FC Schalke 04 made a key change in the League of Legends before the 2020 season. After a long absence, Konstantinos-Napoleon “FORG1VEN” Tzortziou returns to the LEC. He is considered an exceptionally good AD carry, but also difficult, and at 27, relatively old.
How did Schalke perform in 2019? In the LEC, the top two spots are awarded year after year: G2 Esports and Fnatic play in a league of their own. Some of the best LoL players in the world are under contract here. G2 Esports made it to the finals at the Worlds.
Among the remaining 8 teams in the LEC, Schalke is one of the stronger teams. In 2019, they finished fourth in the regular season with 11 wins and 7 losses.
In the end, they were just one match series away from qualifying for the play-in phase of the Worlds, but lost the decisive best-of-5 against Splyce, who finished third in the regular season.
How has the team changed before 2020? The team lost 3 players:
- The ADC Elias “Upset” Lipp (20), a German, has left Schalke – he will play for Origen next season. Upset has been with Schalke since 2017.
- The jungler Kim “Trick” Gang-yun (24), a South Korean, joined the team in 2019 and immediately helped with his experience – he is leaving Schalke for SK Gaming after half a year.
- The support Lee “IgNar” Dong-geun (23), a South Korean, has also left Schalke. After a year in royal blue, he is heading to FlyQuest.
These are the 3 new players:
- As support, Schalke has signed Han “Dreams” Min-Kook, who comes from SK Gaming, a South Korean.
- As jungler, Erberk “Gilius” Demir (23), a German, is back at Schalke. He was there in 2016 before playing for 6 other teams in 3 years: a wanderer.
- However, the most important new signing is probably Konstantinos-Napoleon “FORG1VEN” Tzortziou (27).
The signing of the 27-year-old was commented on with some rather nasty tweets: He is considered old, washed up, and toxic.
FORG1VEN then read these tweets aloud and commented on them smirkingly. The general tone: “You better watch what you say, or I’ll come for you – you guys are just hiding behind the tower.”
FORG1VEN was considered the best ADC in Europe and a rival of Rekkless in 2016
What is going on with FORG1VEN? The Greek was a big name in European LoL until 2016. He was considered a “world-class ADC” then. A position now occupied by Fnatic ADC Martin “Rekkles” Larsson, who was still young during Forg1ven’s heyday in 2015. At that time, a rivalry was emerging between Rekkles and FORG1VEN: The older Greek was the reigning champion that the young Swede wanted to defeat to reach the top himself.
FORG1VEN’s biggest success came in 2016 when he qualified for the Worlds with H2K Gaming and made it to the semifinals.
Forg1ven has not played professional LoL for the last few years and instead served his military duty in Greece. But now he has announced his return for Schalke.
FORG1VEN was once considered an elite, but also arrogant player. When he was asked if he considers himself the “best bot laner,” he replied, “By a wide margin.”
In interviews, he complained about being punished for “bad behavior” and his team suffering significant disadvantages because of it. (via thescoreesports) He struggled with his role, stating that while he was recognized as an individual player, he won nothing with his teams: That was not worth all the sacrifices, he said in 2015.
In 2019, he started his time at Schalke by stating that he has always rejected mediocrity. He believes that at 27, he can still play League of Legends at a top level. (via eu.lolesports).
Schalke needs to keep morale high
This is how Schalke is viewed before 2020: According to experts at ESPN, “morale problems” are the big issue for Schalke in 2020. The team is expected to play a strong role in the LEC, but only if they maintain a positive atmosphere while the team grows together.
Strengths are seen in top laner Andrei “Odoamne” Pascu and mid laner Flex “Abbedagge” Braun – if FORG1VEN can reach the form of 2016, Schalke could become a serious threat to almost all teams in the LEC.
A special note is that FORG1VEN and Odoamne played together in 2016. They were part of the team that made it to the semifinals of the Worlds.
Schalke’s entertainment potential has significantly increased
What’s behind it: No matter how the 2020 season goes for Schalke. With FORG1VEN, they have certainly added a personality who will attract attention.
Already in the first weeks, he is the talk of Schalke:
- Can he still deliver in 2020?
- Can he compete with Rekkles?
- Can he control his temperament, or does the alleged “toxicity” affect the rest of the team?
These are likely the questions that will determine Schalke’s fate in 2020. One should not have high hopes that Schalke can compete for the championship in 2020. Fnatic and G2 Esports seem simply too strong.
However, Schalke could build on their 2019 performance, play a strong role behind the scenes, and even qualify for the Worlds 2020. That would certainly be a great success.
