The League of Legends competitions around the globe have been going on again for more than a month now. A lot of roster changes happened last offseason and we are finally seeing how those rosters are coming together. However, professional teams have considered a lot of player changes that didn’t go through.
Here’s a list of some of those changes that didn’t go through for the League of Legends European Championship, League of Legends Championship Series and more, according to sources close to Upcomer.
LEC roster changes
XL Wunder
Martin “Wunder” Nordahl Hansen was considered as top laner for Excel Esports, but Wunder still had a two-year contract with G2 Esports. Excel couldn’t find an agreement with G2 Esports so they ended up moving to other options. Their last tryouts were between Mathias “Szygenda” Jensen and Finn “Finn” Wiestål.
FNC Alphari and Perkz
Vitality weren’t the only team interested in Luka “Perkz” Perković and Barney “Alphari” Morris. Fnatic were very interested in both, too, but also on Alphari on his own.
BDS Malrang
Before reaching an agreement with Rogue Esports, Team BDS were another LEC team that talked with Kim “Malrang” Geun-seong for their jungle position. This didn’t go through as the team ended up deciding for other plans.
RGE Rekkles
Another former G2 Esports player, Martin “Rekkles” Larsson, had some LEC/LCS teams potentially interested in buying him out. One of those organizations was Rogue. G2 Esports and Rogue couldn’t find an agreement.
SK 113 and SK Pridestalker
Erberk “Gilius” Demir wasn’t the only option in the mind of SK Gaming. Doğukan “113” Balci and Milo “Pridestalker” Wehnes were both considered by the German organization. In the end, they decided to go with the German jungler. Part of the reason for that might be because Gilius played in Schalke 04 Evolution alongside his current teammate Daniel “Sertuss” Gamani in 2019.
G2 Labrov
While under contract with Team Vitality, G2 Esports showed interest in possibly buying out Labros “Labrov” Papoutsakis. This was denied from Team Vitality. Those two organizations also had interest in Matyáš “Carzzy” Orság, who wanted to be paired with Labrov.
FNC Reeker
Steven “Reeker” Chen was considered by many LEC teams during the offseason, one of which was Excel Esports. Fnatic were one of those teams before getting Marek “Humanoid” Brázda. Reeker was considered in the case where they wouldn’t get Humanoid. Once Fnatic started the process to get Humanoid, MAD Lions committed to Reeker and Excel followed by locking Erlend “Nukeduck” Holm.
AST LIDER
Astralis had interest in Adam “LIDER” Ilyasov, who is still under contract with Team Vitality. However, when the team asked the player to tryout, LIDER wasn’t interested. They ended up choosing Oliver “Dajor” Ryppa who tried out for the team during an extended period of time.
BDS Mikyx
Team BDS were interested in the player to potentially pair him with his former coach Fabian “GrabbZ” Lohmann, but this didn’t go through. At the end of October, Team BDS committed to Dino “LIMIT” Tot instead who was a free agent. Mikyx buyout was reduced from 1.5 million euros to 500,000 euros by early November.
G2 Jackspektra, G2 Keduii, G2 Mersa and G2 Hantera
While G2 considered known LEC names for their bot lane, they also held tryouts with several bot laners and supports from European Regional Leagues. In the end, they ended up signing players from those tryouts. Raphaël “Targamas” Crabbé and Victor “Flakked” Lirola were their favorites.
MSF Vander
When Mertai “Mersa” Sari reached an agreement with Misfits Gaming, he was most likely going to play in the Ligue Française de League of Legends. However, following a bootcamp with the team, it was decided that Mersa would play in the LEC instead of Oskar “Vander” Bogdan.
FNC Cabochard and KC Melonik
Fnatic failed to reach an agreement with a few top laners and were in a complicated situation to buyout Wunder. They ended up making an offer for Lucas “Cabochard” Simon-Meslet. Cabochard denied the offer in order to stay with the French organization. Karmine Corp had contacted Dawid “Melonik” Ślęczka to get him as top laner in case they wouldn’t be able keep Cabochard.
