In 2025, the NLC has undergone a facelift with the construction of several big rosters loaded with names well known to the scene, including players who have played at the highest level, renowned streamers... However, one of these teams, composed of Luka “Perkz” Perković, Marcin “Jankos” Jankowski, Adam “LIDER” Ilyasov, Humzh “Humzh” Aborati and Morgan “Hustlin” Granberg has already been eliminated from the NLC Winter Split Playoffs, following their defeat to Bulldog Esports on Wednesday February 19.

An anomaly?

It's surprising, to say the least, to see this team eliminated so early considering the names on the roster. Although the expectations and level of try hard are not comparable, Perkz and Jankos have both played for years at the highest European level, won an MSI and made a Worlds final. LIDER has also played in the LEC several times, making it a strong title contender on paper.

After a rather successful Winter Seeding, finishing 3-1, The Ruddy Sack missed out on its Playoff debut with a 2-1 loss, already to Bulldogs. The team led by Jakob “YamatoCannon” Mebdi then ousted Lundqvist Lightside from the Lower Bracket 3-1 to set up a rematch with Bulldogs, this time in BO5. The match lived up to expectations, being played over five games, but in the end, once again, BDG came out on top, eliminating The Ruddy Sack in Round 3 of the Playoffs. The team thus finished in 5th-6th position, a disappointing result as former professional player and co-owner of the organization Christian “IWDominate” Rivera suggests.

As for the other big-name teams, NORD Esports and Los Ratones are still in the race for the title. NORD is currently sitting in the Lower Bracket final, and the team led by Marc “Caedrel” Lamont is waiting to discover its opponent in the grand final of the NLC playoffs, having won all their matches so far.