One of the most effective UK League of Legends player partnerships in recent times is about to be re-established.
Renegades Banditos is subbing in jungler Nubar “Maxlore” Sarafian (pictured right) for the ESL UK Premiership playoffs finals – which take place next weekend on April 2nd and 3rd – putting him with his old teammate Barney “Alphari” Morris (pictured left).
Maxlore replaces Impaler for the finals, who will miss the matches due to a family holiday.
Top-laner Alphari and jungler Maxlore played together for Team Infused last season, who went undefeated and won the ESL UK Premiership. The pair established a formidable in-game partnership – and also won the PGL Legends of the Rift tournament last year with To Infinity and Beyond.
They both left Team Infused last year, with Alphari joining the Banditos and Maxlore being signed by Inspire Esports. Maxlore left Inspire earlier this month after the EU Challenger Series side failed to qualify for the LCS summer promotion tournament.
Banditos’ planned roster for the ESL UK Premiership LAN finals is as follows:
- Barney “Alphari” Morris – top
- Nubar “Maxlore” Sarafian – jungle
- Marc “Caedrel” Lamont – mid
- Soler “Yuuki60” Florent – ADC
- Aleksi “Hiiva” Kaikkonen – support
Caedrel recently subbed in for the Copenhagen Wolves, and was missing from Banditos win at i57 last weekend, but will be returning for the ESL playoffs.
Renegades Banditos manager Ali “Alicus” Saba told eSports News UK: “I’m looking forward to the playoffs and feel confident in our team’s ability to finish first. Maxlore is an exceptional jungler.
“As for Impaler, he planned a brief family holiday a while ago for the first week of April, and that is why he won’t be joining us.”
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
