Mad “Broxah” Brock-Pedersen has found his new team in the form of Counter Logic Gaming, having left Team Liquid.
Having spent 2020 at Team Liquid after signing from Fnatic, Broxah is set to extend his stay in North American by signing for Counter Logic Gaming. Broxah left Team Liquid after he was replaced by Lucas “Santorin” Tao Kilmer Larsen, Broxah, left after just one year with the side having joined from Fnatic in 2019. It hasn’t been a great year for Broxah, having to adjust to a new region, US visa issues, and a global pandemic.
Broxah is set to join up with fellow European player Finn “Finn” Wiestal, with Finn set to join as soon as possible. He’ll also play alongside “Eugene” Pobelter” Park and Trevor “Stixxay” Hayes. CLG has a number of players still under contract, so they’ll be needing to do a lot of work to move on some of the unwanted players.
Broxah had a difficult time at Team Liquid in 2020, with most noting his passive style working against Team Liquid’s style. Whether or not that changes in 2021 with the item changes is yet to be seen, though if Broxah can show some of the form he had on Fnatic he could have a second swing at LCS glory.
CLG might not be the best side for Broxah, though a return to Europe was always unlikely due to the jungle role seemingly locked in across the entire LEC.
Three former C9 players are making the move toe FlyQuest.
Tonight, at the start of the free agency period for LoL Esports players around the world, FlyQuest confirmed a large chunk of their roster for 2021. Cristian “Palafox” Palafox, Eric “Licorice” Ritchie and David “Diamond” Bérubé will all be joining the team together from C9.
Many fans will recognize Licorice as C9’s former starting LCS top laner. He made a name for himself since his debut, consistently performing as one of the best top laners in North America. He has multiple Worlds appearances and was apart of the LCS Spring Finals squad. On the other hand, Palafox and Diamond are two players moving up from Academy. During the 2020 season, they destroyed the Academy scene with C9A. They won both the Spring and Summer Splits fairly dominantly.
FlyQuest is coming off a breakout 2020 season. They made both split Finals and had a very respectable showing at Worlds. Despite that, they decided to move forward with a very different team. Thankfully, they have more brand power to back up the move and score some points from many for investing in NA talent. Without a doubt, FlyQuest will be on top of the list of LCS teams to watch for in 2021.
Stay tuned to ESTNN to keep up with all of the LCS and LEC roster moves as we officially get into the free agency period!
Today, news broke that Heo “Huni” Seung-hoon will be joining TSM for the 2021 season. He’ll be replacing Sergen “Broken Blade” Çelik as the starting top laner. Huni is a very recognizable name in LoL Esports and a beloved personality.
Huni has been on teams all around the world. He had monumental performances with EU’s Fnatic as well as NA’s Immortals before moving to SKT T1. After leaving the iconic Korean team, he returned to North America, where he had mixed results. Sometimes he was one of the best top laners in the league, while at other times he was a very “coin-flip” player. He was most recently on Evil Geniuses, where he and the team looked okay, but definitely not top-tier. Regardless, Huni has incredibly high highs and will be an interesting addition to TSM.
On the other side of things, TSM did quite well at the end of the 2020 Summer Split. They claimed the LCS title and also the first seed at Worlds. Unfortunately, they had a 0-6 run in Groups and an ultimately abysmal showing. Afterward, Søren “Bjergsen” Bjerg moved from their mid lane position to coach, meaning there were a ton of changes TSM could make. This is just one of the multiple they’re likely to make and, while unexpected, has a lot of potential behind it.
With that in mind, stay tuned to ESTNN to keep up with all of the LCS and LEC roster moves as we officially get into the free agency period!
Excel Esports is now just Excel after a rebranding move.
The United Kingdom-based esports organization Excel Esports announced today that it has rebranded to Excel, promising ‘The Power of Better’ for its fans, followers and players. Excel currently possesses a Fortnite player, World Cup runner-up Jayden “Wolfiez” Ashman, and will soon announce full League of Legends rosters for the LEC and NLC. The UK-based organization also launched a new line of merchandise in coordination with the rebranding. Founder and chief gaming officer (CGO) Kieran Holmes-Darby stands firmly behind Excel, promising, “This is not different, it’s just better,” in a comment to League of Legends Esports.
