By Reece "SabrewoIf" Dos-Santos
Europe, for me, has always been a promised land of talent for the League of Legends pro scene. Whenever you think that there won’t be another rising star, three more pop up and burst onto the scene. However, with so much rising talent, sometimes shaky infrastructure, and a tendency to hold onto well-known names too long, EU has a habit of letting some great talent slide into the shadows. So let's take a look at the top five players currently listed as free agents.
In no special order:
Gillius
Gillius technically didn't qualify for Worlds 2014; he was only brought in to sub for Svenskeren due to his unfortunate racial incident in Taipei. Prior to this, Gillius had only garnered experience from playing on SK Prime and Unicorns of Love in the challenger scene. Despite this, Gillius still put up a pretty solid showing for a rookie, at times even looking better than some of the actual team veterans who struggled to adjust and compete at their best level. While one would think that Gillius would go back bringing a wealth of experience and growth for newly LCS bound Unicorns Of Love, the team made the rather shocking decision to bench him, leaving him in the unfortunate position of having played in Worlds...but not the LCS itself.
Best Team Choice: Copenhagen Wolves
The Wolves have always been EU’s hub of promising talent, I believe they would greatly benefit from Gillius’ newly gained experience and solid playstyle.
Nukeduck
Nukeduck, in his prime, was arguably one of EU’s best mid laners and a real force to be reckoned with, especially at the height of the Season Three assassin meta, which greatly suited his playstyle. The whole of the Lemondogs' squad were some of EU’s best in their positions and the degradation of the team and the eventual suspension of Nukeduck and Mithy was a huge waste of talent. However, with his suspension over, Nukeduck now has another opportunity to explode onto the scene and every team should honestly give him a look. The recent rumours surrounding him and Woolite possibly moving to Roccat would be amazing for the team, as a Nukeduck/Jankos partnership has the raw potential to be one of the scariest if they gather good synergy to accompany their individual talent. With so much time off to work on his attitude, his work ethic and mechanics he should now be ready to take the EU LCS by storm.
Best Team Choice: Roccat
Nukeduck
Nukeduck, in his prime, was arguably one of EU’s best mid laners and a real force to be reckoned with, especially at the height of the Season Three assassin meta, which greatly suited his playstyle. The whole of the Lemondogs' squad were some of EU’s best in their positions and the degradation of the team and the eventual suspension of Nukeduck and Mithy was a huge waste of talent. However, with his suspension over, Nukeduck now has another opportunity to explode onto the scene and every team should honestly give him a look. The recent rumours surrounding him and Woolite possibly moving to Roccat would be amazing for the team, as a Nukeduck/Jankos partnership has the raw potential to be one of the scariest if they gather good synergy to accompany their individual talent. With so much time off to work on his attitude, his work ethic and mechanics he should now be ready to take the EU LCS by storm.
Best Team Choice: Roccat
The more I think about it, the more I believe Nukeduck can take Roccat to higher levels. I’m really excited at the prospect of a huge playmaker and arguably EU’s best Season 3 mid laner paired with arguably the best jungler from EU Season 4. I also believe Overpow might be able to properly benefit from the more farm-centric style of the top lane, where there will be less expectation to hard carry Roccat games.
Forg1ven
After the Copenhagen Wolves had to give back Rekkles to Fnatic, many people doubted their ability to gather another AD carry who could have anywhere near the impact that Rekkles had. Then Forg1ven was picked up and all the doubt was silenced. Forg1ven was a monster AD Carry during his split with the Wolves, setting GPM, Total Gold, CS per min and Total CS records for EU and he was hailed by many as the best AD Carry in EU. Unfortunately, his fall out with the Wolves management left him unable to play during summer, but he is now free to be picked up and, in my opinion, is one of the biggest free agents EU currently has on the market to offer. His wealth of talent, fierce achievement-driven nature and prior LCS experience will get great assets to any team that take it with a pinch of salt.
Best Team Choice: Roccat
Forg1ven
After the Copenhagen Wolves had to give back Rekkles to Fnatic, many people doubted their ability to gather another AD carry who could have anywhere near the impact that Rekkles had. Then Forg1ven was picked up and all the doubt was silenced. Forg1ven was a monster AD Carry during his split with the Wolves, setting GPM, Total Gold, CS per min and Total CS records for EU and he was hailed by many as the best AD Carry in EU. Unfortunately, his fall out with the Wolves management left him unable to play during summer, but he is now free to be picked up and, in my opinion, is one of the biggest free agents EU currently has on the market to offer. His wealth of talent, fierce achievement-driven nature and prior LCS experience will get great assets to any team that take it with a pinch of salt.
