Update (October 20th 2022): Excel Esports COO Tim Reichert has posted an update officially announcing JD XL’s departure from the NLC and Excel’s departure from the Valorant Polaris league, saying they are in talks with other teams to sell their slots.
He also spoke about being unimpressed with Valorant’s Ascension system, but did say Excel were keen on having a women’s Valorant team in Valorant Game Changers, and that they will also be moving into another tier-one esport:
Original article: A number of esports organisations are departing or thinking about leaving the Northern League of Legends Championship (NLC) for 2023.
The NLC is of course the European Regional League (ERL) for the UK, Ireland and Nordic countries, and is currently hosting an NLC Aurora Open Pro-Am tournament following its spring and summer 2022 seasons.
London-based esports organisation Excel Esports, whose main League of Legends team play in the LEC, are said to be pulling their JD XL academy team out of NLC Division 1 (and the Excel Valorant team out of Polaris), according to a tweet by LEC Wooloo.
Not only that, but they apparently won’t have an academy team at all, in order to focus resources more on tier-one competition.
Esports News UK also understands the decision has also been made due to viewer numbers in these leagues, and with the best LoL talent at this level being more interested in playing within the French and Spanish leagues.
Reaction to the news was mixed, with some in the scene expressing sadness. Josh Furneaux, a former coach at Excel, noted in particular:
mYinsanity head coach Praevius, who’s experienced in the UK scene, added: “Sad day to see one of the OG UK orgs sever all ties with the scene it originally grew in – little monkaS to see so many orgs pulling out of the NLC for next year.”
UK caster Nymaera commented: “So much potential quashed. Many issues plagued JD|XL this year but it feels so unsatisfying to see the team leave like this. Another academy team bows out from the NLC. Wish the players staff the best of luck in landing on their feet.”
Ruddy Esports owner and caster DonJake, who previously called out NLC orgs for not doing enough, said: “Messy no lionel. UK connection severed for LOL – in a time where they need to fill that gap in Fnatic’s move to a more international market. Results aren’t unlucky either – self created issues. Seems a shame but oh well.”
JD XL started off the Summer 2022 NLC season very well, but went on a bad run of games and former Excel player Emenes was benched.
Others speculated Excel might move into the likes of CSGO or Rocket League.
“So much potential quashed. Many issues plagued JD XL this year but it feels so unsatisfying to see the team leave like this. Another academy team bows out from the NLC. Wish the players staff the best of luck in landing on their feet.”
Nymaera
Also, UK esports organisation MNM Gaming are looking to leave the NLC too, as per this article by Megalodontus for Blix.gg, as are Dusty, and reports suggest Astralis Talent are looking to sell their spot too.
Esports News UK has reached out to Excel for clarification, and in the meantime we have heard that other teams are considering departing NLC Division 1. These are separate to Nyyrikki, whose NLC Div 1 spot is set to be acquired by Lionscreed.
While MNM haven’t ruled out a return to League in the future, the report suggests that the UK’s current economic situation is the main reason for MNM’s exit from the NLC.
Dusty later confirmed their exit in this tweet:
Elsewhere, in the lower divisions of the NLC, UK esports organisation Lucent Esports are leaving the scene. They recently played in Division 2 and were relegated to Division 3, but have put a lot of hard work into League of Legends over the years.
Ellis Ratchford, director and COO at Lucent, said: “We have decided to take a step back from League of Legends esports. This wasn’t an easy decision to make. I’d like to think our amazing players and the Lucent community, the people who have supported us on every high and every low over the past two years, and we hope that you’ll follow us on the journey going forward.”
The news comes a few months after fellow UK org LDN UTD withdrew from the NLC.
Last year, after the previous UKLC tournament was scrapped and NLC adopted a multi-division ecosystem, with Freaks4U coming on board as tournament provider, there was an exodus of teams.
Fnatic Rising left for the Spanish Superliga, Absolved left after X7 acquired their spot, Tricked departed once Astralis Talent took their slot, and 00Nation (formerly Nordavind) dropped out, with Dusty taking their spot. Enclave left the NLC ecosystem, as did Kova, Nox, Nvision, Godsent, Galaxy Racer and Granit Gaming.
A few other UK organisations departed the revised NLC circuit, including London Esports and Resolve, who dropped out of NLC Division 2 last year.
Now, it’s worth bearing in mind orgs will join and leave esports competitions for a variety of reasons, and the NLC has a very polished, good quality series of broadcasts. But there’s no denying a lack of prize pool in Divisions 2 to 5 put some orgs off. And the community was not happy with existing grassroots LoL tournaments being shut down in the UK and Nordics following Freaks4U’s NLC operation.
Lower viewing figures compared to big ERLs like Spain and France may also have put some bigger orgs off, but it should be noted that the NLC has still achieved some solid viewing figures this year.
The NLC was first announced in April 2020, when DreamHack was the organiser.
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.
