Reports suggest that Targamas, currently of G2 Esports, has reached an agreement with Excel. The deal is said to include the exchange of Excel’s support Mihael “Mikyx” Mehle with G2.?

Another source suggests that Vetheo, from Misfits Gaming, has “reached a verbal agreement” with Excel. The move is said to hinge on Misfits’ absence in the 2023 LoL European Championship (LEC) season, having sold their spot to Team Heretics.?

?Having spent six years in competitive League of Legends, Targamas has moved around quite a bit, representing eight franchises in that period. He joined G2 Esports almost a year ago from a French esports franchise, Karmine Corp.?

?Véthéo, on the other hand, has been on the competitive scene for four years and has represented four franchises in the process. He started out with Tony Parker Adequat Academy, the academy outfit for the French organization LDLC OL. While he was on loan to Bastille Academy for a day, he was promoted to LDLC OL on January 2020 and spent almost a year with the franchise before joining Misfits Gaming in December 2020.?

Both players recorded good numbers in the LEC 2022 season. Targamas’ aggressive playstyle saw him post the highest KDA in the league as he secured his first-ever LEC split title. Although he did not make a big impact at the 2022 LoL World Championship, he is considered one of the major prospects for the upcoming season.?

?Véthéo was one of the youngest players in the LEC this season. The 19-year-old mid laner was outstanding for Misfits during the Spring Split, earning the Most Valuable Player award after recording the most kills in the league.? ?

Excel are said to be making several roster changes for the 2023 LEC season. In addition to Targamas and Véthéo, it is understood that the team will take delivery of veteran top laner and Rogue’s 2022 Summer champion Andrei “Odoamne” Pascu.?

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?Misfits Gaming have done enough to finish the season in fourth place, just two wins short of catching up with G2 Esports and MAD Lions at the top of the standings. But while Misfits Gaming have ended the LEC 2022 Summer regular season with a solid 10-8 record, their numbers don’t tell the whole story.

With all due respect, Misfits Gaming might be the weakest team in the LEC playoffs and undeniably the weakest team in the upper bracket. Misfits lack the star power of G2, MAD Lions, Rogue, Fnatic, and even Excel, and their approach to the game is seriously flawed.

People continue to praise jungler Nikolay “Zanzarah” Akatov as a saviour of Misfits and a player that will lead the organisation to glory, but he hasn’t brought much to the roster. He might have made opposing teams wary of his unorthodox picks and waste bans on his favourite champions, although it’s not like that’s necessary.

Moreover, Misfits Gaming are the same team they were last season – they keep relying on Vincent “Vetheo” Berrié to do all the heavy lifting, which won’t fly in a best-of-five series. And besides all that, MSF’s approach to the game is odd, with strange reset timing, suboptimal Heral setup, and bad map movement.

Misfits Gaming have overachieved in the latter stages of the regular season, and based on what we’ve seen from them, they’re easy to beat. As long G2 Esports shut down Vetheo, ban Yuumi, and punish MSF’s mistakes, they should come out ahead. Knowing that G2 Esports are far more organised and have the players in the right positions to achieve just that, there’s a good chance this series ends in three maps.

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Spencer will be responsible for driving business, media, sponsorship, and partnership revenue across Misfits’ brands and assets in her new role. This will cover the franchise’s Overwatch League and Call of Duty League franchises—Florida Mayhem and Florida Mutineers, respectively.

Spencer took to her LinkedIn page to share the news and express her excitement about the new role.

“I’M BACK and ecstatic to announce that I’ve joined Misfits Gaming Group as their new VP, Partnerships!” Spencer wrote.

“The road map ahead for Misfits has me fired up and I’m honored to be a part of such an incredible team and organization, especially with such talented revenue drivers as Vas Roberts Lagen Nash Justin Stefanovic. Daring to be different, championing the misfits, and being one of the most engaged brands in esports… LFG!!

There is such a unique opportunity for brands who are looking not just as esports activations but also broader gaming culture campaigns that drive engagement with fans digitally and in-person.”

Prior to her joining the North American esports organization, Spencer was the Vice President of Sales and Partnerships at the industry-leading esports media company, Wisdom Gaming, for more than two years. She had also worked for the publishing outfit, Dragon Door Publication, a while ago.

During her time with Wisdom Gaming, she led the franchise in the acquisition of notable partnerships including the collaboration with Riot Games, Mall of America, and the MLB franchise the Minnesota Twins.

