A veteran European jungler will sit out another spring after failed deals with multiple North American squads throughout the offseason.
Former Elements jungler Marcel “Dexter” Feldkamp signed to compete with newly-formed North American League Championship Series (LCS) squad NRG Esports for the 2016 season.
According to sources close to the player and organization, however, the team sent Feldkamp home from bootcamp in December and was told the team was “no longer in need of his services.” Feldkamp had been guaranteed the starting spot on NRG over Galen “Moon” Holgate prior to going to the bootcamp in Korea.
Shortly before arriving in Korea, Feldkamp was told he’d need to fight for the starting spot over a three week period. The player agreed to these terms in a contract he signed with the organization.
But towards the end of the team’s bootcamp, management approached the player and told him he was no longer needed.
After being sent home, Feldkamp came to a salary agreement to play as the starting jungler of Echo Fox, the team owned by former Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics Rick Fox. Feldkamp’s former teammate, Henrik “Froggen” Hansen, joined Echo Fox several weeks ago.
The team, however, wanted Feldkamp to sign a more than two-year long contract for the spot, something the player was uncomfortable with. Therefore, the spot was given to former Cloud9 Tempest jungler Anthony “Hard” Barkhovtsev.
Feldkamp has reportedly signed as substitute for his former team Elements, but will not be playing as the team’s starter. That role belongs to former Gamers2 and Unicorns of Love jungler Berk “Gilius” Demir. That means the Spring 2016 split will be a repeat of last year’s for Feldkamp as he sits out yet another split from competitive LCS play.
His career has been one of the longest in professional League of Legends. He competed with amateur squads, as well as a substitute for LCS squad Dragonborns, throughout early 2013. But in late 2013 he joined European side Lemondogs, who attended the World Championship that year.
That accomplishment landed him a deal to play for Counter Logic Gaming in North America, making him one of the first imported players from Europe to the United States. That team’s results were poor throughout 2014 and Feldkamp left after surviving the 2015 Spring Promotion Tournament.
Feldkamp sat out the start of last season before finding a starting spot on Elements for the summer. That team placed seventh before disbanding. Owner Jacob “Maelk” Toft-Andersen tried and failed to sell the team’s spot, and will instead be fielding a ragtag roster for 2016.
Photo via Riot Games/Flickr
Need more esports? Check out Dot Esports on Youtube!
