Team Vitality

Perkz Leaves Team Vitality After Two Years

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Luka “Perkz” Perković has left Team Vitality after two years as their starting mid laner. “After two years as our midlaner it’s time to say goodbye to @Perkz. Through a journey with ups and downs we will always appreciate your hard work and dedication to our club while you were here. We wish you all the best in your next adventure 💛,” the France-based LEC team wrote on social media. The news that Perkz could become a free agent was first reported as rumor earlier this week by esports outlet blix.gg.

Perkz joined Team Vitality ahead of the 2022 season following a year of mixed successes in North America. It was reported that Perkz had joined Vitality as they were willing to build a team around the star mid laner. However, 2022 was a season of missed opportunities. Vitality finished 5th in the Spring split before blowing a 96% chance to qualify for the Summer playoffs. Things only got worse in 2023. The team had 5th and 3rd place finishes in the first two splits of the year. However, Vitality blew their playoff chances once again with a last-place finish in the third and final split of the year.

Read More: LEC & LCS 2024 Rostermania: All Transfers And Rumors

Uncertain Future For Perkz, Team Vitality

Once one of Europe’s best places, Perkz’s glory days are well behind him at this point. Ever since he left G2 in 2020, his performances have declined dramatically. Furthermore, it’s all but an open secret around the esports community that the Croatian mid laner is incredibly difficult to work with. However, on the other hand, his free agency is something of a surprise around the league. He has not been linked with any particular team as of yet. However, it’s unlikely that he will start the 2024 season teamless.

Meanwhile, Vitality will need to figure out a path forward after two consecutive years of failed superteams. While Perkz is the first player to officially leave, he might not be the last. It’s also rumored that they will replace failed jungler prospect Bo with their academy jungler Daglas. It remains to be seen if any of their other starters – Photon, Upset, and Kaiser – will also be departing this offseason.

Read More: Worlds 2023 Tracker

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Team Vitality Bench Bo Ahead Of Final LEC Week

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The LEC Summer split could have hardly gone worse for Team Vitality. After a fifth-place finish in the Winter split, and a third-place finish in Spring, Vitality were essentially a lock for the LEC Finals later this year. They had seemingly proved their roster doubters wrong. However, the team was still hunting for a LEC title to call its own.

However, they currently sit at a 1-5 record after two weeks of the Summer split. Their games look sloppy, their teamwork is non-existent. Suddenly, one of the hottest teams in the LEC looked like a hastily slapped-together amateur outfit. What’s more, if results go against them, there is a chance that this performance could cost them that “seemingly-guaranteed” spot in the LEC Finals.

The worst of the bunch has been Zhou “Bo” Yangbo, the team’s supposedly rookie phenom jungler. Vitality picked up the Chinese player last year. Previously, Bo had played for FPX in China in 2021, before being suspended as part of a match-fixing scandal. After good performances in the first two splits of the year, Bo has become one of the worst players in the LEC. As a result, Vitality is sending Bo to the bench.

Related: Excel win three in a week after winning three all year

Vitality Bench Bo, Promote Daglas

In a move announced on June 30, Team Vitality benched Bo for the final week of the LEC season. Bo had a KDA of just 1.1, the worst in the entire league. While Bo has good farming and kill participation, he also has a tendency to recklessly throw himself into fights. He has 4.8 deaths per game, compared to just 1.5 kills.

As a result, Vitality will field their academy jungler Kacper “Daglas” Dagiel for the final week of the Summer split. Daglas joined Vitality.Bee in December 2022 after starting his pro career in the Greek League. He didn’t exactly blow the LFL, the French regional league where Vitality have their academy team, away. In Spring, he had a KDA of 3.3 as Vitality.Bee went 9-9. At the time of writing, he currently has a 2.3 KDA with Vitality.Bee at 4-6 in the Summer split.

Essentially, Vitality have decided to see if Daglas miraculously turns into a god-tier player on the LEC stage. At the very least, it will give him some playing time at the LEC level and potentially set up a battle for the starting jungle spot. Daglas’ debut will see him take on KOI, Team BDS, and a surging Excel Esports.

Related: FENNEL debut first woman in the LJL

While Vitality Fall, Noah Soars

At the other end of the LEC spectrum to Vitality, you have Fnatic. After struggling immensely in the first two splits of the year, Fnatic revamped their bot lane. Among the changes, they added Oh “Noah” Hyeon-taek, an ADC playing in the Polish Ultraliga.

After six games in his first LEC split, Noah has a KDA of 78. The next highest KDA in the league is held by Trymbi at 7. His KDA over the 19-game Ultraliga Season 9 split was 6.2. Simply put, Noah is a cheat code. He appears to understand the league, the meta, and the game like no one else in the league. His overall stat line is 36/1/42. Even in the single loss Fnatic has suffered so far, Noah still put up a KDA of 7.

As a result, Fnatic are one of two teams to have secured a place in the GSL stage already. They cannot finish with a losing record, and then have immense momentum behind them. While Vitality’s “generational talent” has failed them, Fnatic’s Korean rookie is climbing to ever-new heights.

Related: Which champions are pros banning the most?

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VALORANT Player “Twisten” Dies At 19

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The esports world is mourning the loss of Karel “Twisten” Asenbrener, who passed away at the age of 19. Originally from Czechia, Twisten began his VALORANT career in 2020. Before 2020, Twisten briefly spent time in the pro scene of Rainbow Six Siege. After playing in the VALORANT Academy, he joined Kings of Sosnovka. Over the course of late 2020 and early 2021, Twisten spent time with Czech giants eSuba and Entropiq. Then, in September 2021, Twisten made the move to the German organization BIG.

With BIG, Twisten began to find mainstream success. The team won four editions of the Kingdom Calling tournament. Furthermore, they appeared in two stages of the VCT EMEA Challengers in 2022. As Riot Games moved VALORANT to a franchise model, Twisten caught the eye of French giants, and VCT EMEA franchise, Team Vitality. Joining the team, Twisten opened his career with top-four finishes at the G-Loot VALORANT clash and a Red Bull Home Ground event. However, the biggest stages were yet to come. The team finished 14th at the VCT Lock-In event in Sao Paolo before notching a 5th-place finish in VCT EMEA League play. Twisten’s last match was a 2-1 loss to FUT Esports on May 25.

Twisten Confirmed Dead After “Good Night” Tweet

Twisten has always been open about his struggles with mental health. Following Team Vitality’s loss in the Lock-In tournament, Twisten posted a length Twitlonger. In it, he talked candidly about his battle with depression. On June 6, Twisten posted a tweet that simply read “Good night”. While seemingly innocuous, “good night” is also a common esports term that players post after killing an enemy.

Furthermore, on June 7, Team Vitality confirmed the worst – that Twisten had passed away. “We are deeply heartbroken to share with you that our VALORANT player Karel “Twisten” Asenbrener passed away last night. We are deeply saddened by this devastating loss, and our first thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends in this difficult time. The whole Team Vitality Organization is devastated by this news, and we will be stopping all communications for the rest of the day. Rest in peace Karel.” In response to his death, a challenge drive was implemented at the upcoming VCT Master Tokyo. Every “shorty” elimination would add to fund that would raise money for a mental health charity.

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