Image source, Splash

Although Barrage’s main team reached the NLC play-offs second round this summer, the Academy team’s place in the overall scheme of things means that their position in the UKLC relegation series is a high priority for team owner Jeff Simpkins.

“It’s super important - we don't want to lose the spot in UKLC, which has been super-competitive this season” he told BBC Sport. “This has been a way to look at and develop young talent. We've got three rookies on the UKLC roster and it was always meant to be a development project.”

Their opponents in the relegation series, NerdRage, are are on Barrage's radar already – “we still have plenty of footage of them from their UKEL games so it's not too dissimilar to preparing for any other team,” said Simpkins, who believes his players are stronger but will need to play as a team to escape the drop.

“We've worked on the issues we saw in the regular season and have been trying to play to our strengths,” he added. “The lads are all in good spirits and they've really worked hard this season and especially in the build-up to the relegation battle.”

Image source, Splash

It was called the biggest turnaround in the history of League of Legends gameplay when Schalke04 Esports won four games in a row to somehow enter the last three-game series of the LEC season still with a chance of making the play-offs in Europe’s top league.

They then won all three games to go from a miserable 1-10 record to 8-10 and sneak into the post-season as a dangerous, in-form squad that could yet find a back door to the finals. Surely the streak could not go on?

Tell that to Sweden’s SK Gaming, who became wins 8, 9, and 10 of the Schalke streak in the Losers Round 1 of the play-offs.

What has become known locally as the “Miracle Run” will see the Germany's Blue and Whites taking on either Fnatic or MAD Lions – the latter a team they have beaten twice already this year – in the next round of the play-offs.

Image source, Dreamhack

Rogue’s win in the last round of the LEC regular season not only gave them the title ahead of MAD Lions and top seeding in the play-off series, it also meant that they are the first team to make is year's World Championship, due to the Summer play-offs format the league has adopted this season.

Rogue finished top of the standings as long-time leaders MAD Lions took a second defeat of the season to Schalke in their final outing and as the LEC will send four teams to the World Championship, the seedings make Rogue the sole automatic qualifiers for that tournament.

It works like this: Rogue are the highest seeds and even if they lose to Fnatic in their opening play-off series, they will not drop into the losers second round tie with in-form Schalke because both G2 and MAD Lions, in the other play-off opener, have inferior records and the loser of that tie would play the Germans.

With SK Gaming eliminated already and either Schalke or G2 or the Lions the next to be eliminated from the losers series, Rogue are guaranteed a top four place.