Report: Why the LFL offseason started so early

Every year, some players drop from the League Of Legends European Championship. They can be very interesting profiles for European Regional League teams. It is therefore in the interest of European Regional League teams to wait until the end of the LEC offseason to see all their options to obtain the best possible roster. Likewise, many players rightfully want to try their luck at climbing to the LEC during the transfer window before settling for an ERL team.

Despite that, a few LFL teams have already started to lock players, why is that?

There are already common expectations about which players can make it into the LEC, this is especially the case for AD Carries. Since the competition is strong in the LEC for the role, there’s only a very limited number of spots available. It is also very likely that David "Supa" Martínez García will move up to the big league. On top of that, William "UNF0RGIVEN" Nieminen is possibly returning to the European league. There is simply no room left for more rookies to make it

Because of that, players like Belan "TakeSet" Ahour or Tim "Keduii" Willers, who are currently highly sought-after among LFL teams, do not have much interest in waiting for the LEC. For similar reasons, Jean "Jezu" Massol may have decided to stay with Team GO with an agreement that can be terminated if an opportunity in the LEC arises.

Those high-profile AD Carries don’t even have a reason to wait for Karmine Corp either as the French organization is expected to keep Caliste "Caliste" Henry-Hennebert in the LFL (whether they make it to the LEC or not).

As for the toplane, we could see players like Onurcan "Ragner" Aslan move up. He, who was so close last year, couldn't make it. Solary Toplaner Dawid "Melonik" Ślęczka didn’t have as many opportunities as Ragner did last year, so despite being a high profile in ERL there was not enough hope for him to move up this year. He has therefore already decided to join Zero Tenacity in the Ultraliga.

In the jungle, the promotion of Kacper "Daglas" Dagiel to Vitality and the expected arrival of Linas "Lyncas" Nauncikas in the higher league will leave few spots in the LEC for the role. Thus, almost all LFL teams are fighting to acquire French Jungler Ismaïl "Isma" Boualem, who recently played in the EMEA Masters finals. A profile unlikely to move up to the LEC, but who probably deserves it. On the other hand, this allows the player to join any LFL team he wants, which doesn't please all organizations and leads us to our second point.

Last year, when Karmine Corp organized tryouts, it blocked many players from joining other teams. This team is a very attractive organization for players due to its popularity among fans. Due to this, Aegis, for example, couldn’t secure their Support Jules "Hantera" Bourgeois until the end of the Karmine Corp tryouts. Moreover, they lost their first choice in the jungle with the arrival of Duncan "Skeanz" Marquet at the Blue Wall. Many teams had a similar fate as Aegis back then.

This year, Karmine Corp aren’t active with their LFL offseason yet as their arrival into the LEC is a complete mystery.

On top of that, Gentle Mates is another attractive team for players to join. The organization led by Squeezie, Gotaga and Brawks will be joining the LFL. However, their arrival still has to be fully finalized. This means that they can’t reach agreements with players yet despite already being active on the market.

Once Karmine Corp and Gentle Mates start building their rosters, other organizations will have a very difficult time securing the best talents. It is therefore very beneficial for some teams to get a head start in the offseason, even if it means losing their first choices. All this is without mentioning the fact that teams still have to complete their coaching staff, giving an even more significant advantage to those with a head start.

It is no secret that the economic situation in esports is complicated. For some teams, it is therefore more difficult to attract the best profiles. This reduces greatly the need to wait for highly sought-after players, especially as having more teams fighting at later stages of the offseason gives players and agents more negotiation power. This is why players like Midlaner Sixten "Six10" Hull joining Team GO or Toplaner Kaan "Naak Nako" Okan reaching an agreement with Vitality.Bee are among the first moves of the transfer window. Especially since these rookie players are happy to have a spot in the LFL, making waiting not very worth it on their part as well. Not necessarily a bad strategy considering that LDLC OL won the Spring Split of the LFL with rookies this year.

The gap between the bottom of the LEC and the top of the LFL is almost non-existent. We are far from the time of Rasmus "Caps" Borregaard Winther and Marek "Humanoid" Brázda in ERLs. There are not enough big talents who stand out strongly to be guaranteed a promotion to the LEC (Caliste may be an exception, but he cannot move up for other reasons).

In the midlane, for example, the level in the LFL is quite homogeneous and probably close to the midlaners at the bottom of the LEC standings. Therefore, there is little interest for LFL teams to wait for players that failed to remain in the LEC.

Whether players will manage to make LFL teams patient much longer remains to be seen. In the meantime, Solary has already started tryouts in the LFL. They are currently looking for a new coach and trying to keep Takeset, which won’t be an easy task due to the high demand for the player.

Vitality.Bee and Team GO are two teams still looking to secure a Jungler to complete their roster despite building their roster so early. Jungler Mehdi "Boukada" Lahlou is one of the main options.

Aegis and GameWard have also started their tryouts and are considering many interesting profiles. We might hear more news about it soon as both teams have already locked their Head Coach for next year.

On the other hand, we are still waiting for the arrival of Team Du Sud in the transfer market, which recently qualified for the LFL but must finalize some things before focusing on the players. However, the main factor that will decide how the LFL offseason turns out, will be when Karmine Corp opens their offseason doors.