LEC 2019: The New Misfits Gaming

The newly rebranded League of Legends European Championship  (LEC) has been bustling with roster shuffles ever since the off-season began. One team has concluded its business early and it was very shrewd business indeed. Misfits Gaming have assembled what many are calling a ‘super team’ and are looking likely to be a top team in Europe. 

Misfits, a former EU LCS finalist, and Worlds quarter-finalist have been a success in their own right throughout their time competing in Europe. However, it is clear from their recent roster acquisitions that they have heightened ambitions. Misfits have acquired Paul “sOAZ” Boyer, Fabien “Febiven” Diepstraten and Kang “GorillA” Beom-hyeon as well as retaining the services of Steven “Hans Sama” Liv and Nubar “Maxlore” Sarafian.

Misfits have clearly spared no expense in building this roster. Prying sOAZ away from the European champions, bringing Febiven back to Europe from North America, and extracting GorillA from his prestigious domestic league cannot have been an inexpensive endeavor. With a large chunk of the LEC rosters not finalized, it may be too early to say that Misfits are clear favorites but we can make a strong assumption that they’ll be near the top end of the pack.

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There are some questions regarding this lineup, however. Some players are coming off uninspiring splits in their respective leagues and there are always concerns that a roster’s personalities will not gel. Yet, with the veteran presence, this squad has as well as their raw talent I can’t imagine they flop. Let’s have a look at each individual player.

sOAZ:

The six-time EU LCS champion and two time Worlds finalist has left the team he spent most of his career to join an ambitious Misfits project. The almost indisputable greatest European top laner of all time is bringing his experience and knowledge to a new squad. sOAZ is famous for combining flashy plays with intelligent positioning in lane. It’s rare for a jungler to be able successfully catch out the Frenchman and if they do so he’ll likely escape in an unlikely teleport play.

By all accounts a very intelligent player, sOAZ will bring his veteran guile and creative shot-calling to a squad of strong voices. If this team can develop a unified game plan then communication should not be a problem as all players are reportedly vocal. sOAZ did not play as much as he would have liked in his last split with Fnatic as the European champions favored their other top laner Gabriël “Bwipo” Rau but from what we’ve seen his mechanics have not dulled and he remains a massive threat to his opponents.

Maxlore:

A man almost everyone acknowledges as a very intelligent pathing jungler, Maxlore has been in the top echelon of European junglers ever since his debut on GIANTS in Summer 2016. Maxlore’s stock hit its peak after a hard-fought loss to world champions SK Telecom T1 in the Worlds 2017 quarterfinals. Recently he has been somewhat overshadowed by other European junglers such as Mads “Broxah” Brock-Pedersen and Marcin “Jankos” Jankowski but in terms of quality, he has not been too far behind.

This is a very good retention for Misfits Gaming, outside of signing Broxah himself it would have been difficult to improve upon their current jungler. Maxlore brings with him solid mechanics as well as a stellar early game. If Maxlore can keep the team focused in the volatile early game then his teammates can pick up the slack as the game progresses.

Febiven:

Febiven has returned home! After a decent Spring split and lackluster Summer split in North America with Clutch Gaming, the Dutchman will be back showcasing his talent on European soil. As part of the famed Fnatic 2015 lineup, Febiven quickly cemented himself as one of the best European mid laners of the time. However, a rocky 2016 for Fnatic saw Febiven rejoin his old team H2K where he went on to see mediocre results despite strong individual play. Febiven set sail for North America at the beginning of 2018 in the wake of the introduction of franchising to the league. His time in the States was not all bad, with Clutch Gaming he upset champions Team Solomid in the Spring playoffs to go on to a solid 4th place finish. But from here things took a turn for the worse as Clutch finished 9th place in Summer, not even making playoffs.

Despite his form dipping in Summer, Febiven is potentially still a great pickup. If he can reach his heights of 2015, the year where he solo killed Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok multiple times then he will be a terrifying lane opponent for any European mid. Febiven’s first games will provide some clarity on if he can reach his old highs.

Hans Sama

Famed for his Draven play, Hans Sama has impressed throughout his career. A strong laner with an aggressive but tempered play style, keeping Hans Sama is another great piece of business by Misfits. Despite missing Worlds this year, Misfits had a very strong regular season showing, especially in the first half of the split. This is primarily due to the insane stats that Hans Sama put up both in farming and in kills. Undoubtedly one of the top European AD carries right now, time will tell if he can cement himself as the best. With a star signing being placed alongside him in lane, his odds of accomplishing this have just got better.

GorillA:

One of the greatest support players of all time has come to Europe. A three-time champion of the world’s most competitive league, GorillA comes to Misfits with high expectations. Separated from his longtime lane partner, Kim “Pray” Jong-in, it will be interesting to see how he synergizes with the explosive Hans Sama. Fortunately for the sake of communication, GorillA boasts strong English speaking ability which should eliminate some of the issues that many Korean imports face.

GorillA has shown himself to be an exquisite playmaker which a good sense of playing the map. Another experienced voice in addition to sOAZ should result in this team having strong decision making with smart engages. The combination of Hans Sama and GorillA have put the bottom lanes of Europe on notice and the competition will need to step up to compete.

What do you think of the new Misfits Gaming lineup? Are they clear title contenders or will the old guard of Fnatic and G2 eSports remain firm? Let us know what you think!