The rumours of a rebranding have been confirmed – Splyce have rebranded as MAD Lions for the next season of the League of Legends European Championship (LEC), writes Megalodontus.
And they have some British staff (see the section further down the article).
Parent company OverActive Media (OAM), who are also behind the Toronto Defiant (Overwatch) and Toronto Ultra (Call of Duty), says the revamped MAD Lions logo, colours and tone of voice ‘mark a new emphasis’ on the brand as they prepare to replace Splyce in the LEC starting in 2020.
The rebranding, which took place at NiceOne Barcelona’s Gaming and Digital Experiences Conference, was led by two MAD Lions YouTube gaming influencers: Vegetta777 and WillyRex. They will be a part of a content strategy that will also see the promotion of Hispanic culture to the main stage of LEC and around the world.
“This is part of OAM’s attempts to service an avid esports fan base in Spain, through native language content, social media and live activations in market,” OverActive said in a press release.
OAM acquired Splyce this time last year and confirmed the retiring of the Splyce brand plus layoffs a few months ago.
The player roster, pending League approval, includes:
- Top: Andrei ‘Orome‘ Popa
- Jungle: Zhiqiang ‘Shadow‘ Zhao
- Mid: Marek ‘Humanoid‘ Brázda
- ADC: Matyáš ‘Carzzy‘ Orság
- Support: Norman ‘Gistick‘ Kaiser
The Lions have decided build the roster around midlaner Humanoid and take advantage of Europe’s vast, talented pool.
Toplaner Orome has played only a handful of times in the LEC in place of retiring toplaner Vizicsacsi, so he is still considered a rookie. Jungler Shadow has been touted as a prodigy in his native Italy for the longest time, and along with German support Gistick had a very strong top 4 finish in the EU Masters Summer 2019 with German club mousesports.
ADC Carrzy is only 17 and the Czech wonderkid already has an EU Masters title to his name, winning it in Summer 2019 with German powerhouse Berlin International Gaming (BIG).
MAD Lions enter the 2020 split with some of the most hyped rookies of the lower-tier European Regional Leagues (ERLs), along with some other teams also choosing to promote these young talents. They enter with the reputation of being the underdogs, with little expectations.
British staff & comment from management
The MAD Lions team will be led by British head coach James ‘Mac’ MacCormack, the former assistant coach of Splyce.
Check out our interview with Mac when he was coach at Splyce here.
He’s joined by fellow Brit Peter Dun, who is on board as coach.
Another Brit, former Riot caster James ‘Stress’ O’Leary, also retains his position as their social media manager for the foreseeable future.
Despite the departure of Splyce’s head coach Duke to Team Vitality, MAD Lions have managed to retain the services of key staff members.
“This is an exciting day for our organisation, as we take another substantial step forward in growing OverActive Media globally,” said Chris Overholt, president and CEO at OverActive Media. “We want to thank our Splyce fans and invite them to join all of us as we head into an exciting new era in the LEC.”
“We are so thrilled that our players and our fans will have the opportunity to enjoy the biggest League of Legends competition in Europe,” added Jorge Schnura, co-founder/president of MAD Lions and VP of strategy at OAM.
“There is so much that Hispanic culture offers the world and we are ready to bring that unique flavour to League of Legends fans throughout Europe and globally.”
Jorge Schnura, OverActive Media
Splyce co-founder Marty Strenczewilk also had some words to say:
MAD Lions are a familiar name for many European viewers and are currently one of the most famous teams from Spain (MAD stands for Madrid).
Since their founding in 2017 they’ve almost been synonymous with success. With superstar head coach and former EU LCS player Alvar ‘Araneae’ Martín Aleñar won nearly every regional tournament in 2018, four of their players from that time (Nemesis, Crownshot, Werlyb, Selfmade) moved on to the LEC as a result.
The Lions also will continue to field their academy team in the Spanish SuperLiga Orange. The team has yet to be announced but their roster for 2019 is still competing under their banner in the ongoing Iberian Cup.
Megalodontus is a miraculous survivor from the mass extinction and somehow learnt how to use his stubby fins to operate complicated mechanical equipment and drink tea. Worryingly for cryptozoologists, he’s been writing League of Legends articles too.
A self-taught writer who’s had the privilege to work with good editors who aren’t terrified of his pearly whites, Megalodontus is often seen writing either independently or for various websites such as this one. When not writing, he usually runs it down mid in real life and is fascinated with watching paint dry.