“The Power of Better”
Excel’s rebranding announcement video features the organization’s top players, including professional Fortnite player Wolfiez and some clips from its League of Legends rosters. CGO Kieran Holmes-Darby provided more insight into Excel’s mindset moving forward to LoL Esports, stating, “We are learning year-on-year, season-on-season, how to get the most out of our players and empower them to be the best versions of themselves.” Excel recently saw two of its players, Caedrel and Special, exit the team after a seventh-place finish at LEC Summer. However, Holmes-Darby is sure that the rebrand will breathe new life into an already promising LEC lineup.
“The Power of Better embodies everything Excel has stood for since day one,” said Holmes-Darby to LoL Esports. “We have always wanted to improve every aspect of our business and ensure we are getting better every day. We will never lose sight of the fact that first and foremost we are an esports team, and thus ‘The Power of Better’ starts with our performances in-game – we want to have our most successful seasons ever back-to-back.”
Onward and Upward
Excel CEO Wouter Sleijffers commented on the organization’s thirst for victory in the new year. “We hope to bring to the LEC a fresh and different team. Not different for the sake of being different but different since we’re smart and creative people who forge their own path based on their own beliefs,” he told LoL Esports. With Kryze, Patrik and Tore still under contract, Excel will need two crucial additions to fill out its roster. Sporting a new motto and name, the organization formerly known as Excel Esports will represent its new colors well in 2021 under a more refined brand.
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It looks like we’re starting to see some LEC moves in the off-season as Misfits looks set to lock down Oskar “Vander” Bogdan.
With Rogue having replaced Vander for 2021 with Academy support Adrian “Trymbi” Trybus, Misfits have pounced to sign their former support, Vander. The deal, according to Jacob Wolf, will be completed next week when the free agency window opens.
Vander, who had a great 2020 will be a big pickup for Misfits, who had a disappointing 2020 season. Vander was a major part of the Rogue roster that came close to winning the 2020 LEC Summer Split, though they had a slightly disappointing showing at Worlds. Ultimately they performed about as the rest of the LEC did. Only G2 Esports made it past the first Knockout round.
Vander will link up with Kasper “Kobbe” Kobberup in the bot lane and will likely play alongside current top laner Iván “Razork” Martin Diaz who is contracted until 2021. Likewise, mid laner Fabian “FEBIVEN” Diepstraten is also contracted till 2021. However, Misfits were a side looking at the possibility of signing Perkz from G2 Esports. As a result, FEBIVEN’s place on the roster might not be ironclad. As for the top lane, as of now, it is expected that Misfits Premier player Tobiasz “Agresivoo” Ciba will be promoted to the starting roster after impressing in 2020.
Elsewhere in the LEC
The biggest story in the LEC regards G2 Esports and the departure of ADC Perkz. With Perkz looking to move back to the mid lane, it caused G2 Esports to look to move him on. With $5 million the reported asking price Cloud9 has come forward as the most likely destination for Perkz. We looked at the deal in more detail here, including what it could mean for ADCs in the LEC with G2 Esports looking to replace Perkz.
The rest of the LEC has been fairly quiet with most news involving players leaving the region, rather than LEC teams making big marquee signings. One of the biggest departures of the season will come in the form of former MAD Lions coach Peter Dun. He will be moving to the LCS as the coach of Evil Geniuses. Peter Dun has been credited as a driving force behind the 2020 MAD Lions success, which saw them compete for a LEC title and even make a brief appearance at Worlds 2020.
http://thefaxfox.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Logo-300x138.png00faxfoxhttp://thefaxfox.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Logo-300x138.pngfaxfox2020-11-11 16:30:102020-11-11 16:30:10LoL: Misfits Rumored To Sign Vander As Starting Support
It looks like TSM might have found their replacement for retiring mid laner Søren “Bjergsen” Bjerg.
Tristan “PowerOfEvil” Schrage looks set to be the replacement for Bjergsen, who will be leaving FlyQuest once the free agency window opens. POE will join a TSM side that’s off the back of another LCS title, though a poor showing at Worlds 2020.
It wasn’t just TSM who had an eye on POE, however, with Evil Geniuses allegedly tabling an offer for the mid laner. According to Jacob Wolf, POE has decided to join TSM for the 2021 season.
POE first came to the LCS back in the 2018 season when he joined OpTiC Gaming, before moving to CLG a year later. POE spent 2020 with FlyQuest and helped secure the side a spot at Worlds 2020. Though they failed to make it out of their group, they gave a good show of themselves, especially in their victory against Chinese top seed TOP Esports.
