Team Vitality is looking to cause a scene at the upcoming LEC Splits with their new roster.
The French esports org known as Team Vitality is finally throwing its hat into the top contender's list with their finalised roster ahead of the 2022 season. The team has enlisted the likes of Luka "Perkz" Perković from Cloud9, Matyáš "Carzzy" Orság from MAD Lions, as well as Barney "Alphari" Morris from Team Liquid to round up their star-studded line-up. This also includes the likes of Oskar "Selfmade" Boderek and Labros "Labrov" Papoutsakis, the two surviving members of the former Vitality squad.
After spending a year abroad with C9 and making it to the quarterfinals of Worlds 2021, Perkz is ready to leave the LCS and return to the LEC. The talented mid-laner has had a pretty stellar run, exceeding many expectations during the splits as well as during their international tournament runs.
Carzzy has also had a decent season with MAD but like Perkz, he could not bring his team further than a quarterfinal finish at the world championship last month. While MAD did win both LEC splits, it'll be interesting to see who will take the top spot in the LEC next year with so many roster shuffles made.
Lastly, there's Alphari who is making a return to the LEC after spending a year in the LCS as well. Liquid's former top laner was one of the team's top performers, helping the team to two second-place finishes in the splits. Sadly, the team could only go as far as the group stage, losing their tiebreaker and exiting the tournament early.
Of course, with these latest additions, it also means that both Juš "Crownshot" Marušič and Adam "LIDER" Ilyasov will be leaving the org. Vitality has always been known as the team that wants to build a roster from the ground up with raw talent as opposed to signing superstar free agents with huge contracts. Unfortunately, the plan has never truly taken off as Vitality had underperformed during most of their stint in the LEC, aside from 2018 when the team made it to Worlds after finishing fourth and third in the splits.
With these three big signings, Vitality is letting the rest of the LEC know that are not messing around. Keeping the likes of Labrov and Selfmade in the support and jungle role will keep the core movements and shot-calling of the team with its most experienced members. And with superstars like Carzzy and Perkz, known for explosive plays, Vitality could very well be a team worth watching in the LEC.
Team Vitality
Barney “Alphari” Morris
Oskar “Selfmade” Boderek
Luka “Perkz” Perkovic
Matyáš “Carzzy” Orság
Labros “Labrov” Papoutsakis