LEC ushers in ‘new era’ after adding esports juggernaut to LoL roster

Natus Vincere has officially joined the LEC, taking over Rogue’s slot and marking the entry of one of esports’ most decorated organizations into the League of Legends ecosystem.

Starting the 2025 League’s European Championship Summer Split, NAVI is going to compete with the same roster of Adam, Malrang, Larssen, Patrik and Execute, along with the head coach, as the transition phrase between the two squads happens.  

While esports team swaps don’t change in the middle of the season, Riot explains in their blog that it happened because of “several unique factors.” NAVI is already a huge name in the world of esports due to their strong performances in Counter Strike and Dota 2, and the developer is “confident” of the esports organziation’s infrastructure and the ability to compete with the other squads in the summer. 

Rogue was one of the 10 selected founding members of the franchised LEC in 2019, alongside other teams. While their six-year legacy includes three consecutive Worlds appearances, the pinnacle of their journey came in 2022. They lost in the finals to G2 Esports in the spring split that year, but they also made a comeback by defeating the same team in the Summer split to clinch their first-ever LEC title. 

In recent years, Rogue’s performance has been going downhill and they’ve continuously finished last in the points table. They also haven’t qualified for an international event since 2022, and maybe with a new team in the mix, things might take a turn for the better. 

“Back in 2018, when LEC was about to be created, the league slot was something NAVI wanted but could not afford. Still, we always felt like League of Legends was the missing puzzle piece for our club and the dream of joining the LEC one day has stayed alive ever since,” Yevhen Zolotarov, NAVI CEO, said in the official announcement. 

Zolotarov also stated that the current roster “obviously requires changes,” but they will use the offseason to make some changes straight away to hopefully change the team’s fate. 

Meanwhile, LEC representatives Movistar KOI and G2 Esports will be travelling to play in the 2025 Mid-Season Invitational and bring back the glory back in Europe.