The Spring 2020 Starting Rosters for LEC
In recent years, the European pro scene has been growing in strength, becoming the undisputed best region of the west and making two Worlds finals appearances. In comparison to their LCS counterparts, who often import players to try to improve their teams, the majority of LEC has shown a continued commitment to the development of homegrown talent.
BT Excel
- Excel has had a rough start to its LEC legacy, having been the 9th and 10th place team in its first two years in the league.
- Although at times, they’ve been in the running for playoff contention, they’ve struggled to maintain momentum and have been plagued by inconsistency.
- With increased involvement from their sponsor, BT, and an improved bot lane with Patrik and Tore (formerly known as Norskeren), Excel is poised to have their best year yet.
FC Schalke 04
- Despite not qualifying for Worlds, Schalke had a strong run during Summer 2019, finishing as 3rd place during the split.
- Entering 2020, only two starting members remain in their solo laners, Odoamne and Abbedagge.
- S04 seems to be taking a high risk, high reward approach in picking up FORG1VEN, who is returning from an absence due to military service, and Gilius, who is back on an LEC/EU LCS team for the first time since 2018.
Fnatic
- After losing Caps, FNC were impressively able to integrate Nemesis in time to maintain their stride as one of the top EU teams.
- Despite making it out of groups over RNG, they unfortunately ran into the eventual champions, FPX.
- With the exception of Broxah who has left to join Team Liquid in NA, the majority of FNC’s potent roster still remains intact.
- Many see Selfmade’s acquisition as a potential improvement or sidegrade at worst for the jungle role so expect FNC to remain as a dominant force in LEC.
G2 Esports
- As the clear #1 LEC team, G2 enters 2020 without any changes to their starting roster in terms of new players.
- Instead, they are shaking things up by role swapping Perkz back to mid and Caps to bot lane.
- Who knows if they’ll stick to this for the whole year, however, this will add even more flexibility to G2’s insane flexibility.
Splyce –> MAD Lions
- Splyce has rebranded to MAD Lions and with the new team, comes a brand new roster outside of their 2019 mid laner, Humanoid.
- With the other four new members joining from the regional European Leagues, MAD is looking to develop young talent and build for the future.
Misfits Gaming
- 2019 wasn’t kind to Misfits after their failed experiment with what should’ve been a superteam on paper (SoAZ, Maxlore, Febiven, Hans Sama and Gorilla).
- Similar to MAD, Misfits are looking to focus on the future with nearly all of their roster being revamped except for Dan Dan, who earned the starting top lane spot over SoAZ mid-way through the summer split.
Origen
- After a 2nd place finish during Spring, Origen struggled during Summer and ended the Split at 8th. They also failed to qualify for Worlds during the LEC Regional Finals.
- As a result, OG are making changes at jungle and bot lane. Xerxe will be replacing Kold, who had suffered health issues that prevented him from participating in the World qualifier.
- Patrik and Mithy will be replaced by Upset, formerly of S04, and Destiny, a new talent imported from the OPL.
Rogue
- Rogue should great improvement during 2019, jumping from 10th in Spring to to a 4th place finish in the LEC playoffs.
- Their 2020 roster looks to continue building on momentum with the only addition being Hans Sama as the starting ADC.
- Woolite will still be on the team, however, sliding down to AGO Rogue, their academy roster.
SK Gaming
- SK Gaming’s 2019 return to the newly formed LEC has been lackluster with a 6th place finish in Spring being their peak.
- Things aren’t looking great for them entering 2020 as they lost their promising young jungler, Selfmade, to FNC.
- However, Trick has always been a serviceable jungler and Limit will be making his LEC debut, so perhaps we shouldn’t write of SK before we see what their new members bring to the table.
Team Vitality
- Vitality hovered as a middle of the pack team throughout 2019, placing 5-6 in playoffs for both splits.
- Heading into 2020, only Caboshard and Jactroll remain from their 2019 starters.
- The remaining three roles will be filled in by three promising rookies from the regional European leagues, including Skeanz from Vitality’s academy team.
Thanks for reading! We can’t wait for the new LEC season to start and we’re looking forward to seeing how these new rosters will fare in Spring split. Let us know in the comments below who you think made the best roster changes.