Misfits made headlines last month when it was revealed that the company had sold its LEC franchise spot to Spanish franchise Team Heretics. The move is part of Misfits’ larger strategy to expand its focus on the creator scene as well as esports, according to the esports organization.

The organization also stated that it will remain in the VALORANT scene, but its presence in Rocket League is unknown due to Misfits recently releasing its roster. The franchise has, however, disclosed that one of its focuses lies on the new cross-platform Minecraft server, TubNet, which is scheduled to be released in August.
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The sale will reportedly go into effect towards the start of the 2023 LEC season when Team Heretics enters the League of Legends LEC competition.

Under the deal, Misfits will hold 20% of the slot, while Team Heretics, who paid around $34m-$36m (￡28m-￡29m), would assumedly take the remainder of the ownership.

Misfits will reportedly also be taken off the French League towards the end of the year. The agreement was announced via the Spanish esports Twitch channel; however, not many details of the sale were given.?

News concerning the sale circulated yesterday after Eros, an esports journalist who previously reported for Esportsmaniacos, dropped a tweet on the issue. Team Heretics’ participation in the deal was only recently announced.?

Team Heretics returned to the League of Legends esports scene towards the end of last year and competed in the Spanish Regional league (SuperLiga) after a brief stint in 2016-2017.

Besides League of Legends, the Spanish organization has rosters in games like FIFA, Fortnite, VALORANT and Rocket League.?

The sale is a part of Misfits’ strategy pivot, which concentrates on creative talent and, at the same time, fielding competitive teams. The organization indicated that the launch of TubNet, a cross-platform Minecraft server was an example of their strategy pivot. The server was built in partnership with Tubbo, the creator of Minecraft. Misfit also recently brought on Hikaru Nakamura, the American chess grandmaster, as a new addition to its content strategy.?

The organization’s CEO and co-founder, Ben Spoont, talked about the sale and revealed that the entire capital from the recent sale would be used as an investment for creator projects. He said, “Our role as Misfits Gaming Group is to use our creative, strategic and financial resources to help our talent bring their ideas and dreams to life. TubNet is the first of what we expect will be a large number of creator-driven programs and businesses that operate under the Misfits umbrella in the years ahead.?

The CEO continued, “It’s bittersweet to know that our mission to diversify means that we cannot be in all places at once, and we’re sad to say so long to the loving camaraderie and competitiveness of the LEC, but we did not make this decision lightly and ran an exhaustive process vetting numerous interested offer parties and came to the decision that Team Heretics was the right selection to continue on as responsible stewards of the League.”

The organization revealed that it intended to hold on to its franchised slots in the Overwatch League with Florida Mayhem and with Florida Mutineers for the Call of Duty League.

Misfits further disclosed that its position in VALORANT, the Riot Games’ other world-spanning esports title, would be retained. The organization is currently undergoing partnership applications for its next competitive scene.?

Misfits started on its road as a LEC team in 2019, when it became a franchised team. The?
Multi-regional esports organization reportedly paid €8m (￡6.7m) for the position. Misfits also began competing in top-level European League of Legends as early as 2016.?

There is record of only one European team that sold their LEC slot before the Misfits’ deal with Team Heretics. The team was Schalke 04, a German football club that sold its LEC franchise in June 2021 to Team BDS, a Swiss esports organization, for around €26.5m (￡22.8m).?
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Rogue enter the 2022 season without two key players from 2021 in jungler Kacper “Inspired” S?oma and ADC Steven “Hans sama” Liv. The duo left for North America and got replaced by DWG KIA jungler Kim “Malrang” Geun-seong and Team Vitality’s ADC Markos “Comp” Stamkopoulos.

It’s hard to say how the new arrivals will do, but Malrang has the potential to be an S-tier player, and if he can deliver, Rogue will be a scary team. However, unlike Rogue, who have a solid upside, Misfits Gaming’s ceiling with their new roster doesn’t seem to be that high.

The additions of jungler Lucjan “Shlatan” Ahmad, ADC Matú? “Neon” Jakub?ík, and support, Mertai “Mersa” Sari, seem decent on paper. Still, there are too many question marks about how the rookies will perform at the highest level.

Rogue’s success will heavily depend on Malrang who will need time to adapt, so it might be risky taking their side so early into the season. But at the offered LoL betting odds, the former LEC finalists are worth a shot.

Astralis have built a new roster around mid laner Oliver “Dajor” Ryppa, who will play a crucial role in Astralis’ success this term. But for the team to achieve any meaningful success, top laner Matti “WhiteKnight” Sormunen will have to be a solid weakside player to enable mid and bot to carry.