Best Team Choice: Roccat
AD Carry-wise, most EU LCS teams are in a good spot. Every team expect Roccat, who currently doesn't have one. If the rumoured acquisition of Nukeduck is any kind of upgrade, the further acquisition of Forg1ven would catapult them into godly levels of potential. It would also likely leave Woolite on the Wolves allowing for Unlimited to actually play more than one split with a particular ADC.
Mithy
Mithy, like Nukeduck was a member of the overnight sensation team, LemonDogs, and was one of the three who transferred to NIP only to lose their slot in the LCS, eventually leading to Mithy’s suspension with Nukeduck and Zorozero’s retirement. Regardless Mithy’s suspension time is also nearing its end and with his eligibility for the 2015 LCS spring split, he should be a big consideration for teams in need of a solid support. It should be remembered that Tabzz and Mithy were one of the best, if not the best bottom lane in Europe by the end of Season 3.
Best Choice: Supa Hot Crew (now Meet Your Makers) or Millenium
Mithy
Mithy, like Nukeduck was a member of the overnight sensation team, LemonDogs, and was one of the three who transferred to NIP only to lose their slot in the LCS, eventually leading to Mithy’s suspension with Nukeduck and Zorozero’s retirement. Regardless Mithy’s suspension time is also nearing its end and with his eligibility for the 2015 LCS spring split, he should be a big consideration for teams in need of a solid support. It should be remembered that Tabzz and Mithy were one of the best, if not the best bottom lane in Europe by the end of Season 3.
Best Choice: Supa Hot Crew (now Meet Your Makers) or Millenium
It would just so happen that Supa Hot Meet Your Makers are missing a support player following the teams rebranding and its release of Impaler and Kasing. It has also been heavily rumoured that Amin and Mithy will be the ones to fill in the newly freed up roles. Personally, I’m not too sure whether Mithy will gel well with the rest of the team, especially Amin, but MrRallez has shown himself to be the ADC equivalent to Unlimited, putting up good performances and easily building synergy with any duo lane partner he’s presented with. Alternatively, if MYM doesn’t work out another good destination for Mithy would be Millenium. With the departure of Kerp, Millenium is a team in dire need of a leader and a fresh start. Kev1n, Kottenx and Creaton are all top class players on the right day and I feel on most days, Jree just doesn’t allow them to perform to a peak of their (especially creaton’s) potential.
Kerp
As briefly mentioned, Kerp has now left Millenium in search of a fresh start. If he doesn't find a new team to settle down with, LCS casters and broadcast producers will surely be fuming at the loss of all the script they have to discuss his famous use of a trackball mouse. Despite how attractive it is to discuss, it isn't Kerp’s only asset. His raw talent is absolutely amazing and his ability to hard carry on assassin type champions is next to the best in EU. On top of this, his careful play on champions like Ziggs also provides a healthy switch between mid lane playstyles, which is impressive considering he was a top laner one season ago. Its also worth noting that Kerp was a Fantasy LCS superstar - bringing huge numbers (on his good days) for anyone who played him
Best Choice: SK Gaming or Copenhagen Wolves
If there was a better way to say I think Kerp is better than Soren and Jesiz, I would say it - but I can’t really find one. All three look the same in terms of being rather inconsistent, but generally Kerp can do a lot more a lot better and I think both teams would do well to consider how serious they are to be competing for the top spots with their current mid lane choices.
Kerp
As briefly mentioned, Kerp has now left Millenium in search of a fresh start. If he doesn't find a new team to settle down with, LCS casters and broadcast producers will surely be fuming at the loss of all the script they have to discuss his famous use of a trackball mouse. Despite how attractive it is to discuss, it isn't Kerp’s only asset. His raw talent is absolutely amazing and his ability to hard carry on assassin type champions is next to the best in EU. On top of this, his careful play on champions like Ziggs also provides a healthy switch between mid lane playstyles, which is impressive considering he was a top laner one season ago. Its also worth noting that Kerp was a Fantasy LCS superstar - bringing huge numbers (on his good days) for anyone who played him
Best Choice: SK Gaming or Copenhagen Wolves
If there was a better way to say I think Kerp is better than Soren and Jesiz, I would say it - but I can’t really find one. All three look the same in terms of being rather inconsistent, but generally Kerp can do a lot more a lot better and I think both teams would do well to consider how serious they are to be competing for the top spots with their current mid lane choices.
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