The LEC Winter Split is just a week away, and now's the perfect time for you to meet the competing teams, both old and new!
Fnatic
A name that needs no introduction, Fnatic has been a staple of the European league since its inception. Just a few years ago, Fnatic were the predicted winners of every LEC split, but the past few years have been rough on the organisation. Fnatic hit rock bottom last Winter when they failed to reach the group stage, but after some rebranding in the top and bot lanes, they've bounced back.
Their two biggest gambles of the past year have been subbing out star top laner Martin "Wunder" Hansen for a complete rookie in Óscar "Oscarinin" Jiménez. Oscarinin's first couple of weeks in the LEC were some of the toughest, but he has since proven he can do more than just fill in Wunder's shoes. In the bot lane, Fnatic took another risk when they replaced their iconic bot laner, Carl Martin "Rekkles" Larsson, with Oh "Noah" Hyeon-taek, a relative mystery hailing from the LCK academy league. This was another gamble that paid off, and Fnatic's Summer Split was the best we've seen in years.
Fnatic is hoping that one more roster change is just what they need to reach for gold once again. So, they've said goodbye to Adrian "Trymbi" Trymbus and welcomed Yoon "Jun" Se-jun, former DRX support, for the 2024 season.
Image sourced from Fnatic's twitter.
G2 Esports
Another iconic European team, G2 Esports has been dominating the league since entering the scene in 2016. Unlike Fnatic, they've pretty much shown no signs of slowing down.
Their current roster was established last year, when they made the surprising decision to say goodbye to their mainstay jungler Marcin "Jankos" Jankowski and welcome rookie Martin "Yike" Sundelin. Already Yike is considered one of the best junglers Europe has seen, performing with as much comfort at MSI and Worlds as in Europe, and earning the LEC Rookie Of The Year in 2023. At the same time, they said goodbye to their bot lane, signing Steven "Hans Sama" Liv and re-signing Mihael "Mikyx" Mehle in the bot lane. The bot lane pair had previously been partners while on Misfits Gaming in 2017.
The team is staying entirely intact for 2024, and are looking to win their third split as a unit, having already made champions in last year's Winter and Summer splits.
Image sourced from the LEC twitter.
GIANTX
GIANTX was formed in partnership between Excel Esports and Giants, and they are debuting at the LEC next week with a motley roster consisting of various familiar faces.
In the top lane, we've got fan favourite Andrei "Odoamne" Pascu. Odo is probably best known as Rogue's former top laner, but he's played on various European teams including Splyce, Schalke 04, and most recently, EXCEL. He reached his career's highest highs while on Rogue, beating out G2 in the Summer finals of 2022 to earn his first LEC championship. Joining him over from EXCEL is jungler Lee "Peach" Min-gyu and bot laner Patrik "Patrik" Jírů.
Joining the former XL boys in the bot lane are Adam "Jackies" Jeřábek and support Lee "IgNar" Dong-geun. The former will be debuting on the big LEC stage while the latter might be familiar to some older European fans. IgNar once played for Misfits Gaming and Schalke 04, but moved to the LCS in 2020 to join FlyQuest. After four years, IgNar is back in EU and looking to make waves.
Image sourced from GIANTX's twitter.
Karmine Corp
Another team debuting in 2024 is Karmine Corp. This team was formed by French streamer Kamel "Kameto" Kebir and Amine "Prime" Mekri. The team has thus far been competing in the LFL as well as the EMEA Masters, with generally stellar results in the past couple of years.
Now, as they enter the LEC, their roster has been shaken up a bit, with three players remaining from their LFL roster - top laner Lucas "Cabochard" Simon-Meslet, mid laner Lucas "Saken" Fayard, and Raphaël "Targamas" Crabbé . The former player should be ringing some bells for OG Europe fans. Cabochard was the top laner for Team Vitality for five whopping years, between 2015 and 2020. Now after 4 years, he's back in the LEC.
Targamas is another familiar face, and he will be joining Upset in the bot lane. After a fantastic 2022 on G2 Esports, Targamas was abruptly released at the end of the year, and joined EXCEL briefly for their Winter Split in 2023. This Split was disastrous for EXCEL, and Targamas departed the team in May, joining Karmine Corp
Joining them, two more former Vitality players - Zhou "Bo" Yang-Bo and Elias "Upset" Lipp. Both players had a lot of pressure on their shoulders while on Vitality. Bo was imported from the LPL's FunPlus Phoenix and expected to completely outshine every European jungler. Upset has long been hailed one of the best bot laners in the LEC. Neither player, however, could deliver in the past couple of years. While the disaster of Vitality in 2023 can't be squarely placed on these two, all eyes will be on them in 2024 to finally show fans they've got what it takes to be champions.
Image sourced from the Karmine Corp's twitter.
MAD Lions KOI
Rounding up the first half of the LEC teams we have MAD Lions KOI, previously known as MAD Lions and, even more previously, Splyce. MAD Lions made their LEC debut in 2020, and have taken the league by storm. While previously the championship had bounced between G2 and FNC, MAD came in and wrestled the trophy away on three separate occasions, including in the Spring of 2023.
After a disappointing Summer Split and Worlds showing, it's probably no surprise that MAD Lions has changed up their roster significantly. Star support Zdravets "Hylissang" Galabov, mid laner Yasin "Nisqy" Dinçer, and bot laner Matyáš "Carzzy" Orság have all said goodbye and moved on to other LEC teams for the 2024 Season. Jungler Javier "Elyoya" Batalla and top laner Kim "Chasy" Dong-hyeon remain on the roster, though the top lane is now shared with LEC rookie Alex "Myrwn" Villarejo.
Three other players are making their first appearances on the LEC stage as well. In the mid lane we have Bartłomiej "Fresskowy" Przewoźnik, and the bot lane duo consists of David "Supa" Martínez García and support Álvaro "Alvaro" Fernández del Amo.
Bringing in essentially four rookies to be led by Elyoya in the jungle is going to either be legendary or a total fumble, but the MAD Lions made their first appearance in 2020 with a similar setup. Their MAD roster consisted of Marek "Humanoid" Brázda and four rookies, and they still went on to end top four, and win the Spring Split one year later. So, with that in mind, have hope, Lion fans!
MAD Lions' roster announcement, sourced from their YouTube channel.