We don’t expect Astralis to win the LEC title, but if they execute their plan efficiently, Astralis should be able to hold their own against the top teams, including G2 Esports.

G2 Esports freshened up its LoL division and took a shot with a new bottom lane duo, which should be serviceable, but we don’t expect any great things from them at the start. But still, G2 Esports are priced as $1.45 favourites for this bout, which doesn’t make sense and likely has to do with the brand recognition.

Admittedly, Rasmus “caPs” Borregaard Winther can solo-carry his side, but at $2.66, the value is with Astralis.

Team Vitality have formed a new European superteam of some of the best Western players and enter the 2022 LEC season as the team to beat. As a LEC fan, it’s hard not to be excited about how far this team can go, and it wouldn’t be too far from the truth to say that Vitality can compete for the LoL World Championship title if things go right.

Fnatic freshened up its LoL roster with three new players in top laner Martin “Wunder” Nordahl Hansen, jungler Iván “Razork” Martín Díaz, and mid laner Marek “Humanoid” Brázda to form a lineup that looks much stronger than the 2021 roster. But there are many unknowns, mainly how the new faces will gel with Fnatic’s bottom lane and whether Wunder will find his pre-2021 form.

The esports betting sites have priced Fnatic as the favourites for this match, which may be fair, but not at the offered LoL betting odds. That is not to say that Fnatic can’t defeat Vitality, but in our book, this match should be much closer to 50/50. At $2.15, it’s tough to pass on Team Vitality to win the first LEC derby of the season.

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After four weeks of play, Excel are tied-fourth in the LEC Spring standings with a 5-4 record, which sits them right next to Schalke 04 and MAD Lions. Astralis proved to be far less successful with seven losses in their last nine outings, which includes a fairly one-sided defeat against Excel at the end of January.

Last time out, Excel were priced at $1.61 to win and considering they have since improved, it makes sense to see them priced at even shorter odds. That said, Astralis have shown some improvement as well, which is why we don’t see a reason why they should be priced as high as they are.

The arrival of Carl Felix “MagiFelix” Bostr?m to Astralis seems to have introduced some stability and even though they will need a bit more time to fix all their issues, Astralis are not nearly as weak as the betting odds suggest.

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The second fixture of the day will serve us with a mid-table brawl between Misfits Gaming and SK Gaming, who have already met during the second week of LEC Spring. SK won that game with 19-5 in kills and 11k gold lead, however, they’re still priced as underdogs for the rematch.

Misfits enter this match with a 3-6 record and only one win in their last six outings (1-5). What’s more, their sole win in that stretch has happened against Astralis, which is hardly worth celebrating, especially considering SK were just as successful against the same team not too long ago.

The Bunnies might have a higher ceiling, but they’re still very inconsistent. Despite being underdogs, SK can cause an upset here.

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After a disastrous start of the season, Fnatic have seemingly found their formula to success which was right in front of them from the get-go. This team has been showing some sort of aggression from the start of the season, but it took them two weeks to polish their playstyle, which has since earned them four consecutive wins.

Fnatic average the highest average kills/game (19.56) in the league, while their games on average produce 34.29 kills. MAD Lions are similar in a way that they also average a fairly high number of kills in their games (13.33 KPG, 27.57 TKPG), as well as 0.90 total kills per minute – second only to Fnatic (1.14).

Until Fnatic start showing signs of slowing down, we will continue to believe they can win this match with ease, but there are better betting markets to explore. The Top LoL betting sites are offering $1.89 on this game ending with at least 31 kills, which is one of the highest total kill lines we have seen thus far, however, we have to note that all but one of Fnatic’s last four games ended with at least 30 kills – except for a 28-kill game against G2 – and we don’t see why this one will be any different.

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G2 Esports have choked a couple of times this season, but with Martin “Rekkles” Larsson slowly getting comfortable as their new ADC, it’s only a matter of time before the reigning LEC champions reach their full potential.

G2 still have issues in draft and at times look like they’re a bit too relaxed on the Rift, however, it’s hard not to be excited about this team following their impressive win against Rogue last week. Their next opponents, Schalke 04 did slip up last week, dropping games against Astralis and MAD Lions, but they have proven before just how potent they can be when they took down Rogue, G2 and Misfits.

Despite S04’s immaculate run though weeks 2-3, they’re still a class below G2, who shouldn’t be dropping games like this – at least not twice in one split.

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Giants Gaming vs. FC Schalke 04 Esports

These two very different teams have had a similar start to the season – neither of them are ecstatic about their poor play and numerous losses. Both of them need improvement, and they need it fast, since Giants have looked awful all split, and Schalke are light years away from the form needed to achieve their goal of a deep playoffs run.

