This article was originally published on GameSpot's sister site onGamers.com, which was dedicated to esports coverage.

　　Battle of the Atlantic kicks off its second and final leg this Friday, December 20th. This time, from Riot’s new studios in Los Angeles. Last week, the first two matches of this intercontinental battle were played in Cologne, Germany. Alliance, formerly know as Evil Geniuses.Europe, smashed Dignitas with their renovated roster in a 2-0 sweep. But, NA was able to save face the next day, when TSM showed the new Lemondogs roster who’s boss in another 2-0 sweep.

　　While the winning region gets $5,000 for each team that participated in the tournament, Battle of the Atlantic means much more than prizemoney. North America put up a dismal performance at World Championships just a few months back, and they were still unable to overcome Europe at IEM Cologne. NA has yet another chance to prove themselves as worthy competitors to their brothers across the pond in the final 3 matches of the Battle of the Atlantic.

　　

Counter Logic Gaming vs Team ALTERNATE

Both of these teams underwent tweaks to their roster that could potentially have a huge impact in areas they were lacking previously. Alternate added SK Gaming’s kev1n to their top lane after releasing ForellenLord and moving Kerp to midlane. kev1n’s experience as a long time top lane player could be what Alternate needs to get back to their level of play when they 5-0’d the first week of the Summer LCS.

　　After the retirement of the last remaining original CLG member, Doublelift was on the hunt for a new Support. Aphromoo played support for the team during the Spring Split, but left the team shortly after due to not enjoying the support role. But, the changes in the new season have made him more open to the role. CLG has recruited former Lemondogs jungler, Dexter after trying out TrickZ at IEM Cologne. Combined with his European knowledge and strong jungle play, CLG could finally have the jungler they have been looking for.

　　

XDG Gaming vs Gambit Gaming

Gambit has been reunited with their support player, Edward, after his brief stint in North America under Team Curse. Gambit has the famed Moscow 5 and Team Empire lineup that made the arguably the best team in the word in Season 2 yet again. Once Edward left the team, something just didn’t feel right about the team. Gambit tried multiple supports, but none matched the performances that Edward and Genja were able to put up. With the original Russian overlords back again, they were able to steamroll Fnatic at IEM Cologne in a 2-0 sweep.

　　XDG weren’t able to take a game off of Gambit when they met twice in the world championships group stages, and they may struggle again. It will be important for XDG to close out the late game if they find themselves ahead, and forget their past “Vulcun Throwbargians” nickname. But, the Season 4 changes may work in XDG’s favor as they will to be able to recover if they miss a step.

　　

Fnatic vs Cloud 9

The kings of North America will go head to head versus the one of the top European team for the third time this year. Fnatic were able to defeat Cloud 9 at worlds, but when onGamers asked Hai what he thinks of the match, he seemed confident. “They beat us at level 1 and outscaled, so if those two issues are fixed the game looks better for us.”

　　On top of Fnatics strong play, they have recently added Rekkles to their AD position. Rekkles seems to be an extremely strong AD who quickly fit in with the team. As Fnatic irons out any problems in the bot lane, they take another step towards european dominance in Season 4. Taking down Cloud 9 for the third time could be a strong indicator of their performance coming into the next split.

　　Photo Credit: Riot, ESL Flickr