Jungler Dmitry “OWLONSKY” Rusu, midlaner Evan “Evaan” Kohl and support Vencel “Passzi” Urbin will join the Lille Esport roster for the summer split of LFL Division 2, sources confirmed to Sheep Esports on Wednesday. After failing to qualify for the play-offs on the final day in the spring, the northern french club is therefore retaining just two players who met Lille's expectations: Elias “Déimos” Vouriot on the toplane and Fares “Xicor” Saidana in the ad carry position.

Guillaume “Cerecof” Sowinski, the last surviving member of the roster who took part in the Up&Down with Lille last year, is also concluding his adventure with the structure. And for good reason: the Support player has decided to end his career. However, he will remain with Lille Esport for the summer, as a substitute.

18-0 in NLC 2

Among the newcomers, OWLONSKY still has everything to prove. Lille had four names in mind: Arnau “naau” Fores Garcia, William “Sn1lle” Andersson, Joao “Joinze” Da Fonseca and OWLONSKY. Deemed “promising”, the fourth was retained after naau signed for Rebels. The young player (18) has already scoured Europe's lower divisions: the Moldavian has played in the LCL Open Cup in Russia, the Liga Nexo in Spain and, more recently, the Norwegian amateur circuit. His main feat of arms was to take part in Venomcrest Esports' promotion to the NLC in 2023.

The jungler won the NLC 2 summer segment that year by rolling over his opponents (18-0 in the regular season), but was not retained to play in the top league. In fact, OWLONSKY never got his chance in a major ERL, despite a substitute spot with Barça eSports in LVP in 2022. Since September 2023, he has again been a substitute in LVP, this time with Ramboot Club. His participation in the Iberian Cup (the Spanish Cup) with Ramboot at the end of 2023 was deemed conclusive by the Lille club, and was one of the reasons behind their choice.

Evaan's comeback

Evaan is already well known to the French public. He made his first appearance in LFL Division 2 in 2022 with PCS Taran. After leaving for the Spanish second division the following year, the midlaner returned home at the end of 2023 to compete in the Coupe de France... with Lille Esports. In a way, this is a comeback for the 23-year-old, who already spent 17 days with his “new” club.

At the beginning of 2024, Evaan discovered a new ERL when he joined Europe Saviors Club in the Hitpoint Masters. Unsuccessfully, his team failed to qualify for the play-offs and the midlaner returned to France to take part in the Nexus Tour at the Team du Sud academy. Evaan was also in a tie with Simar “FrostSize” Nashidov, who was also being considered by Lille Esport.

The third recruit from Lille, Passzi is the least experienced player of the trio, but also the only one to come from an ERL 1. Support, who made his debut on the competitive scene in May 2023, had in fact found a place as early as the spring segment with Venomcrest Esports in NLC. The Hungarian even qualified for the play-offs by finishing third in the regular season, but was soundly beaten in the first round of these play-offs by Ruddy Esports (3-0). Simon “Seneca” Buchtand and Maciej “minemaciek” Wicher were also considered, but the rookie, who also had try-outs with several LVP teams, was preferred after a game of musical chairs.

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