World Championship 2025 MKOI Preview: The Spanish Pride Has High Aspirations

MKOI started the year slowly with Jojopyun struggling to find his footing. They finished fourth in the Winter Split Regular Season and Playoffs. Spring Split is where they ramped up. The finished Regular Season with the same record, but they turned it up in the Playoffs. They defeated Karmine Corp 3-2 on two separate occasions. They would meet G2 Esports on two occasions. They lost the Upper Bracket Final, but returned in the Grand Final with a point to prove and smacked G2 down with a 3-1 victory to win their first Split with the core roster.

They went to MSI, where they lost two consecutive series. EWC was not much to write home about either. The Summer Split Playoffs were nearly identical, with them playing against Fnatic instead of KC. The significant difference this time around was that G2 outperformed them in the Grand Final, leaving MKOI as the LEC second seed for the World Championship.

Fixing Errors is a Key to Success

One of the pain points for MKOI throughout the year has been making mistakes at the pivotal moments. They had a chance to go to five games against Bilibili Gaming. However, an overstep on mid-wave allowed the Chinese team to end the game and the series. In the Upper Bracket Final against G2 in Summer, MKOI had what looked to be an unassailable lead. Multiple mistakes in a row gave G2 a way back into the game, and they went 0-2 down in the series.

The players are aware of these issues as Jojopyun spoke vehemently on them during an EUphoria podcast. If MKOI can shore up these pivotal mistakes, they could become a force to be reckoned with at the World Championship.

Elyoya As the Driving Force

Since arriving in the LEC, Elyoya has been one of the best junglers in the region. He has not missed out on the World Championship during his LEC career. He is always the backbone of his team, finding ways to give his team an advantage heading into the mid-game. The organization trusted him to lead rookies in their first LEC splits last year, and he did just that. Taking them to three second-place finishes and one first-place finish in six splits and a Finals event is an incredible feat.

He will need to continue to feed on that experience and help his team to compete with the best in the world. He has stern competition, with the jungle role filled to the brim with talent.

Expectations

MKOI is unlikely to qualify for the World Championship Bracket Stage. They are one of the better Western teams at the competition and should not bow out in the same fashion as last year. They are a team that can go to the final day of the Swiss Stage, but they may struggle beyond that.

Upcoming Journey

MKOI begins their World Championship journey in Pool 2 of the Swiss Stage. Their possible opponents in the first round are: Hanwha Life, Anyone’s Legend, Vivo Keyd Stars, Team Secret Whales, and KT Rolster/Top Esports (depending on Play-In result).