Schrage wasn’t, however, TSM’s first choice, with them being a number of sides tracking G2 Esports’ ADC (though heading back to mid) Luka “Perkz” Perković. Sadly for TSM, it appears that if Perkz does leave for the LCS it will be to join Cloud9 as they look to reunite him with former G2 Esports ADC Zven.
As for the rest of the TSM roster, we’ve heard that they’ll be looking to sign replacements for top laner Sergen “Broken Blade” Celik and support Vincent “Biofrost” Wang. No news as yet about who they’ll look to replace in those roles, however, the possibility of TSM to sign departing Cloud9 top laner Eric “Licorice” Ritchie.
Roster mania
With over a week to go before the free agency opens we’re already seeing the 2021 season shaping up to be a special one. As we mentioned in our story “How does G2 Esports potentially replace Perkz” this offseason could be a long one. We’ll likely not know what the landscape looks like until we see the first few roster locks happen, at which point it should become clear who is looking for what when it comes to roster completion.
Right now, all eyes are on the LCS, which despite COVID impacting the league LCS sides seem to be continuing to throw large sums of money around. Over in the LEC, it might be a humbling one for the region. With Alphari and Perkz looking set to leave, the region could be losing two of its top talents to North America.
That said, Europe continues to produce high-quality talent in its regional leagues, so we’ll have to wait and see what teams can potentially pull off a MAD Lions and find hidden gems.
News that Luka “Perkz” Perković could well be leaving Europe entirely leaves many questions for G2.
So to recap, Perkz is looking set to leave Europe as of right now, and while six teams are bidding for his services, Cloud9 is the clear favorite. That said, there’s the small matter of Perkz’s $5 million buy-out which is causing Cloud9 a lot of issues, especially given that Cloud9 has still yet to find a team willing to pay Licorice’s buy-out. What does this mean for G2? What about Cloud9? And what will G2 do if Perkz does truly leave? There are a lot of angles to look at with this potential move that can mean everything for the parties involved.
What does this mean for G2 Esports?
Perkz has been an amazing player on G2 Esports and has been the team’s one constant through both their dynasty rosters. Often called the Nine-Star General, Perkz has proven himself as a star in both the mid lane and ADC.
Right now, however, he finds himself in the ADC role, meaning G2 Esports needs to replace him somehow. So, how do you replace such a successful member of your roster? Well, one way G2 might be able to do it is by reinvesting the massive (reported) $5 million buy-out of his contract to poach almost any ADC they want. Who are the options for G2 in the ADC role?
Right now reports are that it could be any number of players, though Juš “Crownshot” Marušič and Elias “Upset” Lipp are the two most commonly linked names, alongside G2 possibly using sub-ADC Kristoffer “P1noy” Albao Lund Pedersen. For us, Upset feels the most probable. He’s young at just 20 and is playing on a roster that looks set to be stripped apart with Origen (now Astralis) losing Alphari and likely to make a new, less experienced roster.
On the more unlikely end, G2 could look to reinvest the $5 million by making a statement signing. They can do this either by bringing in an ADC from Korea or China or potentially taking back Cloud9 ADC Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen as part of the deal for Perkz. A more outlandish call would be that they look at Martin “Rekkles” Larsson, though with G2 allegedly not willing to let Perkz move to Fnatic, we’d suspect Fnatic would likewise not want to let Rekkles join G2.
The loss of a leader
Perhaps the biggest loss to G2 Esports is the loss of Perkz the leader. When you win the number of titles Perkz has in his career, and do so as the team’s captain, you clearly have leadership qualities. After all, G2 moved Perkz to ADC to make way for Caps, which shows how valuable Perkz is to G2 Esports.
The issue now is, who do you replace him with? Marcin “Jankos” Jankowski and Martin “Wunder” Hansen are likely to be the replacements for Perkz in that leadership role. Its also possible we see Caps step up and become the new face of G2 Esports. Ultimately, you’ll find it hard to sign a leader, but it’s a battle that G2 Esports is going to take right now as they decide if they can afford to keep Perkz or even how they can keep him.
How can Cloud9 and G2 reach an agreement?
The sale of Licorice could be key to any deal for Perkz.
Let’s assume, given available reports, that Cloud9 is the main contender for Perkz’s signature. The deal presents two major issues that it seems, according to Jacob Wolf, need to be fixed before either can sign him. Either G2 Esports drops the asking price ($5 million) or Cloud9 finds a way to swallow that massive expense. One way for them to do that was supposed to be the sale of Eric “Licorice” Ritchie, who was due to sign for GoldenGuardians for $1.7 million. However, they’ve now pulled out (as have FlyQuest) so Cloud9 has a potential issue on their hands.
