MAD Lions has won its first match of the 2021 League of Legends European Championship Summer Playoffs against G2 Esports.  MAD Lions will remain in the upper bracket to defend its spring title, while G2 Esports will be dropped down into the penultimate match of the lower bracket where it will await its next opponent. 

After a top 4 finish at the 2021 Mid-Season Invitational, MAD looked shaky this summer, but the team was vocal towards the end of the regular season about returning to top form before the start of the post-season, and against G2, it delivered. Even when G2 possessed control of the game, MAD almost always was able to find crucial teamfights that made the difference in the 3-1 win, which was particularly exemplified by the Wukong of MAD top laner İrfan Berk "Armut" Tükek  in game 4. 

In defeating G2 Esports, MAD Lions has also guaranteed one of the three LEC spots reserved for representing Europe at the 2021 World Championship,  which will take place in China this fall.

MAD is the third team to qualify for Worlds after Rogue — who became the first team to qualify after defeating Misfits on the other side of the LEC Summer Playoffs upper bracket — and DWG KIA, whose current placing in the LCK Summer Split has guaranteed it one of the four spots reserved for South Korean representatives.

Tomorrow, Fnatic and Team Vitality will face off in the first lower bracket match of the LEC Summer Playoffs, with the winner moving on to face Misfits. The winner of that match will face off against G2 Esports. The winner of G2's match will secure the final LEC seed for the World Championship.

The upper bracket semifinals match in the LEC Summer Playoffs will feature a rematch of the spring final between MAD Lions and Rogue, with the winner heading to the finals. The loser will drop down to the final match of the lower bracket to play against the winner of G2's match in the final lower bracket match of the post-season. The winner of the final lower bracket match will move on to the final to face the undefeated team and see who is crowned LEC champion.