BDS Jackspektra
Jakob “Jackspektra” Kepple didn’t just play tryouts for G2; Team BDS also considered the bot laner right before deciding to field Matthew Charles “xMatty” Coombs. Rogue, Excel and Karmine Corp are also teams that considered Jackspektra. In the case of Karmine Corp, an agreement was reached but the rest is history.
RGE Patrik
Before returning to Excel, several LEC teams were interested in Patrik “Patrik” Jírů, a free agent last offseason. Rogue and Team BDS were two of those teams.
XL UNF0RGIVEN
In the case where Patrik wouldn’t remain with Excel, the LEC team held tryouts for the bot lane position. One of those tryouts was for William “UNF0RGIVEN” Nieminen, who ended up with MAD Lions. Overall, the LEC saw a lot of changes in this position and many bot laners were considered by several teams. Some of them like Jackspektra or Juš “Crownshot” Marušič couldn’t find a place in the LEC.
FNC Summit
Current Cloud9 top laner Park “Summit” Woo-tae was considered by Fnatic,. It’s uncertain as to why this move didn’t go through but there were worries on Fnatic’s side regarding communication issues.
XL Summit
Summithad a talk with EXCEL toward the end of the offseason. The LEC team was interested in the top laner and spoke with him, but it seems Cloud9 were his preferred option.
RGE Razork
Yes, Fnatic weren’t the only team interested in Razork, but that’s probably not surprising. Early in the offseason, Rogue considered Razork for their jungle position. At that time, the jungler was still under contract with Misfits Gaming, so Rogue moved on to other options.
XL Crownshot
Excel considered some bot laners in the case Patrik “Patrik” Jírů wouldn’t re-sign with the team. Juš “Crownshot” Marušič was one of the players the organization talked with, however this didn’t go much further. Crownshot now plays for BDS Academy.
LCS roster changes
TL Jensen (as bot laner)
Yes, it wasn’t just rumors: Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen was considered in bot lane for Team Liquid. Jensen is a North American resident, so this would allow Team Liquid to import another role, since they ended up importing Steven “Hans Sama” Liv who signed a three-year deal.
TSM Rekkles and Treatz
Another early change that was considered in the LCS was a bot lane of Rekkles and Erik “Treatz” Wessén. As to why this didn’t go through is unknown.
C9 Bjergsen
Søren “Bjergsen” Bjerg left TSM after eight years with the North American organization. However, before deciding to join Team Liquid, Cloud9 were also a team interested in the mid lane veteran.
TL Inspired
Team Liquid considered Kacper “Inspired” Słoma for their jungle position earlier in the 2021-2022 offseason. However, with the signing of both Hans Sama and Gabriël “Bwipo” Rau, they didn’t have an import slot available.
C9 Hans Sama
In addition to Bjergsen, Hans Sama was also considered by Cloud9. In the end, both players still got paired in the same team while C9 ended up importing players from South Korea.
EG Humanoid
Marek “Humanoid” Brázda was an option for Evil Geniuses in the mid lane. EG still managed to get an important European player in Inspired, but it was a big sigh of relief for LEC fans when Fnatic ended up buying out Humanoid from MAD Lions.
C9 Nisqy
McDonald’s memes aside, Cloud9 were one of the teams that talked with Fnatic in order to potentially buyout Yasin “Nisqy” Dinçer, which would bring the Belgian mid laner back to his former team. However, both organizations didn’t find a deal.
C9 Nemesis
This isn’t the biggest surprise, as C9’s CEO Jack Etienne said on reddit he offered Tim “Nemesis” Lipovšek a job.
C9 LIDER & Mikyx
Yes, Cloud 9 considered many players last offseason and this European duo of LIDER and Mikyx was one of them. However, C9 ended up moving to other plans.
Bonus roster changes
LSB Mikyx
Yes, a League of Legends Champions Korea team seriously considered Mikyx. Liiv SANDBOX entered talks to potentially buyout the player but it didn’t go through. Concerns over the language barrier is cited as one of the concerns. This could have been the first time to see a European player compete in the LCK.
JL sOAZ
A second division LFL Team, Joblife, was interested in the European legend Paul “sOAZ” Boyer. He and Bilal “Wylenz” Ait were the final tryouts of the team for the top lane position. Joblife ended up settling for the younger player. SOAZ now plays in the Prime League First Division with WAVE Esports.
