The 23-year-old German eSports professional Felix “Abbedagge” Braun has actually had a wonderful one and a half years in League of Legends behind him. Schalke 04 sold him to the USA when they gave up their LoL license in 2021. There, Abbedagge became a champion with 100 Thieves. But now there’s trouble: he is complaining about Long Covid and it seems that in 2023 he will be replaced by the old Dane, Bjergsen, who is looking for a new team.
How did Abbedagge end up in the USA?
- Felix Braun played for Schalke from November 2019 to April 2021 and had a turbulent time in royal blue. The then very young Braun was considered a great talent. Schalke, as a football club, was interested in entering eSports and was considered a pioneer.
- But with Schalke’s relegation in the Bundesliga, the situation changed: Schalke urgently needed money, suddenly stated that they were primarily a football club, and that came first. So they sold the license in the LoL professional league to Switzerland for about 30 million euros to support the football professional operations.
- When it became clear that they were giving up the “LoL” project, they sent the most talented player to the USA, which was Felix Braun. Allegedly, Schalke was supposed to have received 1 million € as a transfer fee, and Braun is rumored to earn around 600,000 € per year in the USA (via earlygame).
German midlaner becomes champion in the USA
How did it go for Abbedagge in the USA? It went really great. Braun landed at 100 Thieves, an ambitious young team that strongly focuses on influencers and merchandise.
Abbedagge shone in the relatively weak US league LCS and became champion in summer 2021 with his new team.
In 2022 it went well too, after all, 100 Thieves finished as runners-up twice, losing once to Evil Genius and once to Cloud9.
Abbedagge delivered a good performance: In September 2022, he caused trouble for LoL legend Bjergsen and his “super team” Liquid.
Hopeless at Worlds and then Long Covid
Since when has it been going wrong? Since October 2022, it hasn’t been going well for 100 Thieves and the young midlaner. They were eliminated from Worlds without a fight. They had no chance against the top teams from Asia, Gen G. and Royal Never Give Up.
The team managed to win only one match at Worlds, against “CTBC Flying Oysters,” a team from Taiwan.
Abbedagge himself seems to be suffering right now. He writes on Twitter:
- He got Covid in mid-October, felt sick for 2 days by then, but wanted to be “a warrior” during Worlds.
- In early November he wrote: Long Covid is really bad. He feels down, tired, and still has a cough three weeks after the infection. He has no desire to work out anymore.
100 Thieves allegedly signs Bjergsen and Doublelift
This is now the big news: Abbedagge seems to have to look for a new team now.
According to insiders, “his team,” 100 Thieves, has secured the services of Bjergsen for the new season, a 26-year-old midlaner. Allegedly, his old buddy Doublelift (29) is also joining 100 Thieves. Bjergsen and Doublelift are considered the two most popular players in the USA of all time, although both are clearly past their prime as players.
There is no official statement from the club yet on whether this will happen and what will happen to Abbedagge, but the life of a LoL professional is tough. Normally, the signing of a new “star player” inevitably leads to the departure of the previous starter. Only in rare cases does one look for another solution, allowing the former starter to switch to a different position or assigning him to the youth team.
The signing of Bjergsen is not yet official, but such rumors a day before the official start of trades are considered almost certain.
It looks like Abbedagge’s time at 100 Thieves is coming to an end.
Abbedagge’s departure is official
Update 23.11, 20:25: The rumors have turned out to be true. 100 Thieves has announced the departure of Abbedagge and 3 other players via Twitter.
Abbedagge announced his departure the day before with a “McDonald’s” clip. Players who are without a team in LoL are considered “McDonald’s players” because they have to work at the fast food giant to get by, hence the joke.
The bitter thing is that players who have delivered top performances are exchanged for “big names.” Just a few weeks ago, the best German botlaner in LoL went through the same thing:
