Excel Esports is set to sign Unicorns Of Love Sexy Edition top laner Felix “Kryze” Hellström and promote BT Excel mid laner Joran “Special” Scheffer to the organization’s LEC starting lineup, according to ESPN’s Jacob Wolf.
Following a seventh-place finish in the 2020 LEC Spring Split and after failing to advantage to the playoffs, Excel parted ways with Korean top laner Expect and mid laner Mickey.
“Our LEC team finished in 7th place during the Spring Split 2020, which was an improvement on both splits last year, but ultimately we fell short of reaching our goal to make playoffs,” head coach YoungBuck said earlier this month. “We have reviewed the situation internally and feel that to be confident in reaching that goal in the Summer Split 2020, a change is necessary.”
Expect and Mickey were mechanically sound players, but a language barrier was clearly an issue for the League of Legends team. The addition of Sweden-born Kryze and Netherlands-born Special will likely put an end to this problem.
Kryze is a young, up-and-coming top laner with experience in Germany’s Prime League Pro Division, while Special has shown real promise over the course of his career playing in second-division leagues.
It’s too early to predict how the duo will perform in the LEC this summer, but they shouldn’t been underestimated. The European League scene is known for successfully developing its homegrown talent.
The 2020 LEC Summer Split will begin on Friday, June 12.