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Excel Esports CEO Wouter Sleijffers has told Esports News UK that his League of Legends LEC team have turned a corner and are ready for the upcoming Summer 2022 Season.
Excel Esports reached the LEC playoffs for the first time in the Spring 2022 Season, with the playoffs eventually won by G2 Esports.
While Excel were knocked out in the first round of the lower bracket by Vitality, it was a close 3-2 series, and Excel showed they have progressed.
Speaking to Esports News UK at the Insomnia 68 Gaming Festival in Birmingham, Wouter said: “Obviously we had a massive celebration for making playoffs. Not everyone realises how much goes into making it all work together. And competition is fierce – every match counts. There’s also the mental side of things.
“We were known as a team that hadn’t made playoffs in the LEC, and there’s a psychological element to go through that barrier. I feel like having gone through that barrier, the road is now open for us, and that’s how we’re going into the Summer Split.”
Wouter Sleijffers, Excel Esports
“There’s confidence, we know what it takes to win. It’s not a given, but I believe going through that barrier has [opened things up for us]. For me personally, the prevailing emotion was relief [to reach playoffs]. We got close [against Vitality in the playoffs], there was lots of joy reaching playoffs, and we’re looking forward to the Summer Split so much and we have a lot of confidence.”
Esports News UK also spoke to Excel’s community and events manager Laura Tomlin about the organisation’s presence at the Insomnia Gaming Festival, future events and more.
“The interactive stall was created with the community in mind, it’s a celebration of everything we do and I wanted us to have a presence at the UK’s biggest gaming festival,” Laura said.
“As well as bringing our partners here, we wanted to have a lot of gaming activities, tournaments, limited edition merch and give back to the gaming community.
“This year we want to really get out there and host other events, including the opening of our new facility in London.”
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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.
