Los Ratones shutdown: How popular was the team compared to its streamer-backed peers?

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A few days back, Marc "Caedrel" Lamont announced that Los Ratones, one of the most popular League of Legends teams in Europe, is shutting down. Over a year of existence, it was one of the most popular streamer-backed sides to participate in the game's professional ecosystem, becoming a guaranteed audience driver at events.

The decision to shut down came after Los Ratones failed to qualify for the LEC 2026 Versus playoffs. Some fans blamed Karmine Corp for losing to Team Heretics (which would have helped Los Ratones's playoff chances), but Caedrel took full responsibility: "It's only on us to blame. Our fate was in our hands, and we let it slip."

Despite the short lifespan, the esports organizationhad an impressive run. Founded in November 2024, they won all three Northern League of Legends Championship (NLC) splits in 2025, becoming the first team in the league's history to win all three seasons in the same competitive year.

The side also secured two titles in the EMEA Masters, the highest tier of professional competition in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa region outside of the League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC). As the first British-based organisation to win this series, Los Ratones ended 2025 as one of the most successful non-franchised rosters in the tier-2 League of Legends scene.

Of the 67 gamers the side played, it won a remarkable 53 of these, including an impressive winning streak of 14 games that spanned from its debut to March 17, 2025. This run included winning its maiden official title at the NLC 2025 Winter, where it beat NORD Esports to clinch the trophy.

A squad containing the likes of Simon "Thebausffs" Hofverberg and Martin "Rekkles" Larsson showed that with the right preparation and coordination, tier 2 teams could challenge sides at the top of the food chain. This was proved true at the LEC 2026 Versus, where the side was invited as the best-performing team across all EMEA Regional Leagues, the eventual disappointment notwithstanding.

When looking at top content creator-owned teams across the League of Legends ecosystem since 2025, Los Ratones was one of the most popular names. It accrued almost 21.2 million Hours Watched (HW), with only two sides — Kamel "kamet0" Kebir's Karmine Corp and Ibai "ibai" Llanos' KOI — above it. That these two sides are owned by Twitch megastars and have had a few years of headstart on Caedrel's organization shows how quickly his side has managed to capture the attention of audiences.

Los Ratones was also among the five most popular sides in this list, with its top match peaking at almost 592,000 viewers. Right from its first official match, the League of Legends team emerged as both a competitive contender and the primary audience driver for any event it participated in. Its matches consistently ranked among the most-watched at any tournament, transforming the team into a central pillar of the commercial success of series like the LEC.

What's next?

A lot of the disbanded team's future is up for debate, with Caedrel explaining in his announcement that "some of the boys will pursue pro perhaps, some to different areas of pro, maybe some will continue and grow streaming."

Here's a table of the players who represented Los Ratones until it was disbanded:

Rekkles has claimed that "Los Ratones might be the last thing I ever do," so he could start focusing more on livestreaming. Meanwhile, Baus indicated something similar during a recent live stream. The top laner confirmed he is not playing professionally anymore and is returning to full-time content creation and streaming.

The rest of the roster is expected to look for opportunities elsewhere, so fans can expect to see them turn up for other sides sooner than later.

Caedrel himself will continue to appear as an analyst and community streamer at the top events in professional LoL esports, considering he remains one of the game's foremost on-air talents. Whether he will take another shot at creating something similar to Los Ratones remains to be seen, but that side has left fans and viewers with some memorable moments.