{{Cite web |date=2024-12-09 |title=Los Ratones win NNO Cup Season 2, another Nemesis victory |url=https://esports-news.co.uk/2024/12/09/nno-cup-season-2-recap-los-ratones/ |access-date=2025-02-04 |website=esports-news.co.uk |language=en-GB}}

Tier 1 ambitions

On 30 March 2025, in an update video published to the team's YouTube channel days after their maiden EMEA Masters victory, team founder and head coach Marc "Caedrel" Lamont disclosed that one of Los Ratones' goals is to be part of a Tier 1 region in the future.{{Cite web |last=Marchoude |first=Ilyas |date=31 March 2025 |title=LoL: Caedrel aims to bring Los Ratones to a Tier 1 region next year |url=https://www.sheepesports.com/en/articles/lol-caedrel-aims-to-bring-los-ratones-to-a-tier-1-region-next-year/en |access-date=3 April 2025 |website=Sheep Esports |language=en}} Prior to the video's release, fans have expressed their interest to see Los Ratones compete in the League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC), the top tier professional League of Legends competition in the EMEA region, which provides a pathway to international competitions, including the League of Legends World Championship. Due to the current franchising rules that began in 2019, it would be deemed impossible for the team to do so and would need to purchase a slot from an existing club or formulate a partnership with an existing team without losing the team's essence and appeal.{{Cite web |last=Maas |first=Lee |date=31 March 2025 |title=Caedrel discusses Los Ratones tier-one ambitions in new video |url=https://esportsinsider.com/2025/03/caedrel-los-ratones-tier1-update |access-date=3 April 2025 |website=Esports Insider |language=en}} Alternatively, Caedrel also brought up the idea of Los Ratones competing in the North American Challengers League (NACL) to contest for a guest spot in the League of Legends Championship of The Americas (LTA) North Conference.{{cite web |title=WHAT'S NEXT FOR LOS RATONES? – A Caedrel Recap |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOTIHYj_gBg |website=youtube.com |publisher=Los Ratones |format=video |date=30 March 2025}}

References