Veteran AD carry Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen is expected to make his top-flight League of Legends return in the LCS 2022 Summer Split, sources told Dot Esports, with the European star to rejoin Cloud9’s starting lineup via a bot lane role swap. The move was first suggested as a possibility by Upcomer on April 26.
Outside a brief run in LCS 2022 Lock In, the Danish star hasn’t played regularly since the 2021 World Championship, where Cloud9 were eliminated in the quarterfinals.
Zven’s promotion back to the main roster has been on the boil since Cloud9 were eliminated from playoffs earlier this month. The 24-year-old, who has played AD carry professionally for more than nine years, has been practicing the support role in solo queue for much of the mid-season break.
The move will see Jonah “Isles” Rosario and Kim “Winsome” Dong-keon lose their starting roles with the team. Zven carries an import status, but C9’s re-acquisition of Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen—first reported on April 29—solves that issue.
As previously reported, Ibrahim “Fudge” Allami is moving back to the top lane. Robert “Blaber” Huang and Kim “Berserker” Min-cheol will also retain their spots.
Related: Cloud9 scoop up Destiny for LCS Academy support role
Zven joined C9 in November 2019 following the ADC’s split from TSM. The Danish veteran won two titles with the sky blue org in Spring 2020 and 2021—the latter of which was dubbed the Mid-Season Showdown. During his four-split run with the lineup, Zven made the All-Pro First Team three times and scored four pentakills.
Before his swap to NA in late 2017, the star carved out a legacy in Europe. The 24-year-old burst onto the scene with Origen under the name Niels. He reached the Worlds semifinals in 2015 with OG before joining G2 Esports the following split. There, he won four consecutive EU LCS titles and lost to Faker’s SK Telecom T1 in the Mid-Season Invitational grand final in 2017.
During his brief stint back in Cloud9’s starting lineup during North America’s preseason tournament, Zven told Inven Global he believes he’s “still an LCS level player.”
“Thank you to those who believe in me,” he said. “I’m not on Twitter or Reddit much these days, but I really appreciate that there are some nice people out there who support me and look out for me, so thank you. I hope that, even if I’m not playing, I will help make C9 better this year as a whole.
Zven continued: “I think C9 can reach new heights. I really believe in this organization, this team, and this project. This year, the process might be better than ever.”
This article includes affiliate links, which may provide small compensation to Dot Esports.