This Licorice issue could well be what makes the deal happen or not, especially given G2 is very unlikely to want Licorice themselves. This means Cloud9 might need to drop the asking price further if they want to move him on.
What’s next for the deal?
With all this in mind, we just have to wait now. As the free agency window opens on November 16, we’ll likely see a few moves confirmed which should give us an idea of what organizations are looking for what role. With COVID obviously having an impact on finances, it could be a long roster swap story that sees any number of ebbs and flows in the coming months.
http://thefaxfox.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Logo-300x138.png00faxfoxhttp://thefaxfox.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Logo-300x138.pngfaxfox2020-11-11 01:31:302020-11-11 01:31:30LoL: How Does G2 Esports Potentially Replace Perkz?
News that Luka “Perkz” Perković could well be leaving Europe entirely leaves many questions for G2.
So to recap, Perkz is looking set to leave Europe as of right now, and while six teams are bidding for his services, Cloud9 is the clear favorite. That said, there’s the small matter of Perkz’s $5 million buy-out which is causing Cloud9 a lot of issues, especially given that Cloud9 has still yet to find a team willing to pay Licorice’s buy-out. What does this mean for G2? What about Cloud9? And what will G2 do if Perkz does truly leave? There are a lot of angles to look at with this potential move that can mean everything for the parties involved.
What does this mean for G2 Esports?
Perkz has been an amazing player on G2 Esports and has been the team’s one constant through both their dynasty rosters. Often called the Nine-Star General, Perkz has proven himself as a star in both the mid lane and ADC.
Right now, however, he finds himself in the ADC role, meaning G2 Esports needs to replace him somehow. So, how do you replace such a successful member of your roster? Well, one way G2 might be able to do it is by reinvesting the massive (reported) $5 million buy-out of his contract to poach almost any ADC they want. Who are the options for G2 in the ADC role?
Right now reports are that it could be any number of players, though Juš “Crownshot” Marušič and Elias “Upset” Lipp are the two most commonly linked names, alongside G2 possibly using sub-ADC Kristoffer “P1noy” Albao Lund Pedersen. For us, Upset feels the most probable. He’s young at just 20 and is playing on a roster that looks set to be stripped apart with Origen (now Astralis) losing Alphari and likely to make a new, less experienced roster.
On the more unlikely end, G2 could look to reinvest the $5 million by making a statement signing. They can do this either by bringing in an ADC from Korea or China or potentially taking back Cloud9 ADC Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen as part of the deal for Perkz. A more outlandish call would be that they look at Martin “Rekkles” Larsson, though with G2 allegedly not willing to let Perkz move to Fnatic, we’d suspect Fnatic would likewise not want to let Rekkles join G2.
The loss of a leader
Perhaps the biggest loss to G2 Esports is the loss of Perkz the leader. When you win the number of titles Perkz has in his career, and do so as the team’s captain, you clearly have leadership qualities. After all, G2 moved Perkz to ADC to make way for Caps, which shows how valuable Perkz is to G2 Esports.
The issue now is, who do you replace him with? Marcin “Jankos” Jankowski and Martin “Wunder” Hansen are likely to be the replacements for Perkz in that leadership role. Its also possible we see Caps step up and become the new face of G2 Esports. Ultimately, you’ll find it hard to sign a leader, but it’s a battle that G2 Esports is going to take right now as they decide if they can afford to keep Perkz or even how they can keep him.
How can Cloud9 and G2 reach an agreement?
The sale of Licorice could be key to any deal for Perkz.
Let’s assume, given available reports, that Cloud9 is the main contender for Perkz’s signature. The deal presents two major issues that it seems, according to Jacob Wolf, need to be fixed before either can sign him. Either G2 Esports drops the asking price ($5 million) or Cloud9 finds a way to swallow that massive expense. One way for them to do that was supposed to be the sale of Eric “Licorice” Ritchie, who was due to sign for GoldenGuardians for $1.7 million. However, they’ve now pulled out (as have FlyQuest) so Cloud9 has a potential issue on their hands.
This Licorice issue could well be what makes the deal happen or not, especially given G2 is very unlikely to want Licorice themselves. This means Cloud9 might need to drop the asking price further if they want to move him on.
What’s next for the deal?
