The newest team in the LEC made some bold moves in the off-season before the 2022 LEC Summer Split. Check out our LEC Team BDS Summer Preview.
Only a few days remain until the 2022 LEC Summer Split begins. The strongest teams of the European Region are ready to battle it out for the top six spots – and later, the best of the best clash to decide which three teams will represent the LEC in the 2022 Worlds.
But some teams should first aim to get into the second half of the LEC Summer Split, such as the League’s newest organization, the swiss Team BDS. The squad joined the biggest European League of Legends tournament after FC Schalke 04 sold their spot due to the weak showing of the football team, which got demoted to the second division of the Bundesliga. Team BDS took the opportunity to break out of the ERL-level and get into the LEC.
BDS kept two players from the Schalke squad: Dino “LIMIT” Tot, who served as the veteran of the team, having the most experience out of all the players. The other player who didn’t have to leave was Ilias “NUCLEARINT” Bizriken, who played for Schalke last Summer, where the German org’s team finished last with a 3-15 record. But NUCLEARINT is still very young and shows great promise, so it makes sense that BDS didn’t demote or part ways with him.
Management signed three rising stars before the Spring Split. First, they acquired Fnatic’s rookie toplaner, Adam “Adam” Maanane, who left the popular organization after the drama of the 2021 World Championship. The team also got their hands on two Karmine Corp players, Jakub “Cinkrof” Rokicki and Matthew “xMatty” Charles Coombs, who won two EU Masters titles with the French team in 2021.
Team BDS had a lot of raw talent, but no experienced players to rely on, which ultimately led to their downfall. The other thing that made it hard for the team to succeed was the lack of true carries. As Adam couldn’t shine with his Darius and Olaf-type picks without a strong team to support him. xMatty seemed way over his head among the many great Marksmen of the LEC, and while NUCLEARINT stood his ground pretty well, he couldn’t step up for his team. Cinkrof proved to be an exceptional jungler, he alone wasn’t enough for the squad. This led to Team BDS finishing in 9th place, only having 1 more win than Astralis, which finished last place.
However, the Swiss team made some changes during the off season. They demoted Adam to the Academy roster and promoted Tobiasz “Agresivoo” Ciba to the LEC team, who fans of the League and more specifically Misfits Gaming can remember from a roster hype video a few years back. Since then, Agresivoo finished at least 3rd place in the LFL and made it to the top four in the 2021 Summer EU Masters. The other addition is Robert “Erdote” Nowak, who competed alongside Agresivoo in BDS Academy this year, but has been on the team since the 2021 spring.
Team BDS has brought young, hungry players yet again, but that’s all they can rely on. They don’t have big names as the other teams – even Astralis signed some LEC veterans for the Summer. While the team of basically 5 rookies could make a big splash, there’s the possibility of experienced teams leaving them in the dirt. But maybe Team BDS can surprise everyone?
