EnVyUs to Purchase Renegades LCS Spot, Roster in Flux
Growing FPS Organization EnVyUs Makes Their First Play in League of Legends
Team Renegades have found a buyer for their LCS spot, and it’s a big name in esports. According to sources at The Daily Dot, EnVyUs will purchase Renegades’ slot for upwards of one million dollars. A growing esports organization with a pedigree of high-level success in FPS games, EnVyUs will likely be looking to make an impact with their entry into the LCS. However, it remains to be seen who will be playing under the team’s new banner.
More from Blog of Legends
- Bee’koz Vel’koz Skin: Splash Art, Price, Release, How to Get
- King Beegar Skin: Splash Art, Price, Release, How to Get
- EMENES retires following leave from Cloud9, cites military service
- EMENES Donezo Manifesto: Former Cloud9 Midlaner airs out grievances
- Team Heretics Perkz: European legend reportedly playing for TH
EnVyUs may be a new name for League of Legends fans, but they have been fielding teams in other esports since 2007. Founded by MLG champion Call of Duty player Mike “hastr0” Rufail, the team has expanded from its CoD roots to include a full roster of competitive first-person shooter games. EnVyUs has recently had great success in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, where the team is a major tournament winner. In the past year, EnVyUs has expanded its line-up of teams, adding beta version competitors in the unreleased Overwatch, stretching their genre reach with a Smite team, and signing Starcraft II champion Polt. They now come to League of Legends, and if their history is any indication, they will be looking to make a commitment to competitive success.
Renegades was forced to sell their team after a controversial ruling by Riot barred the team’s ownership from LCS participation. Citing player treatment, collusion concerns, and the involvement of Riot Esports nemesis Chris Badawi, Riot mandated that Renegades owner (and LCK caster) Christopher “MonteCristo” Mykles sell the team within a restrictive 10 day timeline. However, sources close to both Renegades and EnVyUs have told members of the press that negotiations for this deal have been underway since even before Riot’s forced-sale ruling.
The biggest question now becomes: who will play for the new Team EnVyUs? Just this morning, Renegades jungler Alberto “Crumbz” Rengifo announced via twitter that he is now a free agent, seeking a position with a new team as a player or coach. It is unclear if this is directly related to the EnVyUs sale, although the timing indicates that the deal could have precipitated Crumbz’s departure through the decision of one party or the other. Last weekend, a Facebook post by H2K heralded a return to Europe for Renegades’ AD Carry Aleš “Freeze” Kněžínek. Freeze, in turn, indicated while streaming that his departure was predicated on whether or not he could remain teammates with Korean top and mid duo Shin “Seraph” Woo-yeong and Noh “Ninja” Geon-woo. This doesn’t rule out Seraph and Ninja returning to the team now owned by EnVyUs, but their status is decidedly up in the air. This leaves American support Nickolas “Hakuho” Surgent as the only remaining player on the existing Renegades roster.
EnVyUs likely has some money to throw around, after a huge investment by VC firm SierraMaya360. It’s possible they could recruit big name talent for the new LCS team, but with the start of the Summer Split approaching quickly, there may be limited opportunity to snag any stars right at the moment. If EnVyUs are able to re-sign Ninja and Seraph and keep Hakuho, they would form a solid core to build a team around. Seraph’s status as an NA resident would leave the team with a remaining import slot, which could be filled by a talented Jungler or AD Carry from another region. Some players to watch out for in this category are Oh “Ohq” Gyu-min, hanging in the purgatorial fallout of TDK’s involvement in the Renegades ruling, and Hampus “Fox” Myhre, who has expressed a desire to leave Unicorns of Love for an NA team. However the roster develops, expect news to break quickly as EnVyUs prepares for the NA LCS Summer Split.