With all this in mind, we just have to wait now. As the free agency window opens on November 16, we’ll likely see a few moves confirmed which should give us an idea of what organizations are looking for what role. With COVID obviously having an impact on finances, it could be a long roster swap story that sees any number of ebbs and flows in the coming months.
http://thefaxfox.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Logo-300x138.png00faxfoxhttp://thefaxfox.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Logo-300x138.pngfaxfox2020-11-11 00:29:252020-11-11 00:29:25LoL: How Does G2 Esports Potentially Replace Perkz?
News that Luka “Perkz” Perković could well be leaving Europe entirely leaves many questions for G2.
So to recap, Perkz is looking set to leave Europe as of right now, and while six teams are bidding for his services, Cloud9 is the clear favorite. That said, there’s the small matter of Perkz’s $5 million buy-out which is causing Cloud9 a lot of issues, especially given that Cloud9 has still yet to find a team willing to pay Licorice’s buy-out. What does this mean for G2? What about Cloud9? And what will G2 do if Perkz does truly leave? There are a lot of angles to look at with this potential move that can mean everything for the parties involved.
What does this mean for G2 Esports?
Perkz has been an amazing player on G2 Esports and has been the team’s one constant through both their dynasty rosters. Often called the Nine-Star General, Perkz has proven himself as a star in both the mid lane and ADC.
Right now, however, he finds himself in the ADC role, meaning G2 Esports needs to replace him somehow. So, how do you replace such a successful member of your roster? Well, one way G2 might be able to do it is by reinvesting the massive (reported) $5 million buy-out of his contract to poach almost any ADC they want. Who are the options for G2 in the ADC role?
Right now reports are that it could be any number of players, though Juš “Crownshot” Marušič and Elias “Upset” Lipp are the two most commonly linked names, alongside G2 possibly using sub-ADC Kristoffer “P1noy” Albao Lund Pedersen. For us, Upset feels the most probable. He’s young at just 20 and is playing on a roster that looks set to be stripped apart with Origen (now Astralis) losing Alphari and likely to make a new, less experienced roster.
On the more unlikely end, G2 could look to reinvest the $5 million by making a statement signing. They can do this either by bringing in an ADC from Korea or China or potentially taking back Cloud9 ADC Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen as part of the deal for Perkz. A more outlandish call would be that they look at Martin “Rekkles” Larsson, though with G2 allegedly not willing to let Perkz move to Fnatic, we’d suspect Fnatic would likewise not want to let Rekkles join G2.
The loss of a leader
Perhaps the biggest loss to G2 Esports is the loss of Perkz the leader. When you win the number of titles Perkz has in his career, and do so as the team’s captain, you clearly have leadership qualities. After all, G2 moved Perkz to ADC to make way for Caps, which shows how valuable Perkz is to G2 Esports.
The issue now is, who do you replace him with? Marcin “Jankos” Jankowski and Martin “Wunder” Hansen are likely to be the replacements for Perkz in that leadership role. Its also possible we see Caps step up and become the new face of G2 Esports. Ultimately, you’ll find it hard to sign a leader, but it’s a battle that G2 Esports is going to take right now as they decide if they can afford to keep Perkz or even how they can keep him.
How can Cloud9 and G2 reach an agreement?
The sale of Licorice could be key to any deal for Perkz.
Let’s assume, given available reports, that Cloud9 is the main contender for Perkz’s signature. The deal presents two major issues that it seems, according to Jacob Wolf, need to be fixed before either can sign him. Either G2 Esports drops the asking price ($5 million) or Cloud9 finds a way to swallow that massive expense. One way for them to do that was supposed to be the sale of Eric “Licorice” Ritchie, who was due to sign for GoldenGuardians for $1.7 million. However, they’ve now pulled out (as have FlyQuest) so Cloud9 has a potential issue on their hands.
This Licorice issue could well be what makes the deal happen or not, especially given G2 is very unlikely to want Licorice themselves. This means Cloud9 might need to drop the asking price further if they want to move him on.
What’s next for the deal?
With all this in mind, we just have to wait now. As the free agency window opens on November 16, we’ll likely see a few moves confirmed which should give us an idea of what organizations are looking for what role. With COVID obviously having an impact on finances, it could be a long roster swap story that sees any number of ebbs and flows in the coming months.
http://thefaxfox.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Logo-300x138.png00faxfoxhttp://thefaxfox.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Logo-300x138.pngfaxfox2020-11-10 23:29:112020-11-10 23:29:11LoL: How Does G2 Esports Potentially Replace Perkz?
