UPDATE (May 8th 2019): Excel Esports has signed Petter ‘Hjarnan’ Freyschuss to its League of Legends roster as a new bot lane player, subject to Riot Games approval.
Hjarnan has played for G2 Gaming, Team Vitality and Team ROCCAT among others, having made top four at Worlds 2018 with G2. The AD carry has also previously played alongside Excel’s support player Raymond ‘Kasing’ Tsang for H2K Gaming, as part of the self-proclaimed “best botlane in the West”, who went on to achieve back-to-back top 3 finishes in Europe.
Hjarnan said: “I’m really excited to be back in the LEC again and to help Excel improve on their first split at the top level in Europe. Being back with Kasing is great too, and I can’t wait to get playing as soon as possible.”
Joel Holmes-Darby, Director of Esports at Excel Esports, added: “We are delighted to announce the signing of Hjarnan from Ad Hoc Gaming. He is a player with considerable talent and experience, and will be a key contributing factor as we look to build upon our first split in the LEC and push on for a higher finish this summer.”
Original article (published May 2nd 2019):
Excel Esports, the UK esports organisation playing in the LEC, has announced some additions and departures to its coaching staff.
It has appointed David ‘DLim’ Lim as the new League of Legends Head Coach, pending Riot Games approval and subject to work visas. David has previously worked as a coach at Clutch Gaming, Team Liquid and most recently at Schalke 04.
He is joined by Tim ‘TimKiro’ Cho who arrives at Excel as its new League of Legends Academy Coach, subject to work visas. Tim boasts previous experience at Team Liquid, Cloud 9 and Echo Fox developing rookie talent.
The news comes as Excel announces the departure of Petar ‘Unlimited’ Georgiev as Academy Coach, Josh ‘Jarge’ Smith as Strategic Coach and UK scene stalwart Josh ‘Furndog’ Furneaux as Head Coach.
Furndog helped lead Excel to its first UK League of Legends title in the autumn of 2017, before leading the development of Excel’s League of Legends rosters based out of Excel’s London Gaming House in 2018. Late last year, he also significantly inputted in to Excel’s LEC application.
Furndog said in a Twitlonger: “After a total of about three years with Excel I couldn’t be prouder of what we’ve achieved together. This was a club that when I started had next to no funds, had no standing or reputation in League of Legends whatsoever. So from then to now where most recently Excel having finished it’s first split in the LEC taking games off of all but G2, Fnatic, Origen and Splyce, the growth that the Excel League of Legends project has exhibited in that time is phenomenal.
“I wish nothing but continued success for Excel and am eternally grateful to have been a part of the Excel family where I have made several true life long friends!”
Excel thanked their former coaching staff and wished them well for the future.
“Competing at this level has been a superb experience for our young organisation and whilst we are proud of the efforts of our people, we have recognised the need to continue improving our performance support structure.”
Joel Holmes-Darby, Excel Esports
Unlimited and Jarge were only part of Excel’s coaching infrastructure for a single split, however the organisation said that both ‘contributed significantly’ to the establishment of Excel in the LEC.
The organisation added that Tim’s learnings ‘will be used to guide Excel UK to victory in both the Summer UKLC Split and EU Masters’.
“David and Tim have worked together in the past and aim to forge the most competitive 10-man roster in Europe, utilising their pre-existing relationship to bring yet greater synergy to the roster,” Excel added in a press release.
David ‘DLim’ Lim said: “I am very excited to have this opportunity to work with Excel and build something great with them. I see potential in the Excel organisation and can’t wait to start working with everyone there.”
Joel Holmes-Darby, Director of Esports at Excel Esports, commented: “Competing at this level has been a superb experience for our young organisation and whilst we are proud of the efforts of our people, we have recognised the need to continue improving our performance support structure.
“We are excited to welcome both David and Tim to the Excel organisation, yet must also bid farewell to others. Josh [Furndog] will always be a part of the Excel family, and we know Petar and Jarge will bring the positive momentum of our roster’s strong performances late last split to their new roles.”
Excel opened its esports training facility at Twickenham Stadium last month.
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.
