Shortly before their rebrand during the pre-season, Alliance parted ways with AD Carry Erik “Tabzz” Van Helvert. His replacement was none-other-than former Fnatic marksman, Martin “Rekkles” Larsson, considered by many to be one of the best in the region. His move to Alliance was thought to have made the initial “European super team” even more super.
Now those roles are set to be reversed again, as Rekkles is preparing to leave the team. His replacement? None other than Tabzz.
Rekkles’s first match with his new team was against North American great Cloud 9 at IEM San Jose in December 2014. Rekkles’s performance was immaculate in the series. however, Alliance lost to Cloud9 in the second round and was eliminated, heading back to Europe to gear up for the 2015 Spring Split.
Despite their impressive performance against Cloud9, the team’s season has not gone as anticipated. Rebranded as Elements, they suffered defeats to top teams such as SK Gaming, Fnatic, H2K, and Gambit. And top laner, Mike “Wickd” Petersen came under heavy scrutiny by the community due to lack of high-level performance. The team made a temporary patch, bringing in former Millennium top laner Kevin “kev1n” Rubiszewski as a substitute for Petersen.
This change resulted in yet another horrid week for the team, after which they looked at the support position, replacing long-time support Patrick “Nyph” Funke with former Evil Geniuses bot laner, Mitch “Krepo” Voorspoels. With these hefty changes, the team still failed to qualify for playoffs, ending the split in seventh place with a 7-11 record. For a team that had placed first last summer, this came as a giant surprise.
Sources close to the organization tell Daily Dot that more moves are on the horizon, specifically in the AD carry position. Rekkles, who is unhappy with the team environment and its current state, is on the way out and will be parting ways with Elements very soon. His replacement, though, comes as a major surprise. League news site Summoner’s Inn reported on March 17 that former marksman Tabzz would be rejoining the team as a substitute. Sources close to the team, however, say that he will move to the starting position for the Summer Split.
“I can neither confirm nor deny [the move].” Elements owner Jacob “Maelk” Toft-Andersen told the Daily Dot, “We are currently evaluating our options and making sure not to leave any stone unturned.”
It’s uncertain where Rekkles will end up. He’s reportedly looking to re-join Fnatic, or may replace SK Gaming’s Konstantinos “Forg1ven” Tzortziou, as he is unsatisfied with the team and does not see his future with them, as reported by the Daily Dot last week.
Photo via Riot Games/Flickr (remix by Jacob Wolf)
