As the chaos of the offseason in Europe begins to settle, a new Challenger team has formed and obtained Denial Esports‘ European Challenger Series spot, sources close to its management tell the Daily Dot.
The team, known as Inspire Esports, acquired four former Denial Esports members: marksman Paweł “Woolite” Pruski, Daniel “Wendelbo” Ernst Wendelbo, Sofyan “CozQ” Rechchad, and former substitute top laner Max “Satorius” Günther, who will be starting on the new team. Inspire has also picked up former Gamers2 jungler Nubar “Maxlore” Sarafian to complete the lineup.
Due to featuring more than three-fifths of Denial Esports’ previous active roster, the team will be able to continue competing in the Challenger Series under the new name. Inspire will not have to qualify via the open qualifier, unlike many other European squads.
The team is still filling out its support staff, starting with Michael Schorr, a former Overclockers UK and Supa Hot Crew man, as manager. The experienced manager will be heading up this new team as it looks to win the Challenger Series.
Denial disbanded after allegedly missing two months of payments to its players, sources say. The organization also had similar disputes with its Halo team in Sept. before they left the organization.
After the League of Legends squad lost to Gamers2 in the Challenger Series playoffs—ultimately failing to earn a spot in the Relegation Tournament—the team still tried to stick together. It formed E-Corp Gaming, using veteran jungler Ilyas “Shook” Hartsema in place of former jungler Thomas “Kirei” Yuen, who joined Team Dignitas.
That endeavor did not last long, however, with top laner Mike “Wickd” Petersen and Hartsema both departing shortly after. The team picked up Günther in place of Petersen and stalwart jungler Matthew “Impaler” Taylor in place of Hartsema, though Taylor has left the squad as it moves to Inspire Esports.
Inspire Esports will now look to do what it’s team failed to do before: qualify for the League Championship Series. But with a lot of competition cropping up, such as the Lucas “Santorin” Larsen-led Huma and French team Millenium, who looked strong in the qualifiers, it’s going to be tough.
Update 12/22 3:51 PM: Inspire eSports has officially announced their roster, confirming the lineup as reported above.
