LEC Spring 2021: Full Preseason League Preview

The LEC is beginning a new split for Spring 2021, filled with new players coming into the league and others leaving. While most expect G2 will continue taking LEC titles the other challengers are poised to usurp them. Today, we breakdown each team heading into the start of the split.

Astralis

Origen rebranded in the off-season to become Astralis. Last year, Origen had two vastly different performances, as they finished a strong fourth in the Spring Playoffs but then finished dead last during the Summer Split, missing the playoffs entirely.

For 2021 they only have one player returning to the team from the 2020 squad, mid laner Erlend “Nukeduck” Våtevik Holm. In the top lane, they brought in Matti “WhiteKnight” Sormunen, who last played in the LEC in 2018. Since then, he spent two years in the EU Masters circuit.

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The remaining roster includes Nikolay “Zanzarah” Akatov taking over for Kold in the jungle. Jesper “Jeskla” Klarin Strömberg and Hampus Mikael “promisq” Abrahamsson as the duo in the bottom lane.

This team is mostly made up of players looking to get starting time again in the LCS, after spending time in EU masters or Academy. The question is though are these players just reaching their potential, or are they washed up? I wouldn’t have very high expectations for this team as a 10th place finish is likely.

Ten teams will compete to secure the LEC title in 2021!

Excel

Excel was consistent in 2020 finishing seventh place both splits. Patrik “Patrik” Jírů and Tore “Tore” Hoel Eilertsen return in the bot lane, as does Felix “Kryze” Hellström will be the starting top laner. Otherwise, the team is rounded out by two rookies.

Daniel “Dan” Hockley will take over in the jungle, while Paweł “Czekolad” Szczepanik will be the new mid laner. Both of these players are untested and the core three that are returning were fairly unimpressive last year. This team will probably go as far as their first-team All-LEC player from Summer, Patrik, can carry them.

FC Schalke 04

Schalke made the big splash of going after Konstantinos-Napoleon “FORG1VEN” Tzortziou last season. The experiment did not work and they finished in eighth place in the spring. They did improve in the summer and made a miracle run to the playoffs, but they finished in fifth place and short of a Worlds spot.

Sergen “Broken Blade” Çelik and Dino “LIMIT” Tot were brought in to be the new top laner and support. In the other roles, Erberk “Gilius” Demir returns to the jungle, Felix “Abbedagge” Braun is the team’s mid, and Matúš “Neon” Jakubčík rounds out the team as their ADC.

This is team that I feel lacks a superstar, but they can beat you if a team underestimates them. I think this team will at least compete for a top four or five slot with anything better than that being gravy.

Fnatic

Fnatic made a couple of changes to a team that was eliminated in the Quarterfinals at Worlds in 2020 for the second year in a row. Yasin “Nisqy” Dinçer is the new mid laner, replacing the hot-and-cold performances brought by Nemesis.

However, the biggest change is the player you probably think of first when you think of Fnatic, Rekkles is out and in his place is Elias “Upset” Lipp. The rest of the roster remains the same, with Gabriël “Bwipo” Rau, Oskar “Selfmade” Boderek, and Zdravets “Hylissang” Iliev Galabov all returning. This is a roster with plenty of questions that will have to forge a new identity now that they have lost the face of their fanchise, but they should still have aspirations to win Europe and go to Worlds.

G2

G2 actually took a step backward in 2020. After a Worlds Finals apprentice in 2019, in 2020 they only made it to the semifinals of Worlds. Still, G2 seemed content to run it back, returning Martin “Wunder” Hansen, Marcin “Jankos” Jankowski, Rasmus “Caps” Winther, and Mihael “Mikyx” Mehle.

The biggest change in the offseason, though, was that Martin “Rekkles” Larsson was brought in for their franchise player, Perkz. Even though this team is, again, focused on Worlds, they have won the last four domestic titles in a row. They should be the favorite to continue that streak heading into spring.

Mad Lions

Mad Lions surprised a lot of people in 2020. With a rookie focused roster, they were able to qualify for Worlds with a fourth-place finish during the Summer Split. Their Worlds run was short as they lost in the Play-in round, but for a team that wasn’t expected to do much, even making it there was a success.

The team returns their mid and bot lanes, with Marek “Humanoid” Brázda, Matyáš “Carzzy” Orság, and Norman “Kaiser” Kaiser all returning to the team. However, Mad Lions is bringing in new top laner İrfan Berk “Armut” Tükek, previously of the TCL, and rookie jungler Javier “Elyoya” Prades. I think this roster is more than capable and should be able to challenge for a top four spot.

Misfits

Misfits initially looked like a contender in 2020. They ended a playoff spot in spring, upgraded by adding Kasper “Kobbe” Kobberup before the Summer Split, but then turned in an eighth-place finish in the summer.

As a result, this team is going back to the drawing board, they are getting a new top laner (Shin “HiRit” Tae-min), mid laner (Vincent “Vetheo” Berrié), and support (Oskar “Vander” Bogdan) to try and find some sort of consistency. Misfits does seem to be rather quick to make player changes, so who knows if this roster lasts into the summer. You’re still looking at a bottom half team at best though.

Rouge

First, let’s take a second to say the new logo is super cool. Rouge was ok during the 2020 Spring Split, then rose to the top spot during the summer, before finishing third in the playoffs. This earned them a spot in the group stage at Worlds, where they went 1-5.

Rogue made two changes to the roster with Andrei “Odoamne” Pascu and Adrian “Trymbi” Trybus coming in as their new top laner and support. Otherwise, Kacper “Inspired” Słoma, Steven “Hans Sama” Liv, and star mid laner Emil “Larssen” Larsson all return.

I don’t feel like those are moves that will put them over G2 or Fnatic, but I don’t think this is a bad team by any means. Third place is a reasonable goal for this team.

SK Gaming

SK finished ninth in the Spring Split of 2020, before finishing fifth in the summer and sixth place in the playoffs. This resulted in a big roster shakeup with top laner Janik “Jenax” Bartels as their only returning player from 2020.

Joining the roster are a bunch of young players. Kristian “TynX” Østergaard Hansen is the new jungler, Ersin “Blue” Gören joins in the mid lane, and Jean “Jezu” Massol will pair with Erik “Treatz” Wessén in the bot lane. Treatz and Jenax are the only players with any professional experience, with Treatz briefly subbing for Biofrost on TSM in the LCS.

It’s probably not going to matter much as this is a team that probably has a floor of 10th and a ceiling of fifth. They just don’t seem to stand out much against the other teams in the LEC.

Vitality

Vitality had a rocky 2020, going 2-16 in the spring and 7-11 during the summer. That put them in the basement of the LEC standings for both splits. But that didn’t deter Vitality, who seem committed to their roster as they bring back four of five players.

Mathias “Szygenda” Jensen the top laner is their only new player. This is his first season in the LEC after playing with Rogue’s academy team in 2020.

For the other four, Duncan “Skeanz” Marquet, Aljoša “Milica” Kovandžić, Markos “Comp” Stamkopoulos, and Labros “Labrov” Papoutsakis, they are all hoping that their sophomore seasons will be an improvement to 2020. Look for more development from this young roster, but a bottom of the standing finish for this team.

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Overall I just feel like there are two teams – G2 and Fnatic – that are the clear favorites, two -Rogue and MAD Lions – that are Worlds contenders, and the rest kind of feel like filler. I feel like any of the remaining six teams could make playoffs, or they could come in last place. They just didn’t see to get strong enough to bypass the top two teams in the LEC.

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