It’s safe to say that Giants’ LCS-winning ADC Steeelback is a strong contender for the worst LCS player this split. The Frenchman’s lack of impact on his team’s play has become somewhat of a meme, and Giants are basically playing with only one carry, the versatile mid laner Betsy. Schalke’s high-profile signings aren’t faring much better individually, though. Vizicsacsi has been very disappointing throughout the season, and Upset still has to work on his positioning to be considered a top-tier prospect. The one thing Schalke can do well, though, is getting an advantage in the early game. That’s what makes them the favourite here, as Giants seemingly can’t do anything if they get crushed early. (GIA 30%, S04 70%).

Best bet: Bet on FC Shalke 04 to win, paying $1.51 at GG Bet

Team ROCCAT vs. Unicorns of Love

After an okay start for a team with a sick AD carry, Unicorns of Love have once again experienced an 0-2 week and have looked rather poor. Roccat have been on a run of three 1-1 weeks in a row, and a win against Unicorns would help them retain that streak very much, since their next opponent is the in-form Fnatic.

UOL’s bot lane has been an issue over the entire split, with Samux looking like he hadn’t had a chance to adapt to the new bot lane picks. Luckily for him, his favourite Xayah is coming back, and that may be a focal point for the Unicorns. However, the top lane is where Roccat will have a substantial advantage, as Profit is currently far superior to WhiteKnight. As a unit, Roccat are simply more consistent than the volatile Unicorns, and they should be considered favourites coming into this game. (ROC 65%, UOL 35%)

Best bet: Bet on Team ROCCAT to win, paying $1.72 at GG Bet

Team Vitality vs. H2k-Gaming

Another day, another tough matchup for H2k. The winless, 10th placed, seemingly hopeless team will be facing Vitality, who are looking good in the new meta, and are never out of new experiments and surprises. It’ll be interesting to see both teams on 8.13, and if the return of traditional ADC picks has had an impact on their level of play.

It’s been remarkably tough for H2k’s talented bot laner Sheriff to adapt to anything else than crit-stacking ADC’s. The inconsistent Shook is often the best player of the team, doing the best he can on carry junglers, but the rest of the squad is often very late to follow his calls. Vitality should be comfortable with roaming around the map in search for picks on the disorganized H2k players. This stylistic advantage would be enough to label them as favourites, and when the difference in quality is added to the mix, it is clear that Vitality have a much better chance of winning. (VIT 70%, H2K 30%).

Best bet: Bet on Team Vitality to win, paying $1.34 at GG Bet

G2 Esports vs. Misfits Gaming

Here it is, the match of the week, if not the match of the split so far! G2 and Misfits meet in a clash of the only two undefeated teams in EU LCS who have shared the #1 spot in the standings since the start.

The battle of the hugely different styles G2 and Misfits used to dominate the rest of the league will be a treat for the viewers. G2 have been excellent at funnel strategies, putting Perkz on Kai’Sa or Lucian and giving him all that he needs to annihilate the opposition. Misfits are the polar opposite, playing a modern version of the traditional team comp with an ADC and an AP mid laner, with Hans Sama being unstoppable so far. It’s nearly impossible to name the favourite in this game. Since G2’s style is more volatile and prone to going awry, a tiny advantage goes to the side of Misfits. (G2 45%, MSF 55%).

Best bet: Bet on Misfits Gaming to win, paying $2.15 at GG Bet

Splyce vs. Fnatic

Two of Europe’s Rift Rivals representatives meet in the last match of the day, both with their own goals and dreams. Fnatic will want to keep up with the leading two, in hopes of snatching away that playoff bye in the future, while Splyce should be looking to get into the top 6 for the first time.

Splyce are looking better than they did during their 0-4 run, but there is still a lot to be fixed. The Snakes have had a substandard performance at Rift Rivals, but a surprise win against Team Liquid shows that they have what it takes to beat a top team. Fnatic, though, might be too big of a challenge. Unless Splyce stomp the early game (which they very rarely do), Fnatic’s flexible and unpredictable squad should take the win here. (SPY 25%, FNC 75%)

Best bet: Bet on Fnatic to win, paying $1.45 at GG Bet

The only team locked in its place are the league leaders Fnatic, while all the other competitors have the chance to move either up or down on the ladder. The battle for the last playoff spots is going to be a bloodbath, with six teams fighting over the two spots. Let’s dive into the matches then!

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