How Marvel Rivals’ first international champion defied expectations

Marvel Rivals recently crowned Rad EU as its international champion for the game’s first major LAN event, the Ignite Mid-Season Finals, firmly placing its players in the spotlight. 

Despite winning Marvel Rivals’ biggest event to date, the team that hoisted the trophy in Guangzhou, China, has been through many trials leading up to the pivotal moment.

From competing as Luminosity Gaming EU (LG) to joining Rad Esports (Rad EU) for EMEA Stage 1, Esports Insider breaks down the organisation’s journey and how it defied the odds to make history. 

The team that went on to win the Marvel Rivals Ignite Mid Season Finals is comprised of seven players based in Europe. When not signed to an organisation through a contract, the roster often goes by the name Team1.

Team 1 has seen several players come and go over the months. However, its strategist, Max ‘Fate‘ Currie, has been competing for the team since its foundation and has been a player since the game was in alpha.

In 2025, Team1 became more active, claiming notable achievements such as placing fourth in the Season 0: Dooms’ Rise Championships. This increase in notoriety ultimately saw the team gain the attention of an established esports organisation.

It wasn’t until February 26th, 2025, that Team1 began competing under Luminosity Gaming’s banner in Europe. However, at the time, the roster struggled to claim a first-place win. 

Luminosity placed fourth in the Marvel Rivals 2025 EMEA Invitational and second in the Season 1: Eternal Night Falls Championships.

Both events were won by Virtus.pro (VP), considered to be the best team in the region back then— and potentially globally. This narrative was further enforced by Luminosity Gaming suffering multiple losses to the organisation in numerous Rivals Fight Nights. 

Speaking to Esports Insider, Fate said: “When the team originally formed, there were many roster changes, so that is part of it, but the main thing is that VP has been a team together since the very start of the game.

“Most of our current roster players joined the game way after VP, and it really just has taken us a lot of time and grinding to catch up with them.” 

In the end, Luminosity Gaming ultimately parted ways with its EU roster on April 24th to focus on its North American team for Marvel Rivals Ignite. A few months later, Team1’s roster would be acquired by Rad Esports on June 7th to form Rad EU. 

Heading into Ignite EMEA Stage 1, casters and fans alike thought they knew how the event would end. Virtus.pro entered the event as the favourites, carrying a reputation as a team yet to suffer a single defeat since entering the scene. 

The team had built its reputation by dominating Rivals Fight Night, boasting the longest win streak out of any participating team. From beating Luminosity in Fight Night #6, to more recent victories such as defeating Brr Brr Patapim in Fight Night #13

However, Rad EU shocked the world by handing Virtus.pro its first loss in the Group Stage Upper Bracket Semi-Finals. Furthermore, spectators were stunned when both Rad EU and Brr Brr Patapim qualified for the Mid-Season Finals, while VP was knocked out of the competition. 

“We were able to beat VP in EMEA, but they are still an extremely strong team and still the threat they have always been feared to be,” Fate shared. 

“Just an unfortunate patch for them during EMEA, and the fact that they lost twice to Patapim was a pretty big upset.”

Heading into Ignite Mid-Season Finals, Rad EU was up against some heavy hitters: America’s champion Sentinels, NA invitational winner 100 Thieves, and EMEA champion Brr Brr Patapim, which now represented Citadel Gaming, to name a few. 

Rad EU began in the Play-In Stage, meaning it faced the risk of an early elimination. Despite losing to ENVY 2-0 in the Upper Bracket Finals, the team managed to qualify for the Main Stage by knocking out Nova Esports. 

Throughout the tournament, Rad EU showed a lot of innovation and new strategies in light of the Season 3: The Abyss Awakens update, shaking up the meta. Fate himself stunned many viewers when he brought out Jeff the Landshark, a character considered to be unviable after his rework. 

“For me personally, it has been unreal with the fact that I was able to shock the whole scene of Marvel Rivals, both casual and competitive, with my usage of Jeff in Ignite,” Fate added.

“It has been super fun to prove to everyone that Jeff isn’t just a bad hero that is unusable, but he’s actually insanely strong in team play.” 

Rad EU saw a lot of success throughout the tournament, beating teams such as Sentinels, OUG, Citadel Gaming and 100 Thieves. However, its biggest challenge in the event proved to be ENVY as America’s third-place team had beaten Rad EU a second time during the Main Stage Upper Bracket Semi-Finals. 

The two qualified squads from the Play-In Stage faced each other for the third time in the Grand Finals to ultimately decide which organisation would take home the champion’s title.

Rad EU struck first with a 2-0 win on Celestial Husk, followed by ENVY winning 4-3 on Yggdrasill Path. Rad EU claimed the third match, ending 3-2 on Hall of Djalia, and the following game soon after with a 2-1 win on Hell’s Heaven.

ENVY started to claw its way back with a 3-2 win at Central Park. However, Rad EU proved to be the better team in the end, winning 2-1 on Spider-Islands, claiming the revenge victory when it mattered most and ended the series 4-2 against its American rival. 

From early losses in Rivals Fight Night to the runners-up of EMEA Stage 1, the team fought its way to become the champion of Marvel Rivals’ first major international event. 

“This was insane!” shared Fate.

“I think especially the fact that the last map was so favoured for them to win after our attack, and then we managed to hold for five minutes straight, in a matchup that was probably not winning as well, was both an insane display of skill from our team, but also a major disappointment from ENVY. Think our whole team expected it to go to map seven, so it was super unreal.” 

Following the Mid-Season Finals win, where Rad EU secured $160,000 (~£118,904) in winnings, the organisation announced that its contract had expired with the team. Fate also shared that the team is in search of a new organisation to sign the players ahead of events such as the Season 3 Championships and Ignite Stage 2. 

When asked about whether Team1 intends to stick with Marvel Rivals, Fate said that he, alongside the others, are ‘super committed’ for the ‘long term’. 

“Especially after this tournament, now I know people will be grinding more than ever and working even harder than before,” Fate stated.

“We put so much time into the Mid Season Finals, and it paid off very well, so I’m sure the team will want to continue that, as our motto has always been to be the most efficient and hard-working team.”