In League of Legends preparations for the 2023 season are underway: Teams are releasing players and signing new ones. For German professionals, the situation looks quite bad: Two of the best German players have lost their old jobs and are currently without a team. A third professional is reportedly on the move. A fourth has just left his club but apparently has already snagged a new job.
Who are the three players?
- Felix “Abbedagge” Braun (23) played at 100 Thieves since April 2021 and became a champion in the USA. He is now being replaced by a significantly older player: It seems that Bjergsen (26) is getting his job, the Dane whom the German defeated last year. Abbedagge has already left his club.
- Tristan “PowerOfEvil” Schrage (25) is the next in line. The man from Bad Soden has been playing in the USA since 2017 but only stays one year at each club. After his time at “Immortals”, he is currently without a club.
- Elias “Upset” Lipp (22) is considered one of the best ADCs in Europe. He has been with Fnatic since November 2020, but there are very concrete rumors that he will lose his job to Rekkles (26). Ironically, Rekkles is exactly the person Upset replaced in 2020. The 22-year-old is officially still with Fnatic, but it is assumed that his departure could be announced at any time.
It is noticeable that with Upset and Abbedagge, two key players of their teams are losing their jobs and being replaced by players who are significantly older, and sportingly may not deliver as much anymore, but “sell tickets” because they have big names.
Abbedagge “works” at McDonald’s
How does Abbedagge deal with it? The midlaner Abbedagge is taking the situation the most lightly.
On November 22, he posted a tweet where he introduced himself as an employee at McDonald’s. This is a typical gag in LoL: Those without a club have to earn their money by standing at the register at McDonald’s.
PowerOfEvil returns to Germany, is in contact with HandOfBlood
This is what PowerOfEvil is doing: The other midlaner PowerOfEvil says (via twitter): He has no club for the new season for the first time since 2014. He has not received any offers. The options he had apparently did not suit him – his demands were too high.
He will now return to Germany and hopes to create fun content with HandOfBlood at Eintracht Spandau.
PowerOfEvil doesn’t really know how it will proceed:
- Maybe he could become a professional streamer?
- Maybe he wants to get back in when he feels the hunger?
He says: If he receives an offer, he will consider it.
What about Upset? The botlaner is in a strange position: He has not yet been released by his team, but everyone actually assumes that it will happen because Rekkles is likely to be signed.
Nothing has been heard from Upset so far, he is officially still with Fnatic.
Kaiser switches teams, Broken Blade apparently stays with G2
Are there still any German professionals playing a good role?
The German-Turkish Broken Blade (22) is still the top laner at G2 Esports and is unlikely to leave. He seems to have secured his job: G2 will be reshaping jungle and bot lane.
Supporter Norman “Kaiser” Kaiser (24) has left his team at MAD Lions after 3 years and is technically without a club. But it is considered relatively certain that he will join Team Vitality. The 24-year-old will likely play with Perkz there (via dotesports).
There are also a few other professionals in the leagues, especially with SK Gaming, the team from Cologne, but they are not really competing for the title in the LEC.
The currently most exciting story in League of Legends, from a German perspective, is currently taking place 2 divisions below the professional league LEC:
