One of Call of Duty’s biggest organizations just took the plunge into League of Legends.
Denial, the organization whose team took the title at the $1 million Call of Duty Championship in March, has picked up European squad “Team Gravy.”
The newest members of the Wolfpack, so named for Denial’s orange-and-black wolf head logo, are two former Danish League Championship Series (LCS) players, team captain and top laner Mike “Wickd” Petersen and AD carry Rasmus “MrRallez” Skinneholm. Filling out the lineup are jungler Joachim “betongJocke” Rasmussen, Sofyan “CozQ” Recchad, and support player Daniel Wendelbo.
We would like to welcome our new LoL team consisting of @Wickdlol @GodCozQ @betongJocke @MrRallez @WendelboLoL & coach @Scali_Scal #wolfpack
— Denial Esports (@DenialEsports) May 29, 2015
This isn’t the first time the American franchise invested in a European League team. Last year, they acquired Departed on Mar. 27, a team that featured future LCS players Paweł “Woolite” Pruski, Mateusz “Kikis” Szkudlarek, and Sebastian “niQ” Robak. But the team fell in their shot at the LCS against Copenhagen Wolves, losing 3-1 in their Summer Promotion shot.
This time Denial hopes Petersen, a veteran of all five seasons of the LCS before this Summer, will take them even further.
To do so, Denial will need to qualify for the Challenger Series through the Summer qualifier. They already put together a win over Wortex-Gaming, and will soon face Les Touristes in the second round. If they win two more series, they’ll reach the Challenger Series, where they have a shot at winning a spot in the LCS or a promotion series.
This is the perfect chance for Petersen to salvage his career after getting removed from the Elements roster after a disappointing Spring season where the team failed to even make the playoffs to defend their LCS title.
For Denial, an organization that already has a history with League, investing in another team with a realistic shot at reaching the LCS looks like a no-brainer. Their Call of Duty squad is one of the world’s best, and they already feature Smite and fighting game divisions. While the new League team is certainly not world-class, they look like one of the favorites to challenge for the LCS along with Dignitas and Ex Nihilo.
