The landscape of the LEC is continuing to develop only a few days prior to the start of the Summer Split, with one team hoping to turn around its luck thanks to a few new additions.
One of the newest teams to join the LEC, Team Heretics, has made a handful of changes to its roster for the upcoming 2023 Summer Split. Heretics is retaining the core of Evi, Jankos, and Mersa while adding former Excel mid laner Vetheo and marking the main stage return of ADC Flakked, the team announced today. This is the first time this year that Heretics has issued a roster change of any kind.
Heretics’ debut year in the LEC—one where the entire format of the European league underwent massive changes—has resulted in some highs for the organization but even more stumbles that have made it difficult for the team within the competition. They struggled immensely at the start of the Winter Split but earned a spot in that split’s group stage, only to be eliminated first.
Yet things only got worse for the team as the Spring Split began. In one of Heretics’ post-game interviews at the start of the Spring Split, jungler Jankos admitted that the team had been internally struggling with stress that, ultimately, impacted their communication—something that didn’t appear to be fixed completely in the remaining weeks of the split. Despite each player’s ability to perform at their roles individually, fighting as a cohesive unit became the team’s most overwhelming obstacle, ultimately leading them to close out their split without advancing into the group stage.
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Flakked will be making his way back to the LEC stage after some time with Heretics’ EMEA regional league team. As part of G2 Esports last year, Flakked not only won in his debut split as a rookie but made waves internationally at both MSI and the 2022 World Championship—notably running through the LCS’ Evil Geniuses on multiple occasions.
The 2023 LEC Summer Split is set to begin on June 17 with a rematch of the Spring Playoffs lower bracket finals between MAD Lions and Team Vitality. Heretics’ first game of the split will be against SK Gaming and begins their road to redemption before their debut year in the LEC comes to an end.
